In the midst of fear and isolation, the world has come to learn that positive change can happen among death and destruction.
by Victor Cherubim
Like religious observances of many faiths, Easter too means different things to different people. If you are a Christian, of any denomination, it is definitely not just about chocolate and Easter eggs or bunnies. It has a deeper significance.
It is the feast of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. It is the conquering of death and the rebirth of a new life.
Easter for Christians is the most important celebration. It is because it is the remembrance of the resurrection. If Christ had not risen from the dead, the Christian faith, would have no foundation.
It is described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after His burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c 30 AD. It is the culmination of a 40 day period of fasting, prayer and penance in preparation.
As a result of Easter, Christians and some others believe, there is life after death. They rest in the knowledge that as per the scripture all who died in Christ too will be raised again and that death will not hold them back.
The New World Order
Was it a strange coincidence or is it conjecture, that the height of the Coronavirus pandemic had to happen during the winter of the Northern Hemisphere and it had to move from East to West? With half or more of the world’s population under some form of lockdown, many millions are also trying to understand, to make sense how to celebrate Easter, Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Passover, Vaisakhi and other religious festivals perhaps, in quarantine.
In the midst of fear and isolation, the world has come to learn that positive change can happen among death and destruction.
Allow me to relate some of the things that have happened during this pandemic since December 2019, within a matter of four months. Our economics, our priorities, our perceptions are not what they were at the beginning of the infection. Life are changed beyond recognition. We cannot imagine for a moment how bustling streets, crowded underground trains and buses have become quiet and empty and desolate. People are living in their homes with pervading loneliness, yet almost on top of each other; how isolation has turned to rage and anger inside homes. What we called normal before the virus is now abnormal. Our focus, our values of life and death have shifted. What is rich is now poor. What is weak has become strong, what is strong has turned weak. It seems like a seismic shift. What was hidden is emerging. Most important is that we see the preciousness of life and our empathy in death. We are now in search of “what is self,” “what is social”? In a crisis the powerful are bent on seizing more power, but their power is slipping. The rich seek more riches to maintain their mountains of wealth, but wealth has lost its value and has succumbed to good health. This is the new reality of life.
What has changed is our space?
There is a hidden meaning in life after death. As we spend more time at home and more time alone, the metaphysical is become the norm. We now consider that there is meaning as well as pain in sadness. If we feel sad and frightened, it is a sign that we care. If we care we once again become human. If we are human, we become enlightened to death. It is only hope that can save us from dying. It is in this state that we understand eternal life.
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