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>> IF THE MESSAGE OF EASTER
WERE REDUCED TO JUST ONE WORD,
THAT WORD MIGHT BE HOPE.
EASTER DECLARES, AS ALMOST
NOTHING ELSE CAN, THAT EVEN
IN THE MOST DESPERATE SITUATIONS
THERE IS HOPE.
THE WORST STORMS EVENTUALLY
SUBSIDE.
THE DEEPEST EMPTINESS
CAN BE FILLED.
THE DARKEST NIGHT SOON GIVES WAY
TO THE LIGHT OF DAWN.
NOT LONG AGO, A MAN WAS BATTLING
YEARS OF HOMELESSNESS,
DRUG ABUSE, AND DESPAIR.
HOPE SEEMED OUT OF REACH.
BUT THEN A SERIES OF EVENTS--
HE WOULD CALL IT DIVINE
INTERVENTION--PUT HIM ON THE
ROAD TO RECOVERY AND LITERALLY
SAVED HIS LIFE.
HE CAME TO KNOW THAT HE HAD,
IN HIS WORDS, A "PLACE IN THE
GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS."
NOW HE WORKS TO HELP THE
HOMELESS AND THE ADDICTED,
THE VERY PEOPLE AMONG WHOM
HE ONCE LIVED.
"I STILL HAVE MY ISSUES,"
HE SAYS, "BUT I TRY...
TO FIND THE NEXT RIGHT THING
AND DO IT."
THE LESSON HE LEARNED IS
RELEVANT FOR EVERY ONE OF US:
"THERE'S HOPE...
NO MATTER WHAT, THERE'S HOPE."
THAT IS THE MESSAGE OF EASTER.
CAN A BROKEN LIFE BE MENDED?
YES.
CAN A RELATIONSHIP BE HEALED?
YES.
IN THE WORDS OF JOB OF OLD, "IF
A MAN DIE, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?"
EASTER BOLDLY ANSWERS, "YES!"
EVEN DEATH ITSELF GIVES WAY
TO HOPE.
WHEN DEATH STEALS A LOVED ONE
AWAY, WHEN WE FEEL ANGUISH OF
SOUL, WHEN ALL SEEMS HOPELESS,
WE CAN REMEMBER THE ONE
WHO DECLARED, "I AM THE
RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE."
SOME TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO,
ON THAT FIRST EASTER MORNING,
"IT WAS YET DARK" WHEN MARY
WENT TO THE GARDEN TOMB.
SOON THE SUN WOULD RISE,
AS IT ALWAYS DOES.
AND SOON THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
WOULD APPEAR TO ILLUMINATE HER
SOUL, AS HE ALWAYS DOES.
BUT FIRST, MARY HAD TO TAKE
A FEW STEPS IN THE DARKNESS.
WHAT SHE FOUND WAS A MIRACLE,
AN EMPTY TOMB--AND THE GREATEST
PROMISE EVER PROCLAIMED: "HE IS
NOT HERE: FOR HE IS RISEN."
MARY CAME LOOKING FOR HER LORD
AND FOUND HOPE.
BECAUSE OF HIM, THERE'S HOPE--
NO MATTER WHAT,
THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE.