It makes no rational sense.听 It defies all that modern science knows about life and death.听 It seems like a fanciful myth concocted by a bunch of losers to justify the three years of their lives that they had just spent following a failed prophet.听
But 2000 years later, the events of Easter 鈥� Jesus crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension - are celebrated by an estimated 2.2 billion people around the world (1/3 of the world鈥檚 population).听
So, what鈥檚 going on here?听 Mass delusion or God鈥檚 wisdom?
My reflections on the significance of these events is biased.听 I believe this stuff actually happened.听 In bewildering ways I cannot even imagine, the loving energy that has flowed from these events has changed the world for the better, inspiring countless contributions to the coming of the Commonwealth of God.
Now, let鈥檚 admit that human beings have shown remarkable creativity over these past two millennia in devising ways to deny, distort, and destroy the flourishing of creation intended by the God who acted in love for the redemption of the universe in this Jesus of Nazareth.听 But their manipulation of Christian teachings and institutions does not negate the validity of what the Creator of the universe was doing for his creation in this peasant rabbi from Nazareth.
Three considerations convince me of the reality of God鈥檚 grace being offered to humanity and its home in these Easter events.
1.听听听 Human wisdom does not arise from the brain alone, especially from the brain as understood by modern rationalism and scientism.听 The more we discover about how the brain actually works, as opposed to how we think it works in these reductionist perspectives, the more sense the Easter story makes to me.听 Neuroscientist and psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel, in Mindsight (2010), talks about wisdom arising from the integration of instinct, emotion and intellect.听 There is an intuitive sense of our own dignity and worth, given to us as gifts from God, that stimulates an emotional acceptance rooted in God鈥檚 love for all of creation, that is then ordered for acting as blessings by the intellect.
2.听听听 Christian thinker Rene Girard has spent a lifetime exploring the dynamics of scapegoating.听 This is what he thinks is happening in the death of Jesus, the murder of the innocent who threatens an unjust social order by his presence and example.听 His thought is explored in a 5-part CBC Ideas program () well worth the listen.听 Through the power of divine love - an energy that transcends, yet at the same time infuses, humanity - the God who created all that is defeats all that stands in the way of the Commonwealth in which God鈥檚 SHALOM of justice, peace, and beauty will reign forever.听 That hope, sown deep within every human being, was fulfilled in Jesus at Easter as he took on the violence of scapegoating and forgave it.听 That quality of forgiveness is the key to better human relationships.
3.听听听 I am finishing this article on the morning of the Brussels bombings, stunned and shocked by the destruction human beings can devise when infected with fear and division.听 The most powerful message of Easter for me, in face of these kinds of complex and catastrophic events, is the simple, profound hope that love conquers fear and that reconciliation heals division.听 I feel that hope in my gut.听 I treasure that hope in my heart.听 And I will use my brain to figure out the best ways for me to use my gifts to contribute love and reconciliation in the unfolding wisdom of the Commonwealth of God.
There is a sense and significance in the integrated wisdom of instinct, emotion, and intellect that Siegel describes that deserves greater attention these days.听 I invite you to join me this Easter season to focus a good deal of your energy, whatever your spiritual tradition, on the ways you can participate in and contribute to the full flourishing of this creation.
Brian Fraser is minister with in Burnaby, BC, and lead provocateur at , where he plays around with the wit, wisdom, and workings of jazz to help people and not-for-profit organizations revive their VIBE (Values, Intentions, Barriers, and Execution) so they can flourish.听 He can be reached at [email protected].
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