Easter. We tend to think of it as a single day, Sunday, but it’s actually a multi-day, multi-week contemplation of death and resurrection. As a child, it was a cracking good story with lots of things to consider all of which seemed abstract and miraculous. From Thursday and the washing of the feet, through Friday and the crucifixion, then Saturday and the burial and denials, I loved it all. Humans dealing with the mysterious and I always wondered how I would have done.

But it was the resurrection and its aftermath that truly stood out. Jesus returned from the dead, and that’s what today, Sunday, is all about. But there’s more to the story. He spent another 40 days on earth. It was that bit, I believe, that gave me some sense that death might be simply part of a process, part of which we know, the living, and part of which we don’t, the dying. Because while we tend to think people die and go to heaven, that’s not how Jesus did it. He rose, sure, but he stuck around before ascending into heaven, and no one recognized him except when he chose to reveal himself.

And just the other day I saw the Marie Pavie roses on either side of the front porch were blooming again, and they made me think of my wife, who passed away in 2020. And it felt as though she was revealing herself to me. It makes sense, if you have any faith at all, because you’re dealing with eternity. So, being here with me spiritually, nearly two years after her death, may only be a blink of an eye in heaven. Which means, as the apostles learned, while I should certainly mourn her death, it’s the resurrection that’s the big news and something worth celebrating.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale