Begin Now

1946

"Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory." Luke 24:26. Read Luke 24:24-21, Colossians 3:1-4.

Each Easter confirms anew the faith that time and death are not the lords of life. Jesus the Christ brought life and immortality to light, as the life and immortality were one and indivisible. "He lived every day of His life," someone said, "as though He was to live forever." The vanquished tomb was only the final proof that death had no dominion over him. Therefore, in the light of Easter life Christian faith takes on a new dimension. We, too, may begin to live as if we were to live forever, matching our steps with His.

The Easter bells sound a jubilant and assuring music; love and goodness, are right to endure, forever; comfort will outlast sorrow and the healings of God's mercy for pain and loss are sure. There will be time enough, the Easter revelation assures us, to finish what in our souls is now unfinished and find what in our hopes is still unrealized. Partings are not forever and the wages of virtue "are going on and not to die." That was the pattern of His life Who gives us Easter morning. By the grace of God we may make it ours.

PRAYER — O Thou Who through Thy Son hast turned the shadow of death into the morning, we praise Thee for the everlasting hopes that now rise within our hearts and for the Gospel which has brought life and immortality to light. Receive our thanksgiving, reveal Thy presence and kindle our hearts with the spirit of the Risen Christ. In the Name of the Risen Christ. Amen.

—The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, April 21, 1946, p. 4.