In Good Company – 28″ x 28″ – wood, paint, feathers, nails, aspirin, paper, buttons, cord, chain, plastic snowflakes, lace. – Easter, 2009.
The whole point of Easter is that suffering and death do not get the last word. In fact, the phrase “overcame death” will start showing up in the prayers of the church for the next months.
But overcoming something and avoiding it are not the same thing. We would much rather avoid death. And come to think of it, we would also like to avoid difficulties and distress in life while we’re at it. In fact, if we examine our lives honestly, rather a lot of our energy is spent doing various things that we think will protect us from distress, difficulty, and death. Well, the bad news is, it’s not going to work. Even the richest person in the world, or the smartest person in the world, or the most spiritual person in the world cannot avoid discomfort, disease, disappointment, and eventually death.
So what is a soul to do? If avoiding all that stuff isn’t the point of life, what is? The message of Easter is that those things, no matter how difficult they are when we are in the midst of them, are temporary. And if we choose to lead our lives in the company of the Divine, focusing on serving God rather than on ourselves, God is ultimately more eternal and more powerful than any earthly trouble, and only in God’s company are we able to overcome what would otherwise defeat us.
Alleluia!