We find it much easier to appreciate Lent than Easter. We might get glimpses of Easter but for many it requires an exercise of the imagination where we negate the things of darkness so as to envision the light. Critics might contend that this is a rather backward way of dealing with things. Usually it is harder to see in the dark than in the light. Lent is the season that commemorates the struggle that all mortal creatures must endure. We know all too well the jagged edge of existence: suffering, betrayal, loss, sadness, sickness, pain, grieving and death. Many might suppose that these elements epitomize that which is most real. The cynic or pessimist thus might categorize contentment, belonging, comfort, happiness, fidelity, peace and life as either fleeting or as aberrational to human existence. Those who deny the Easter mystery might abandon themselves either to despair or to a libertine search for pleasure, making no distinction between the joys that comes with the acquisition of a real or an apparent good. Of course, they would also be quick to mention the price that one pays to be happy or to anesthetize from pain. Alcohol brings the hangover and drugs a case of withdrawal. Sex results in pregnancy and sometimes in venereal diseases. Gambling brings a thrill but often empties bank accounts. Sloth weakens muscles and often incurs in homelessness. Gluttony brings to the fore the full ramifications of gravity. What we do not know and what many disbelieve is the prospect of eternal life, joy, reunion, and contentment. Those who reject the resurrection necessarily repudiate heaven. They might reject hell but if life be hard they might accept the existence of more of the same. Easter requires us to look beyond what we know. Heavenly happiness is usually reckoned as an extrapolation from transitory pleasure to something lasting and complete.
There is a peculiar commonality between children and the elderly. The child may be gullible but often easily trusts that there is a world unseen from which God calls us and out of which he sends his angels to watch over us. We must be cautious that children will be able to distinguish the matters that are real and those which are fanciful like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The elderly may be discouraged but there is still a profound turning toward the divine mystery. They are aware that there are more days behind them than before them. Time in this world is running out and urgency strips away the distractions that many pursue. They prepare for the world to come and desire to experience the unseen realities that were first presented to them as children. Is there an ageless guardian angel still by their side? Will God give back all that the world and evil men have taken away? Trusting that God is a loving Father, many begin to yearn for the beatific vision and the reunion on the other side of the grave.
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