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Easter Weekend: Let Us Rejoice?

Gustave Dore’s “The Saintly Throng in the Form of a Rose”

When I finally shook off the shackles of my religion, a process that took years, I freed my suffering psyche from a bondage I felt was never fair or right. After all, if God has made us “in his own image,” then He has made us as flawed as He must be. Instead of humanity being obligated to pray for forgiveness and mercy, should not He ask forgiveness of us?

Would a father or mother today truly condemn their child to eternal damnation for any degree of offense or disobedience? I suppose there must be consequences, right?

But eternal damnation? If my child were born with the genetic makeup to perpetrate a heinous crime, then I ought to weep for passing down that predisposition. I ought not to wish upon that child eternal damnation. Both nature and nurture influence mental health, though as we learn more about the brain and its chemistry, it would appear that nature pulls more sway. Is it a child’s fault that s/he is chemically unbalanced? I think not.

So, how are we still okay with believing that God made us in His image if we are so tragically imperfect? When He gave our original progenitor and his rib-gifted woman free will and presented them with the classic, “Don’t touch the stove!” warning, did He (The Omniscient One) not know how badly they would burn themselves?

On a trip to visit family several years ago, I sat next to a lily-white, dewy-eyed young mother of three small boys. I’ll ironically name her “Joy” because despite her tremulous smile, her eyes struggled to portray resolve. When I closed my book, she seized the opportunity to start a conversation.

“Do you believe in God?” she asked. No, “Hi!” No, “So, where are you heading?” She went right for the jugular.

I hesitated for a moment. Perhaps Joy was searching for an answer to her own questions. “I believe in something greater than myself,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

She launched into what sounded like a canned explanation for why she and her husband were moving with their three children to do missionary work in southern Sudan. She tried to sound excited.

For all the good that foreign missionaries have accomplished over the years—and I honestly don’t know that they have—I’ve always questioned their motives. Why not help our own poor, our own uneducated? I’ve forever felt that no one organized religion holds the whole bucket of gold at the end of the rainbow, so I didn’t want this youngster wasting her self-righteous indignation on me.

I’d never see this woman again, so instead of telling her how wonderful I thought her mission was, which I believe she expected, I told her how I really felt. The plane was on its final descent, so if a fight broke out, it would be short-lived.

“So, you’re telling me that you’re willing to risk the health and possibly the lives of your young children to proselytize in a place plagued by civil unrest?” I was proud of my alliteration. “Why not work here?”

She set her face, looked beyond me, and pulled out every verse she had so far memorized.

“The boys are God’s children, and He has given them to me for as long as He thinks I should have them. If He decides to take them from me, it is His will.”

Oh. Your. God.

I couldn’t hide the horror on my face. I was angry. If adults choose to endanger their own lives, so be it. Let Darwin’s Law apply. But I’ve always held this silly belief that a parent’s job description includes protection of their children.

“I’ll pray for you,” she told me when the wheels touched down, her face a mask of forged enthusiasm.

“And I’ll pray for you and your boys too,”—yes, I pray—“that you’ll all live to return home someday.”

But her home was beyond this world. She had already convinced herself of that.

~ ~ ~

I’m the chubby little sinner on the right.

With this Easter weekend upon us, I reflect upon my childhood experiences surrounding this holy day. My memories are of scary visits to the confessional booth to cleanse my soul of sins that could condemn me to eternal damnation, of beautiful new Easter outfits with frilly ankle socks and proper little hats for a church service that would leave me light-headed and eager for the sugary treats in my Easter basket, of big dinners with lots of family, of finally being able to enjoy all the things I had “given up” for the season of Lent.

I’m a big girl now, and for that I will sing “Hallelujah!” I will be the best person I can be while cloaked in the imperfection of my mortal flesh, knowing that this being called Laurel is a fleeting thing! The very notion of eternal damnation be damned!

Now, will somebody give me an Amen?

By author

Laurel lives and laughs and publishes and podcasts in Colorado's Rocky Mountains! She has published several multi-genre books and hosts the podcast "Alligator Preserves," where she interviews fascinating people, talks about the human condition, and shares scary stories from her "Dark Ebb" collection.

5 replies on “Easter Weekend: Let Us Rejoice?”

The Laurel nailed a bunch of Chip’s questions and logic; however, Chip concludes differently.

How does one explain electricity to an alligator? We humans are the alligator with regard to spirituality. In our mortal state, we don’t have the fullest wherewithal to fathom the Kingdom of God that is at hand all about us, within us.

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. We are electrical beings. What happens to our energy when we die?

God tells His story through man, especially when the Bible got cobbled together. Could man have mis-written some passages?

Many of us go through dark journeys of our souls. St. Mother Teresa certainly wrote about her struggles. Keep an open soul, remain prayerful, and talk to others of us who bear our own crosses of faith.

Though, the alligator cares nothing about electricity! When the alligator becomes a pair of cowboy boots, does is rue the day it never tried to understand the wielder of guns? I appreciate your analogy, but find it irrelevant. Or perhaps not. Perhaps, like the alligator or the ant, we should live only in the “now,” (though, this I don’t believe either)!

I am comforted by the belief that when we die, our energy exists in another form (not a some”one” with wings who watches over us. That’s just creepy). I believe in a collective energy, a collective knowledge, and just as we once couldn’t see the earth was a sphere (there are still those who believe it is flat), we still cannot see or tap into all that exists in our universe. I like to think that prodigies are somehow (someday we may discover how) tapped into knowledge that exists for us all. And yes, I believe in science.

Is it possible that man has mis-written, re-written, transposed many, many, many passages of His story? We’d be foolish to think not.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Chip! I appreciate your reflections.

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