Easter Joy

Easter Sunday has come and gone, but the joy of living in the Risen Christ is ever alive, ever new, ever potent. Lent of 2015 was centered in the theme of surrender for me. Now in the Easter season, I am praying for the grace to surrender in joy. 

In our world, I think the idea of surrender has unfortunate connotations of failure, giving up, walking away. In reality, as a Christian, it means giving over all I am, all I fear, all I desire; it means handing off to Christ all that is broken and damaged in me, as well as all that is beautiful in me - that which God created. It also means letting God be God in my life (a theme I write about frequently on this blog), and not letting myself become discouraged by my mistakes, my falls, my sins. As St. Paul has urged us, we are to persevere. It doesn't matter what I am, in a sense - broken, sinful, sad, etc. - because what really matters is that Jesus has paid the ultimate price for my redemption, and He wants me to live in Him, in His joy.

There is an element of self-knowledge in this; knowing that I'm never going to be perfect. I'm born into original sin, and I, again like St. Paul, do what I don't want to, and don't do what I want to. But the fact is that knowing how weak I am enables me to surrender to God's Love, and that enables God to do miracles in my heart, soul, body and life. This, to me, is the essence of living Easter Joy, for He has died and is risen that I may live abundantly!