Although many people consider Easter a once-a-year celebration, its spiritual lessons bless the world all year round. One such lesson is that God is ever-present divine Love and immortal Life. From this springs a joyous promise of moment-by-moment discovery; a quiet, consistent learning that tells us we can and must grow gently, willingly, patiently in the spiritual understanding that no matter what the apparent enmity, setback, or disappointment, Love is always with us to overcome it.
With Jesus’ last cry on the cross in the tragedy of his crucifixion, it is recorded in the Bible, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51). The Talmud, a historic collection of rabbinic teachings that is sacred to the Jewish people, states that the veil was a 60-by-30-foot thickly woven curtain in the Temple in Jerusalem. It separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and was there to restrict access to this inner sanctuary, where God’s presence was believed to dwell. Only the high priest could enter there once a year to make atonement for the people. The veil, and related rites, perpetuated the notion that people were separate from God.
According to Jewish tradition, it took 300 priests to hang this enormous curtain, so there’s great spiritual significance to it tearing. An irresistible idea came to light in Jesus’ resurrection that has always been true and could no longer remain cloaked by religious ritual and tradition: the idea that man – a term meaning all of us in all time – can in no way ever be separated from God, our only creator. We are each forever God’s blessed spiritual creation.
Jesus lived this truth to its core in healing and transforming lives. It upheld him through the crucifixion and enabled his resurrection and ascension. Through profoundly understanding his irreversible spiritual unity with Love, he overcame hatred and death.
At the heart of every healing the Master performed and every word he spoke was, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Just before Christ Jesus began his mission of healing and preaching the kingdom of heaven here and now, God declared that he was His beloved Son. On the heels of this, Jesus faced a barrage of devilish thoughts tempting him to question his unbreakable unity with God and, more specifically, whether he was actually the Son of God (see Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus victoriously ruled out these aggressive evil thoughts as powerless and without reality because he recognized that they didn’t come from God.
Jesus continually comforted his disciples and encouraged them that this great truth of coexistence with God was to be demonstrated in continued healing, preaching, and teaching. He showed us that we, too, could prove the efficacy of understanding our present oneness with God, good.
The teachings of Christian Science highlight the brilliance of Jesus’ final victory over death, showing that God is Life, completely free of darkness or suffering. Through her deeply inspired study of the Bible, Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, understood that not only was the veil torn from top to bottom during the crucifixion, but this pivotal event “unveiled Love’s great legacy to mortals: Love forgiving its enemies,” as Jesus did on the cross. Mrs. Eddy continues, “This grand act crowned and still crowns Christianity: it manumits mortals; it translates love; it gives to suffering, inspiration; to patience, experience; to experience, hope; to hope, faith; to faith, understanding; and to understanding, Love triumphant!” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 124).
Although we may feel far away from consistently expressing spiritual love – God’s love that has no room for hatred and forgives under all circumstances – we can start where we are each day.
In moments when all is well, the ever present Christ that Jesus embodied so perfectly enables us to know that whatever peace, joy, harmony, etc., that we experience is Love’s doing, Love that brings about all good. And we are at one with the activity of Love. When things aren’t so good – as when we are harboring hurt, irritation, or a reluctance to forgive – Christ empowers us to express the love that outshines anything unlike divine Love. These can become Easter moments that bring healing at any time of the year; they are moments in which we feel the peace of God, and His perfect caring for all uplifting us to thrive, no matter the situation.
Moments of yielding to Love’s care are greatly significant. They increase our conviction that hatred and destruction are never the victors, and then more and more of our moments throughout the year become triumphant, blessed with God-given goodness.
