Life Is Full—Because the Tomb Is Empty

"He Is Not Here," by Walter Rane

As I do most years, I celebrate more than just Easter day; I celebrate the Easter season, and particularly Holy Week, from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday.

Celebration can take a lot of forms, as it does for other holidays (holy days) as well. For me, that involves home decorations, food, family traditions, music, study, and anything that helps me focus on the reason for the celebration. Easter is particularly rich in meaning, so it’s full of opportunities.

At Christmas I’ve been filling my decorations with nativity scenes my entire adult life, so I have a pretty sizable collection of small ornaments and table decorations. For Easter there are beginning to be decoration items related to the actual meaning of Easter, little scenes, maybe with moving parts, to tell the story. But I haven’t acquired any yet. I have a couple of small art pieces, and I painted one last year, of the moment of resurrection. This year I have plans to do one of the empty tomb. It’s still in planning stages, but I’m hoping to get time this weekend to make it a reality.

Music celebration is something I fully embrace. This year on actual Easter Sunday, the twice-a-year Worldwide General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be taking place (it’s always the first Saturday and Sunday of April and October). So we’ll be listening to the Tabernacle Choir and hearing messages from general church leaders, including our prophet and apostles, as well as a few others. So music locally was done this year on Palm Sunday. Our ward (congregation) did a very nice program, mostly music, for our sacrament meeting (worship service) this past Sunday. I was assigned the organ that day, and I play for the choir and the Primary (children 3-11). And I sang a solo, accompanied on organ.

I did that solo again in the evening for our stake concert (a stake is a geographically combined group of congregations, like a diocese; ours has eight wards). I also sang in the choir.

The piece I sang was “He Was Despised,” an alto aria from Handel’s Messiah, not one of the more well known ones, but one I really like to sing. Handel knows how to write for the different voice parts, and all of the alto solos are a good fit for my voice; they feel good to sing. This one is mournful. It uses the words from Isaiah 53: “He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” written some 700 years before they happened.

To read the full article (which includes a video I made), FOLLOW LINK TO SUBSTACK.

All Things Testify of Him

We can refer to this entire week as Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday, or Easter. There are some specific things that happen on each of the days—at least as far as we know or can derive from scripture, some significant memorable events. But there are better places than here to get all the details. (I really enjoyed this video, and this one also. There are also a number of videos of the life of Jesus produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; some are used within the first video, and I have used screenshots from several of those as well.) I’ll just cover a few things that stand out to me.

There’s a practice surrounding Passover, where the unblemished sacrificial lamb is chosen, and kept with the family for several days, to make sure it is indeed unblemished.

the family selects a sacrificial lamb, and cares for it for four days,
before making the sacrifice for Passover, screenshot from here

This is symbolic of the Savior, the Lamb of God, who was sacrificed for us. It was always about Him, even when it was a practice to honor the time when the Destroying Angel passed over (thus Passover) the children of Israel. A lamb’s blood was brushed on the door posts to identify the homes of the Lord’s people. And this last plague, the loss of the Firstborn, was the one that finally got the children of Israel out of Egypt.

To those of us with eyes to see, so much of the Old Testament testifies of the Savior. And I believe the people then knew that these things testified of their coming Messiah.

 

sacrificial lamb painting, screenshot from here

The lamb was chosen and then kept by the family for about four days. This would have coincided with Jesus’s entrance into the city on Palm Sunday. The gospels differ on the timeline, but if John’s version is accurate, Jesus would have been examined by the high priest at the same time the sacrificial lambs were being examined for their purity. And, again, on that timeline, Jesus would have died on the cross at the very hour the sacrificial lambs were being killed. It was required that they be killed without breaking any bones; Jesus, unlike the other two prisoners crucified that day, had no bones broken.

houses were cleared out of leaven ahead of the Passover celebration,
screenshot from here

Also as part of the Passover celebration, houses were cleaned out, and all leavening was removed, which was considered corrupting; the unleavened bread also indicated the haste with which the children of Israel had to leave. But, about that household cleansing: what happens after Jesus’s entrance into the city? He goes to the temple, His Father’s house, and cleans it from the corruption of those doing business there. 

Jesus drives the moneychangers from the temple,
screenshot from here

During this Holy Week, the Lord holds a supper in an upper room (a Passover meal according to all the gospels except John), with his chosen twelve. He uses the meal to create with them a covenant—they eat and drink in remembrance of Him, and they will always have His Spirit to be with them.

Later that night, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the sacrifice begins. And then He is apprehended, and examined—as the sacrificial lamb is. The next day He is killed, on the cross, in the most cruel of execution methods.

What we call Good Friday is the day He was killed and taken down from the cross—before sundown, which marked the beginning of the Sabbath.

He was laid in a borrowed tomb. Guards were set there, to make sure no one could take His body and claim He had risen—although even His close disciples, whom He had told about the coming death and resurrection, failed to understand what was about to happen.

Early that Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, bringing spices, as preservatives for the body. This would have been their first opportunity, since He was laid there just prior to the Sabbath, and it was dark again by the time the Sabbath ended. They found the stone rolled away and the guards missing. And two angels are there, telling them the Savior is risen (Matthew 28:1-10).

angels tell the women that Jesus is not in the tomb,
screenshot from here

They ran to tell the apostles (nice short video here), some of whom thought this must be the idle tales of women. But Peter and John both ran straightaway. They found the tomb empty, and angels told them He had risen (John 20: 1-10). We don’t know how they thought through this news. But we know Mary waited outside the tomb, and when she saw a person she thought was the gardener, she asked where he might have taken her Lord.

Mary waits outside the empty tomb,
screenshot from here

And He said, “Mary,” calling her by name. And she realized it was her beloved Lord and Savior (Mark 16:9; John 20:10-18).

This is the first of many encounters His disciples had with Him. He meets with the remaining apostles in their room later (Mark 16:14; John 20:14)—all the remaining except Thomas, who then says he’ll need to see Him with his own eyes. Which happens later (John 20:24-29). He eats with them. He has them verify the wounds in His hands and feet, and in His side, where the spear pierced Him to verify His death.

He meets with a couple of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, talking with them for some time without revealing His identity until they are about to part (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-35).

two travelers on the road to Emmaus meet Jesus, and talk with
him, not recognizing him until He leaves them,
screenshot from here

He meets His disciples on the sea shore, again telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat—as He had done in the miracle of the fish when He first called them to follow Him (John 21:2-14). Peter then recognizes Him and jumps in to swim to Him. Jesus has prepared a fire and a meal for them. And He goes through the questioning of Peter, three times, “Do you love me,” to which Peter declares that he does. And the Savior tells Him, “Feed my lambs,” and "Feed my sheep." Peter is to continue the ministry. 

Peter and several of the apostles return to fishing,
screenshot from here

Jesus asks Peter to "Feed my lambs,"
screenshot from here

There is a period of time when He meets with a rather large congregation of followers, 500, and teaches them for some time. And when He leaves, two angels are there, asking why they are staring up into heaven, and foretelling that, when He returns, for His triumphal reign, He will descend in a similar manner to how they saw Him ascend into heaven.

He was more than a Spirit. He had a body (Luke 24:39). He asked Mary not to hold Him, because He was yet to ascend to His Father (John 20:14-17); but He had a body to hold. And He had people touch Him (Luke 24:39-40; John 20:25-29).

He ate fish and honey with the disciples (Luke 24:42-43).

Trying to figure the numbers of witnesses from that time, there was Mary Magdalene, Peter, the ten plus others with them (not Thomas), the eleven plus others when Thomas was there, Cleopas and another on the road to Emmaus, seven who were fishing, apostles on a mountain in Galilee, apostles on the Mount of Olives, 500 believers (I Corinthians 15:6), Stephen at the time of being stoned to death, Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-6).

That’s a lot of witnesses. (There’s a good collection of these witnesses’ accounts, and their scripture references, here.) 

It seems impossible that so many separate witnesses could be deceived. It seems extremely unlikely that so many followers of Jesus would lie. No explanation other than His resurrection explains all those witnesses. 

And we can pray and ask, and the Holy Spirit will testify the truth to us directly.

He lives. He is the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20). As with so many things related to His life, death, and resurrection, He was raised on the day that was celebrated as the firstfruits offering of the barley. All things testify of Him.

the firstfruits offering of barley was threshed and ground,
and mixed with oil and frankincense,
screenshot from here

We celebrate His resurrection again this year, as His followers have done since around 33 AD. Even the way we count years denotes His reality.

If this most important of all stories is true, then our lives have meaning: we are here for a purpose, and we will continue to live with purpose after we die.

And we are in the foretold times, the last days, when we prepare for His coming again, this time to rule and reign as King of Kings. A being powerful enough to conquer death—yet loving enough to sacrifice Himself for our sakes—this being is worthy of our love and devotion. And it is by choosing to be on His side in the battle against evil that makes His imminent return a Great rather than Dreadful Day for us.

Hallelujah! And Hosanna! He is risen!

Beyond Words

For some things there are no words. That’s why we need music and art.

This Sunday we celebrate the most wonderful and amazing—beyond words—event in the history of creation: Christ Completing the Atonement by Rising from the Dead.

I’ll celebrate today with just a few words to tie the artwork to the events. The artists, I find, as I do this collection, both happen to be from my religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Walter Rane and Ken Turner (Ken is a personal friend here in Texas; I have highlighted him for his 9/11 piece "Out of the Ashes").

Palm Sunday—the Sunday before the resurrection—our Lord and Savior entered Jerusalem according to prophesy.

The painting is called “Triumphal Entry” by Walter Rane.

Walter Rane's "Triumphal Entry"

The crowds were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. That is what Jesus was celebrating during the Last Supper later that week. According to custom the diners sat on the floor at a low table. It was during the meal that Jesus blessed and gave them the bread and wine as a covenant for them to remember Him and keep His commandments.

This painting is Walter Rane’s “In Remembrance of Me.”

Walter Rane's "In Remembrance of Me"

Christ also gave them another covenant blessing: the washing of feet, which showed them service, but also has meaning I don’t yet fully understand.

The painting is Ken Turner’s “Washing Feet.”

Ken Turner's "The Greatest Servant of All"

At the end of the meal, when “they had sung an hymn” (Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26), they went out onto the Mt. of Olives. According to the New Testament Student Manual on our Church website,   the hymn they sang

was probably the traditional Jewish recitation from Psalms 113-18, called the Hallel. Psalms 113-14 were traditionally sung at the beginning of the meal, and Psalms 115-18 were traditionally sung as part of the formal closing of a Passover meal.

The painting is Ken Turner’s “They Had Sung an Hymn.”

Ken Turner's "They Had Sung an Hymn"
found on his Facebook page a year ago, no current link

What happened in the garden of Gethsemane is significant beyond our understanding. It was here that Jesus suffered beyond what normal mortals can suffer, so intense that He bled from every pore.

There’s a song our young children sing about this part of the story, called “Gethsemane.” I first heard it in a recording by Claire Crosby—actually it was the first video I saw of her as well; I think she was three.

This painting is another Ken Turner, “Gethsemane.”

Ken Turner's "Gethsemane"

Walter Rane also did a version called “Not My Will But Thine.”

Walter Rane's "Not My Will But Thine"

When the soldiers arrived, seeking to apprehend Him, Jesus let them know which one was Him, so they would not harm the others.

This painting is Walter Rane’s “I Am He.”

Walter Rane's "I Am He"

Peter was the apostle we often think of as impulsive. He drew a sword and cut off the ear of one of the soldiers. Jesus immediately healed the ear. One would think that would indicate to any soldier or observer or accuser that He was who He said He was.

This painting of the healing, and the instruction to Peter not to stop what needed to happen, is Walter Rane’s “Suffer Ye Thus Far.”

Walter Rane's "Suffer Ye Thus Far"

Then came the illegal trials, the scourging, and the crucifixion, until Jesus could say, “It is finished.” He was the sacrificial lamb, without blemish. The sacrificial lambs had just been selected for Passover, and then the Sacrificial Lamb that they symbolized began His ordeal. The lamb image is a screenshot of a video related to our Sunday lesson a couple of weeks ago.

screenshot from here

Then comes the cross. 

This is Ken Turner's "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs."

Ken Turner's "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs"

Jesus’s mother was one of the few staying at His feet during the ordeal on the cross. They needed to take His body down and place it in the tomb rather quickly, as the Sabbath approached. Imagining this moment is beyond pain.

This is Walter Rane’s painting “Christ Taken from the Cross.”

Walter Rane's "Christ Taken from the Cross"

Early Sunday morning the women went to the tomb to anoint the body with oils. They did not find Him, but an angel told them He was risen. I have heard people comment on the napkin that had been placed over His face. It was folded neatly. Tradition was, if a person got up from a dinner table, for example, and was not finished, he would fold the napkin neatly. It signified he would return.

This painting by Walter Rane, “He Is Not Here,” is one of my favorites.

Walter Rane's "He Is Not Here"

Was He truly alive again? Mary saw Him at the tomb. This is Ken Turner's "Empty Tomb."

Ken Turner's "Empty Tomb"

He appeared to his apostles, and ate with them. He appeared to them again when Thomas was with them. He appeared to some of them on the road to Emmaus.

This is Walter Rane’s “Christ at Emmaus.”

Walter Rane's "Christ at Emmaus"

He appeared to them again on the shores of Galilee. And He spent weeks among them, teaching them, guiding them in how to spread the gospel—the good news. That good news is that He overcame death for all, and He overcame the separation from God for all who would accept His atonement and keep their covenant to always remember Him and keep His commandments.

It is in keeping those commandments that our lives are different. They are not restrictions from a full and happy life; they are the very guidelines to a good life.

We are reminded, at Easter—and always—that it is not life, but the tomb, that is empty. He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). 

I’ll add one more piece of music. This is Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah!” redone with lyrics for the Easter story. I first discovered the words a year ago. (I’ve been arranging the piece for two dulcimers.) But this rendition was passed along to me several times this past week. I think it’s the prettiest one I’ve heard: “An Easter Hallelujah—Cassandra Star & her sister Callahan.”

He taught us how to love perfectly. And He promises to make up the difference for our imperfections if we simply love Him and earnestly strive to love one another as He loves us.

His love is beyond words. But it is not beyond what we can feel.

May you experience a glorious Easter!

He Lives

We’re in a week celebrating the most significant event in the history of our world—the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

For something that big, we ought to take a little time to retell the story, and to do what we can to remember.

I’ve been checking in with some online resources provided by my Church, going through the Holy Week story. There is a lot of written information, as well as videos, going through each day. Too much to do more than just sample here. But I’ll share some of the videos. Some are portrayals of the events; others are descriptions and information. Most are brief, under five minutes.

Palm Sunday

Portrayal video “The Lord's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem”:

Explanation video of the “Triumphal Entry”:

Monday through Wednesday

Monday through Wednesday include the cleansing of the temple, as well as the teaching of several parables, and answering questions of those who were trying to trap him. I won’t cover all of these; there are many. But the portrayal of the Cleansing of the Temple and the explanation of some of the symbolism is worth seeing.

·         Portrayal video “Jesus Cleanses the Temple”

·         Explanation video “Leaven and the Cleansing of the Temple” 

Thursday

There’s a lot that happens on this day: preparations and then the Last Supper, the suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, the trial.

·         Portrayal video “The Last Supper”

·         Explanation video “The Last Supper and the Passover Feast”

·         Portrayal video “The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane,” covering also the betrayal, healing the centurion’s ear, and the arrest: 

This next video, “Gethsemane,” explains some of the meaning of the name Gethsemane, and the symbolism that the Savior fulfilled. Did you know Gethsemane means “olive press”? And that the first press of the olives is a dark reddish brown appearing much like blood?

Good Friday

The illegal trials happen during the night. But the trial before Pilate, the choice to let Barabbas go free and to crucify Jesus were done early morning, before the crucifixion on Golgotha.

·         Portrayal video “Jesus Is Condemned before Pilate”

·         Explanation video “His Blood Be Upon Us” 

·         Explanation video “What Was the Crucifixion Like” 

Saturday

Saturday was a painful day for all who loved Jesus. It appeared that all hope had died. They hadn’t understood that He had told them He would die and rise again. And their only experience in the world was that death was permanent. As this explanation video points out, their agony on this day allows them to understand full joy once they encountered the resurrected Savior.

·         Explanation video “Day of Agony”

Sunday

Early in the morning, the women went to the tomb, carrying spices to anoint the body. They found the stone rolled away from the opening and guards gone. Angels tried to explain to them, but they hardly understood. They went and told the disciples, who mostly didn’t believe them, but Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves, finding the tomb empty. Puzzled, and not understanding, they went back home.

Mary Magdalene waited at the tomb. When a person approached, whom she assumed must be the gardener, she asked if he had taken the body. But then Jesus spoke her name.

So, it is Mary who is the first we have record of who saw the risen Lord. Then He appears to all the remaining apostles except Thomas. Later He comes again and Thomas sees Him, and feels the prints in His hands, and can thereafter testify that their Lord and Savior lives. Shortly after, He appears to others on the road to Emmaus.

·         Portrayal video “Jesus Is Resurrected” 

·         Portrayal video “Blessed Are They That Have Not Seen and Yet Have Believed”

·         Portrayal video “Christ Appears on the Road to Emmaus” 

He appears to them later, on the shore near their fishing boat, and then calls them to the mission He has for them going forward. He spends 40 days with them, teaching them, before rising again into heaven.

Stephen, just prior to being stoned to death, saw Him (Acts 7:55). Ananias saw Him (Acts 9:10) and was directed to go take care of Paul, who had been a persecutor of the saints. Paul later saw Him (Acts 18:9; Acts 23:11). He was seen by more than 500 people (I Corinthians 15:6).

In addition, in my faith, we believe He later appeared to the people on this continent and taught them for three days, seen probably by about 2500 people (3 Nephi 17:25).

Two or three witnesses should suffice. It is hard for me to imagine thousands of people who thereafter lived with the purpose of promoting truth and goodness to have colluded together to lie about the Savior’s resurrection. Their testimonies and their lives testify that He lives.

His life was real—as clearly established historically as ancient historical person. The details of His life fulfill the hundreds of prophecies from all the Old Testament prophets. If we use simplest, most logical conclusion, it is not that He is an invention; it is that, indeed, He lives.

During the weekend, we’re going to do an Easter egg hunt with grandchildren and have a Sunday feast. I made chocolate eggs, and we’re going to decorate cookies and eggs. Many of those things seem frivolous, but underneath it all, we’re celebrating new life, and joy, and love.

So we will use this time to remember, He lives.

All Because of Him

We’re celebrating Easter this weekend with kids and grandkids. I love the festivities of a holiday, especially Easter and Christmas. There are eggs and candy and decorations, of course. But it’s also important to celebrate the most important event in the history of the world—the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Back when I was a teenager, I heard a talk about the medical and historical details of the crucifixion. It had a profound effect on me then, and stuck in my memory.  The video below, called “What Was Crucifixion Like?” posted last year on the Messages of Christ YouTube channel, presents that information, along with visuals.  There’s good and bad to that. I never saw the movie The Passion of the Christ, because it was too gruesomely intense for me. I’m glad it exists, but it wasn’t really meant for me.

This documentary video uses partly literal recreation, along with computer illustrations for some of it. So I managed to be amazed at Christ’s suffering without being overcome by the savagery. It’s about 7 ½ minutes. And it ends with this: 

The willingness for Jesus to die on the cross for us, in such a painful and agonizing way, teaches us of His incredible love. Jesus could have been killed by stoning, or by one of many other ways, but He instead chose to be crucified. He submitted to the most heinous and dreaded forms of death, so that He could understand and succor His people. None of us can claim that Jesus cannot fathom our sorrows, anguish and pains, for He has endured all things. Truly, as Isaiah so prophetically stated: "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

At Easter we do, of course, remember the crucifixion. But what is the most important event in all history is the resurrection. That makes all the difference.

In our religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we look at these events somewhat differently from other Christian churches. We do not deny in any way the importance of the crucifixion. But we also note what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before. We don’t see this as a weak or worrying moment for Christ, fearing what was to come. The suffering in the Garden was itself enough to cause even God to tremble, and bleed from every pore. This can’t be from imagining what was to come; it had to be important in itself. And we believe it was.

I struggle to explain clearly and briefly. But we believe that what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane was the temporary withdrawal of the Spirit of God the Father. What happened the following day, on the cross, was the separation of the body from the spirit, which is what happens in death. So there are two “deaths” to overcome: the one we understand when we see it, when the body and spirit separate; and also the one that separates our spirit from God’s spirit, that came about with the fall.

We live in a fallen world, where bad things happen, and where we make mistakes that we have no power to overcome on our own. Christ overcomes both the physical death, leading the way for us to be resurrected as He was; and spiritual death, leading the way for us to return to our Father.

Christ rescues us all from physical death; every one of us will be resurrected. But our place—our acceptance back into the presence of God—depends on our accepting Christ’s act, his atonement, to make up in every way our deficiencies, if we are willing to do as He asks, by earnestly striving to live according to God’s commandments, and to repent when we fail or slip up.

There was a talk, by one of my favorite Church leaders, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, from 2006. In it, he says,

Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement,

I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now.

I love that. I feel loved by knowing that. Christ didn’t do His ultimate sacrifice to be able to weed us out when we make one little mistake too many; He did it to give us every opportunity to be redeemed, because of His profound love.

Our worldwide Church has a theme again this Easter. This year it is #Because Of Him. Besides some reminders for each day of Holy Week, there’s this brief video reminding us of the many ways we benefit from what Christ did for us. It’s a worthwhile reminder before the Easter egg hunt and the family dinner.

Embed:

From the Inside Out

It’s Easter this Sunday. The commemoration of the most amazing event in the history of the world. The separation of the body and spirit, which happens at death, was overcome. And the separation of each of us from the presence of God, which happens when we are born into this fallen world, was overcome.

The example and teachings of Jesus Christ are the most civilizing influence in our otherwise troubled world.

Ezra Taft Benson, whom we refer to here occasionally as a prime source for the Proper Role of Government, was also Secretary of Agriculture, and then was the President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was a young mother. He gave a General (worldwide) Conference address entitled “Born of God” back in 1985. A passage from that was brought to my attention this week:

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

The way to civilization, along with its accompanying freedom, prosperity—and peace—comes from changing the human heart. One at a time. Starting with our own. Spreading to our family members. Then to our friends and community. Until enough of us live that way that thriving civilization results.

Government simply has no capacity to create civilization. It has a useful role of protecting life, liberty, and property. But government doesn’t create jobs or wealth. It doesn’t “care” for the poor when it takes from some people to give to others. It doesn’t control the climate. It can, however, do great harm when it attempts anything beyond its proper role. Government is a worldly, outside-in entity.

Government isn’t God. Any attempt to replace God decays civilization. Government would do well to respect and honor every person who celebrates Easter by willingly living God’s word as best they individually understand it.

Little Political Spheres 1 and 2
in the Texas bluebonnets, 2013,
adding to word peace

I’m celebrating Easter in some traditional ways this weekend. Spending time with kids and grandkids, maybe including taking some kids-in-the-bluebonnets photos on Saturday—a grand tradition here in Texas. And we’ll be getting together to listen to the word of God on Easter Sunday. Hear some beautiful Easter music. Eat a good meal together. Maybe have an Easter egg hunt for the little ones.

I love Easter. Not the candy and all so much. But I love the way spring reminds us of new life—of resurrection. I love the opportunity to remember, even more especially than we do every Sunday and every day, to remember Christ and His love for us.

In that spirit, I’m sharing this short video, an Easter gift from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reminding us that He Lives.

 

 

 

He Is Risen

The Spherical Model proposes that one of the essentials of civilization is a religious people who live the basics of God’s law: the Ten Commandments. So, while religious specifics aren’t something we cover here every day, this is the foundation under everything else, including politics and economics.

It’s Good Friday, and worth spending a post rejoicing for the single most important event that has happened in the history of our world: Jesus the Christ has risen from the dead, leading the way for us to be able to return home to heaven.

A friend on Facebook has been linking a photo countdown this week, with art from some of my favorite artists, so I looked up the source. (I don’t follow a great many artists, but these happen to be among those I’m familiar with and follow, probably because of their religious content. J. Kirk Richards was brought to my attention a few years ago by my daughter-in-law, who had a copy of one of his Madonna and Child paintings. You can find his work here.) Each photo has a message reminding us of this important week.

All of these are from the Facebook page of Mormon.org and can be found in an album there. I believe there will be ten; today is the eighth. So it will be worth checking back there through Easter Sunday. I hope you enjoy the sweet peace I feel looking at these images. And I hope your Easter celebration is beautiful as well.

Painting by Walter Rane

Painting by J. Kirk Richards

Painting by Carl Bloch

Painting by J. Kirk Richards

Painting by J. Kirk Richards

Painting by J. Kirk Richards

Painting by Walter Rane

Painting by J. Kirk Richards