Some Renewed Thoughts On Easter

Monday, 25 April 2011 01:44

Written by Dr. Edna E. A. Co

The Lenten season not Christmas, is the core of Christianity. It is the passion, sufferings, and triumph through the resurrection of Christ that buy back the sins of humankind. That is the essence of Christianity – the redemption of humankind from the bondage of sin.

Because of the long break, Easter in the Philippines allows one a solid space for renewal – a reinvigoration not only of the mind and the body, but also of the spirit. A renewal means not a discovery of something novel – but a revisit, a retracing of the old – whether old chapters of lives, old friends and friendships, and old sources of our energies and inspiration. Such renewal is opportune during Easter. Easter allows us some quiet time and solitude and a shutting away from the world to reflect upon and to learn lessons. Learning lessons from the old ways, old friends and company, and old inspirations (or vision or will) bring about new perspectives. The value of Easter is the renewal and adoption of the NEW perspectives from the old.

On another perspective, I draw renewal from where I am. At Easter, I revisit the profession of teaching and gardening. Teaching and gardening are two of my passions. (The third one could easily be scuba diving, however due to the demand for some ample time to go out of town, I hardly get the material time to engage in it.) Like gardening, scuba diving has some basic messages, namely, the nurturing of mother nature and finding harmony in nature.

Teaching and gardening require a fair amount of attention, caring and nurturing, without which they could merely be jobs or any other paid work which one may not enjoy at all. The challenge in both teaching and gardening is that they both mean a giving of one’s time, some perseverance and patience including the tenacity to learn techniques of care and of giving and by the way, some very technical skills too. Do not expect anything there on quick returns on investments, and if one is unfortunate, not even getting back at all in the end. But such is the challenge of teaching and gardening. The crucial capital that is required by teaching and gardening is the connection – between oneself and the student in the case of teaching, and between oneself and the earth, the greens, the worms, the sunshine and water in the case of gardening. In both cases, the renewal lies in a rediscovery of the interchange, the relationship, and in the end, the faith in the natural because nature has its own master.

Once in a while under very busy circumstances, it is worthwhile to enjoy Easter. It is essential to go back to experience a renewal because the renewal leads to a fresh perspective. And after each Easter in one’s life, one is once again ready to face the daily grind of things, this time with a new perspective, with a fresh will, and with a sacred vision.

I wonder what our policy makers’ Easter is like?

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites