I couldn't agree more, Your Majesty--and thanks, by the way, for the atheist lifeline.
Although the idea of overcoming can be pressed to the point of triumphalism, in a way that makes such overcoming inevitable, Easter does have some appeal to me as a secular humanist. This is especially true when emphasis is given to the human capacity to overcome challenges by rallying. And as so many have said about this present challenge, unity is needed now more than ever.
How about you all? What meaning, if any, have you taken from Easter this year in light of COVID-19?
Maybe you've thought to merge Easter with celebrations of Spring and other such festivals. I imagine that this could be meaningful, too, because the arrival of spring after winter can be viewed as another kind of "resurrection." (It should be said that there are many, let's say, authentically humanist sources for the sort of above meaning. We don't, of course, have to limit ourselves to religious leftovers!)
For still another take on Easter, check out this reflection from The School of Life:
The truth of the story [of Jesus' crucifixion] isn't the decisive factor. He was clearly not 'the son of God', but the story nevertheless retains a critical power to educate the modern world about one or two important things.
Jesus is a symbolic character, a representative human being. No one is like him all the time. But most of us are a little bit like him some of the time. The story of his suffering is a strategically exaggerated version of the griefs involved in human experience more generally. Terrible things happen. Cancer is diagnosed. A divorce shatters a family A firm goes bankrupt. An ordinary mistake triggers a calamity. A parent dies before a child gets around to sorting out what they might have meant to them (continues).
I've always tried to enjoy a secular Easter, in the spirit of resilience and hope for better times ahead. The concept of a NATURAL "return to life" has long been very important to me. I chose it as the subtitle for my book on James, who said:
ReplyDelete"The worm at the core of our usual springs of delight can turn us into melancholy metaphysicians. But the music can commence again, and again and again, at intervals."
And whenever the music of life returns, we can direct our gaze forward and address James's "really vital question for us all, What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself?"
Yes, yes, I like that: "But the music can commence again, and again and again, at intervals." I'd also like to think that the music that follows, rather than being a mere da capo, note-for-note repetition, can learn something from what preceded and build on it, revise it, etc.
DeleteProperly answering the question, What is this world going to be? might demand a hearty break with life as it was before.
This is perhaps the most optimistic view I have, but I do like the thought of rebirth. While I do not hold a religious view or relation to Easter, I have always liked Spring for the charm of 70 degree weather and copious amounts of rain. Easter is the pinnacle of that calming feeling for me. It's like shaking off all the winter craziness and enjoying the sunshine for the first time
ReplyDeleteYes, sunshine, Patricia! Except what's sunshine when you're spending most of your days inside the house!
Delete