I’m sitting here at my kitchen table, watching the first signs of spring in my front yard and saying to myself, “O what a beautiful Easter Sunday God has given us.” The grass is starting to green up, and the robins and finches are singing their beautiful counterpoints. But I wonder what type of a day greeted Mary as she entered the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday. She must have been shocked and so worried about where her son was. Was Jesus not buried two days before? Did day not turn into night when He cried out from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do?” Did not his body go limp when He said, “It is finished?” Mary’s fears were turned into joy when she heard that He was risen from the dead just as He said He would be.
As I write these thoughts, another set of words come to mind from Isaiah 40: 29-31. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” I am writing these words because of the crosses that the people of the Ukraine are having to bear today when God’s beauty is beginning to blossom in my front yard. The Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches have not failed the Ukrainians even as so many cultures have tried to destroy their nation for centuries. They have been over-run by so many evil dictators, and yet, they have the power and strength to continue on, sometimes bending and sometimes beaten, but always keeping God in the center of their hearts. Both Stalin and Hitler tried to destroy the Ukrainian churches, but the faith of the people remained strong throughout their history.
They have waited on the Lord for strength, and He has given it to them. They have mounted up on wings of eagles; they have prevailed in running and are not weary. They are walking and are not fainting at the evil that is trying to over-power them. They are struggling and surviving the evil of Satan himself, Vladimir Putin. Even as Jesus Christ rose again on Easter Sunday, I believe that the Ukrainians will rise again to a new life and a new nation. Christ is risen, and they have been set free from the bonds of death. Christ is risen, and they are forgiven. Christ is risen, and wherever two or more gather in His name, the Ukrainians raise their voices and say, “Christ is risen. Alleluia!”
Hidden in every man’s psyche is the desire to be the best at everything he does, and Americans are no exception to this desire. Also hidden in each of us is a bit of jealousy as we look at what the Ukrainians have done in the war with Russia. They have asked for economic and military aid from the nations of the world, but they are fighting courageously like lions to protect their families and their land with the Arch Angel Michael at their side. Are we really stronger than the Ukrainians in our faith? Are we turning to God with our problems, or do we think war and adversity will never come to the shores of the United States? Despite many historical encroachments on their nation, the Ukrainians have at their very core a strong belief in God. It is almost impossible not to see all the carnage of the war, and yet, they fight on with a purity of heart that has not been seen for years in Europe. I say to myself, “There but by the grace of God goes America.”
I hope and pray that on this beautiful Easter Sunday we, as a nation, will rise up on wings of eagles, will continue to support the Ukraine in its efforts to push back Putin’s armies, and that all Americans will put God back into their hearts. Just as Mary’s fears turned to joy when she heard Jesus was truly risen from the dead, I pray that the people of the Ukraine will rise from this pain of war to the joy of a united Christian country. To the One who taught us to love, may the world find the light from the open tomb on that first Easter Sunday hidden in our souls. May we truly “mount up on wings of eagles,” and may we sing, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!”
Anna Hartt
