Easter Thoughts: more than chocolate rabbits

" ... Imagine the sense of despair and hopelessness which plagued the continent of Europe in the darker days of Nazi occupation.... No amount of tinkering around with the subjective side of things can ever change the real situation which causes the sense of despair... Now think of the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus as breaking the power of evil. But how can we make sense of the fact that evil continues to plague us? Human history as well as Christian experience tell us of a constant struggle against sin and evil, in our own lives as well as in the world. There is a real danger that talking about the " victory of  faith"  will become no more than empty words.
     The victory won by Christ was like the liberation of an occupied country from Nazi rule. Life was lived under the shadow of a foreign presence. Nothing could be done about it.... but then comes the electrifying news. There has been a far-off battle. And somehow it has turned the tide of the war. A new phase has developed, and the occupying power is in disarray. Its backbone has been broken. In the course of time, the enemy will be driven out of every corner of Europe. But they are still present in the occupied country.
     In one sense, the situation has not changed, but in another, more important sense, the situation has changed totally. The scent of victory and liberation is in the air. A total change in the psychological climate results... and so with us now. In one sense, victory has not come; in another, it has. The resurrection declares in advance of the event God's total victory over all evil and oppressive forces... their backbone has been broken, and we may begin to live now in the light of that victory, knowing that the long night of their oppression will end." 
----from Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, the Plough publishing house, 2003.