Bob Cornwall/Faith in the Public Square

Today is Easter Sunday, (Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter next week). It's the holiest and most joyous of all Christian festivals, even more so than Christmas. Its message is simple: In Jesus there is life. Easter falls on the heels of Good Friday, a day that seems misnamed - for it is a day of death. Jesus, the one whom Christians affirm as Lord and Savior, died on a Roman cross on a Friday nearly 2000 years ago, having been declared an enemy of the state. Easter pronounces God's vindication of Jesus; and in his resurrection God imposes judgment on death itself.

Just as the flowers and trees bloom in the spring, declaring that winter's dark hold on the land has ended, Easter declares that death has lost its sting. Though death casts its shadow over modern society and culture, Easter's affirmation of life chases the shadow away. I remember a speaker during seminary who posed the question: “We talk about life after death, but is there life before death?” He suggested that if there is to be life before death, then we must do our part to make it livable. If Mel Gibson did nothing else last year, he drove the point home of Jesus' death with overwhelming gore, but the message of Good Friday and Easter is not about death, but life. Together, they remind us that death isn't the final word. Easter is, you see, a pro-life moment.

That word - pro-life - has been politicized and narrowed, but it's a word that we should all embrace. We live in a culture where death dominates the news, the movies, TV, and our children's video games. It strikes a postal processing center and a Denny's diner. It comes to Africa in the form of famine and AIDS, while genocide continues to strike Darfur and suicide bombs explode across the globe. We've made great strides in medicine, but even in our most advanced societies we can't stave off death forever. It can come with a bullet, a storm, an earthquake, or cancer cells. Maybe that's why so many of us take refuge in promises of eternal life. For, whether it's wars and rumors of wars, terror and counter terror, assassinations or roadside bombs, murder or death penalties, we can't hide the certainty that death knocks at our door.

The word “pro-life” is usually used in reference to the anti-abortion movement. While I confess my ambivalence on this issue - I'm one of many Americans who wish it to be legal but rare - I wish to embrace the word itself. I confess my own inconsistencies on this matter, but I believe that life is sacred and needs to be held in great reverence. In my broadly-construed “pro-life” philosophy, I find myself opposing the death penalty, in part because I believe in redemption and executions take away the possibility, and I'm uncomfortable with a foreign policy that contemplates pre-emptive strikes and leans heavily on military solutions. Still, I've not yet reconciled myself to pacifism. To be pro-life is to advocate for a healthy environment and an economy that seeks to eliminate poverty, ignorance, and disease. It is to be concerned about immigration policies and proper housing. Why? Because we must face the question: “Is there life before death?” And if there is, how do we build a society that affirms life - life after birth and before death? This is the question that Easter poses to us, whether we're Christians or not.

When it comes to life, we must be concerned with much more than its simple biological meaning. Quality of life is a broad concept that assumes that humans enjoy shelter, food, health care, peace and security, freedom and hope. This is the message of Easter - death's grip has been broken and life has prevailed. As a Christian I believe that life extends beyond the boundaries of death, and I take great hope in that promise, but I must face the question of the life lived between the boundaries of birth and death. When we are able to face this question, then we will be ready to challenge the culture of death that holds us in its grip. If we are able to face this question then Easter will have fulfilled its promise.

Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisciples.org). You may contact him at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or by writing him at First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, CA 93438.

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April 16, 2006