By Nancy Virden (c)2022

It’s Easter Week, and I fell into a rabbit hole.

It’s a family trait.

My mom was a seamstress. One evening we attended a gathering at her alma mater. She had made both our dresses. As we entered the building, we made a silly secret pact to keep score – who would receive the most compliments on Mom’s work.

Her gown won, and we giggled on our return to the car. Holding her head high in mock haughtiness, she proclaimed, “I am Queen Esther!” and immediately plopped her royal rear end, inelegantly, to the ground.

The cause of this sudden loss of royal stature was a hole in the pavement.  We could barely speak or move we were laughing so hard. The proverb, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18) came to mind, and strength failed us again. 

So for me to fall in a rabbit hole is not all that odd. Years ago I sprained my ankle by doing that, only to step into the same hole a few weeks later, re-injuring the same ankle. I was doomed to repeat history since I hadn’t learned my lesson the first time.

Recently, I responded to a woman’s small talk about Easter eggs and baskets as if it were the sum of the holiday.  I fell into that chocolate bunny routine as easily as face-planting beside a rabbit hole. Yet, though many of us have tried, chocolate fails to satisfy our deep needs.

Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, the only birth-son of the Heavenly Father. His death was to restore sinful humanity to a relationship with the One True God. His resurrection was to end the power of death. If he failed, we have no eternal hope. If his act was real, we have all hope.

Our lives are not meaningless. We are not accidents. The wanted or unwanted messages of the world do not touch us. Jesus died for us, and that love is as unconditional as it gets.

Because of his resurrection, believers have no reason to fear death. The loss of saved loved ones is not permanent. Our focus is on making life count, not survival.  We have reason to get out of bed each morning.

Despite strong emotions or even a mental disorder, we have a Savior who walks us through. God is not waiting to squash us as soon as we are weak, rather he is waiting to embrace us when we run to him for help. God’s love never fails.

The cross and resurrection are why we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday also known as Easter. It is the most important holiday for believers worldwide. I don’t want to minimize the power of this holiday by burying it in a rabbit hole of baskets and egg hunts. I want to celebrate new life and the love of God.

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Today’s Helpful Word

1 Corinthians 15:12-21

“And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless… And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.  But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”

If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or for a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speaks only from personal experience and observations. In no way is this website intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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