Every year we are inspired and challenged by so many truths in the timeless message of Easter. The heart of the Easter message is that Jesus Christ is the risen, living Lord. He has triumphed over sin and and death. The crucifixion of Jesus which was intended to be a dead-end street, turned out to be an open highway into the future.

Science tells us that nothing is ever destroyed. It only changes form. This is what the living Christ tells us at Easter time about the human personality. The seasons of the year tell us that life persistently triumphs over death. Look around you at the new life and beauty of spring that comes out of the seemingly dead life of winter.

Easter reveals to us the everlasting meaning of life. There are three meanings in the Biblical conception of immortality. One is our lives will live on after we are gone. We leave indelible prints upon the sands of time that cannot be erased. Another meaning is eternal life is a life that begins here. The third meaning is that life continues in the hereafter. The resurrection message of Easter assures us that "the way of the cross does lead home." The only way to save your life is to lose it in service for Christ and others.

There could never have been Easter without first having a Good Friday. This is best illustrated in the life of Bishop Berggrav, the great Norwegian bishop, who stood so courageously against the Nazis when they invaded Norway in World War II. When he was arrested, he kept in touch with anti-Nazi forces from his prison cell, knowing that at any time his activity might be discovered and that he would be killed. When he was released, someone asked him how he had been able to act with calm and courage under such difficult circumstances. He replied, "God's peace is not something finished and done with...not ours to keep forever. God's peace is won by accompanying God into battle. It is then that it grows, becomes new and real. It is in battle that we feel the peace."

Many times it is hard to understand as well as to accept the Easter message. Truth is stronger than falsehood. Good is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than hatred. Life is stronger than death. May the timeless message of Easter challenge us to be stronger in our faith.