For people of faith, specifically Christian faith, Easter dawned with the usual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in churches or in quiet solemnity at home. Even those who do not express any interest in religion cannot miss the aura of holiness or the importance of the season when it rolls around. This is also true of Christmas, but I believe it is particularly so for Easter when there is less concentration on secular indulgences.

This Easter came without the heavy pall of the COVID-19 pandemic hanging over the nation and indeed the world. All indications are that it has either burnt itself out or has now been relegated to the status of a flu-like virus. I hope this assessment is correct, but it seems so.

The world is still recovering from the after effects of this one in a 100 years shaking of its foundations. For while its virulence has passed, the pandemic has left in its train lingering concerns of personal and national importance.

One can be sure that during this Easter, as eyes were turned on the suffering of Jesus on the cross on Good Friday, those who still suffer from long COVID symptoms must have tried to make sense of their continued suffering and inability to get back to the normal lifestyle which they enjoyed just three years ago. Children who lost their parents to this disease no doubt continue to struggle to make sense of the extent to which their lives have been changed forever. In haunting respects, our social and economic situations have been upended and perhaps rearranged for good.

One of the serious lingering effects of the pandemic is the toll it has taken on mental health, not just in Jamaica, but the world. A lot of the vicious, uncaring, and irrational behaviour that we see around us can perhaps be traced to the isolation that people have experienced and the sudden trauma that was visited upon them, especially those who were finding it hard to cope in the first place. The growing manifestation of violence that we see around us may be a direct offshoot from the pandemic, seen in the severing of relationships and the growing social isolation.

So there was a great deal to think about this Easter. On the personal level, the season affords us an opportunity to assess where we are in our personal affectations, the strength of our family relationships, and our relationship with our neighbours.

Easter speaks of hope, of rising again, of being able to face the future with confidence. The resurrection experience tells us that we do not have to accept things as given or to live our lives below the true levels of what we are capable. Too often we place limits on ourselves. These limitations are more self-made than we are prepared to acknowledge. Often we blame others for placing these restraints on us, for discouraging us from pursuing our dreams. But if we are willing to admit it, we will find that the problem with our inability to move forward does not lie elsewhere, but with the person staring in the mirror.

Easter teaches us that we do not have to accept these limitations or see failure as something to be embraced. What is not quite dead can be revived. Dying embers can be rekindled. Why? Because Easter is an investment in hope, in the possibilities of what can happen in the future. The death of your dreams does not have to be the final call. Even death, the last enemy, has been destroyed, as Paul reminisced with the Christians at Corinth.

So the Easter experience never ends, though we are reminded of it just once in the year. But properly understood, it is a continuing conversation with life, which engages us at some of the most crucial moments of our lives as we ponder our decisions, dreams, and work on our fundamental relationships.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; The Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.