Easter Sunday And Me

Easter Sunday mass has always been pretty much the same every year. Honestly , I never expected this years' service to be any different. The priest began talking about the relevance of Easter as a symbol of Jesus' eternal love for us. Then he began to sing Nat King Cole's "When I Fall In Love" and I said to myself, what in the world is he trying to pull? Belting out a love song on Easter Sunday?

Turns out that the song pretty much explained the real meaning of Easter. As the song goes, "When I fall in love, it will be forever. Or I'll never fall in love." True love, as the priest explained, is forever and the concept of "forever" and "eternity" can only be fully grasped by those who have loved. Jesus loved us so much that not even death could stop him from coming back and showing us how much he really did. The priest then called on the couples in the church, both married and not to listen as he explained the concept of eternal love.

Love, in it's real form, goes beyond the physical. If you've loved someone, even though that person is no longer around for you to touch and feel, the love you have will always be there to keep that person with you. He then challenged everyone to love like Jesus. To love regardless of expectations, to love regardless of boundaries, to love unconditionally.

So here I am once again, faced with a reality that Jesus himself says I could accept. I have loved, and I know that it was and still is genuine. I loved the only way I knew how. So, if previously I wanted to erase every memory of that love, maybe I should pause and hold on to the good parts. The parts that gave both of us the happiest of times.

So Jesus, this one's for you. I loved, I lost, but in the end, as much as I'd like to deny it, the love I have for her is still here in my heart. So, I'm holding on to the memories of that love. Genuine and unfaltering. Just like the love you showed by dying on the cross. You showed us how to love that way, so I guess you know that I have what it takes to keep it.