This last week, Christians all over the world celebrated Easter and rejoiced together that Jesus is not dead but was resurrected. Because Jesus has resurrected from the dead, we have hope that we too will be given that same resurrection power that we might live with Christ.
Resurrection is the act of bringing something that was once dead back to life. It is unlikely that we will experience the same bodily resurrection that Christ did here on this earth, but resurrection happens all the time. It happens when a plant that we thought was dead starts growing a new tendril. If we had never experienced Spring before, we would think it miraculous that all the trees that had lost their leaves were sprouting new ones!
We can also experience a resurrection of our hopes and desires. Dreams that we had once put aside can come to fruition. Or circumstances that we had lost all hope would ever change can resolve.
Holding Onto Hope
In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl details his experiences in the concentration camp and how he was able to hold onto hope through horrific circumstances. He writes:
“The prisoner who had lost faith in the future–his future–was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay…He simply gave up.”
Holding onto hope and having faith in the future was key to not just mental health but physical health as well. This is an extreme case of being in the Victim Circle, where you believe that you are at the whims of your circumstances and don’t take control of your perspective, actions, and whom you trust.
Frankl says that “any attempt to restore a man’s inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goal.” In other words, he needed a There to keep striving towards, and a reason to keep going.
For these prisoners, a mental and spiritual renewal of hope could result in a physical resurrection: a return of their strength and good health.
Hope is not just wishful thinking. It is a firm belief that everything will be made right in the end, whether you’re there to see it or not. It is the faith that what is dead can be brought to life, and that there is always a light at the end of the darkest of tunnels.
Gracie McBride is the Content and Systems Coordinator at The Crossroad.
