At Easter, we celebrate the ultimate victory of Joy over suffering. Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Death, where is your sting?
All this hoopla must look a little silly from the outside. Its hard to understand the thrill of Easter if you have not experienced the agony of Good Friday. And our current culture is not high on Good Friday. Usually, we are trying to find ways to avoid suffering. The implicit message is often that happiness results when all suffering is eliminated or successfully avoided. As Christians, however, we believe that the joy of Easter is possible precisely because of suffering. This is our model: it is by dying that we can rise to new life.
At a time in my own journey when I particularly needed it, I read a book called Hinds Feet On High Places