Emerging from the tomb

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A friend’s minister shared his perspectives on Easter at a service last year. He made an analogy between Jesus emerging from the tomb and the challenges we face in our own lives.

This is the kind of ministry that I admire. Straight talk we can apply to our own lives.  He challenged his parishioners to consider what kind of tomb they may be in, as well as the role they play in staying there.

He further explained that he once counseled a woman who was married to an alcoholic, and although her husband was successfully recovering from chemical dependency, the woman was married to her role as her husband’s martyr. There was something about the role of victim that was familiar, even comforting to her. She didn’t want to give it up.

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We all have these kinds of roles in our lives. We complain about them, but we don’t do much to change them. Typically, they keep us from doing or feeling something we don’t want to do or feel.

What keeps us in our own tombs?

Like most of us, I have a variety of “tombs” ranging from being overly-busy to being overly-responsible. All of them have matching rationales that sound reasonable, but I know they are feeble excuses for not wanting to change familiar responses to scenarios that make me uncomfortable.

Still I peck away at the tombs and see some light streaming in. And I take the time to try to objectively analyze what really keeps me over-busy: fear of not reaching goals I’ve set for myself and wanting a plausible excuse? Fear of feeling uncomfortable feelings like disappointing someone dear to me?

My husband often reminds me that I’m responsible for my overly-busy schedule; he is right. Yet something continues to compel me to take on more than is usually manageable.

I’m grateful to my friend for sharing her minister’s story.

As the holiday approaches, it reminds me that Easter is a perfect time to come out of the tomb and into the light.