We approach the end of the Lenten season. Perhaps we’ve traveled some new paths, or maybe we have continued on old well-worn paths. Whichever path we have journeyed, I hope that, like Jesus, we have known joy within our sorrows, love amid hatred, kindness in strange places, peace in the midst of turmoil and hope despite it all.

Like us, Jesus also had a path to follow… his was God’s mission of love for all. While he traveled, he left behind mother, father and family; alone, but not alone. He experienced sorrow, hatred, mean-spiritedness, yet he also experienced hospitality, friendship and love. He found fellow travelers with paths of their own. To many he offered healing, like the man whose friends made their way to a roof and dug a hole to lower their friend down; the woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; new life to his friend Lazarus; and a new way of living to Zacchaeus, the tax collector who sought him from the branch of a tree. To so many, he forgave their sins and told them, “Sin no more” and set them on their own righteous path.

There are many examples shared in the Gospels about Jesus’ journey, beginning with his birth when his family had to live in exile away from their home due to King Herod’s fear of what Jesus’ birth meant to his Kingdom. But as he grew, he followed his path and often found moments to be alone with God. He knew the importance of those solitary moments. Those were times necessary to renew himself and continue the journey he was called to follow.

He knew his place in this world, but he was persecuted for what he did and who he claimed to be. For this, he was sentenced to death as a criminal… nailed to a tree along with two thieves. Even there, though Jesus experienced the feeling of abandonment, he knew in his heart that his father was present. It was on the cross that Jesus’ ministry ended, but also began when he forgave and promised eternal life to one of those criminals.

God, as we approach Easter Sunday, I am grateful for Jesus’ resurrection. Thank you for the examples of joy, love, and hope he shared. By his example may we be encouraged to move along our own paths. May we discover that solitary moments with you provide renewal, refreshment and strength to move forward. May his example move us to do for others and for ourselves. Most of all, I pray that Jesus’ resurrection reminds us that we too can live in hope and joy and forgiveness.

Sandy D.