The Easter story offers a powerful metaphor. Each year, we are reminded that hope, love, and life persevere and triumph over hate, violence and death. The resurrection of Jesus offers us a tale of spiritual transformation that can help shape us. Furthermore, resurrection can be understood as a form of awakening, of finding warmth and love in surprising places. This Sunday we explore what happens when hope, love, transformation, and awakening overlap.

We may find ourselves immersed in routine or lost in superficial goals as we pass life by in a state of hibernation. This Sunday, we seek to distinguish between those surface needs and desires and those of the heart, as we awaken to find true meaning in our lives. We strive to create purpose in each of our days, knowing both that who we are at our core is beautiful, and that there is always room to grow ever stronger and wiser.

When facing deep hardships in life, faith offers courage and provides us with reasons to persevere. However, at such dark times, our faith may seem to falter. I invite us to see this as a strength. Without periodic questioning, our faith would be insincere. This Sunday, we explore how faith and meaning intersect in powerful ways, countering experiences of despair.

In this church, we gather together to renew our faith, our hope, and our strength to sustain ourselves and all of those around us. Through our spiritual practices, we tend to ourselves so that we can offer love and hope to the world around us. Even when the world is on fire, there are things we can do, however small. This Sunday, we offer a practice of gratitude for our church that offers us sustenance as we begin a month of honoring the sacred commitment of stewardship.

Human rights activist Ella Baker spoke the words, “Give people light, and they will find a way.” To me, this speaks to the heart of faith and spirituality. Faith, to me, is hope. Is strength. Is companionship with the sacred and the confidence in life’s inherent goodness and beauty. With these held in one’s heart, any path can be illuminated.