MY EASTER MESSAGE
Putting Good Friday/Easter in Perspective
Friday, April 2, 2021
Friday, April 2, 2021
MY EASTER MESSAGE
4/1/2021
Hello, Everyone!
Happy Good Friday to you as I offer this on Good Thursday – and Happy Good Sunday to you a few days before that day – normally called Easter.
To put it frankly – and I am allowed to speak “frankly” because indeed I am a “Frank,” Good Friday does not mean to me what it used to mean. It used to mean that a man named Jesus died to save me from my sins – even though he had no sin himself. That touched me in my youth. It is truly amazing to believe that someone would die for me to save me from some terrible alternate reality. Indeed, I was taken in by that notion. Oh, how I loved Jesus to do that for me!
In truth, however, Jesus did not even know me 2,000 years ago when he died – supposedly “for me.” And if I had been a Chinese, 2,000 years ago, I would have been unaware that someone a thousand miles away died on a lonely hill to save me. That alone should put the old notion of Good Friday in question. How likely is it that someone dying for me without my even knowing about it would actually reach out and save me?
So, if Jesus did not die for me, a Chinese (or Indian or American) thousands of miles away, what does a Good Friday mean to me now? The message is simple. Like Jesus died – perhaps all by himself on a lonely hill in Israel 2,000 years ago - little ole me will someday die too. Indeed, Francis William Bessler will have his “Good Friday” too – though he may die on a Wednesday or Monday – or other day of the week.
And that brings me to Easter. Like Jesus died on a Good Friday, he did not stay dead. Did he? He rose again – and that is my current impression of Easter. I will “rise again” just like Jesus, though in my own way. We all live again! If Jesus would speak loudly today as he did 2,000 years ago, it would have been with that message – WE ALL LIVE AGAIN!
But how do we live again? That is the big question. I have pondered that question a lot too in this one life – and my answer, based on experience in a way for simply being the same person day after day in life - I will simply continue in my next life – whatever and wherever that is – just like the person I was in this life. Jesus lived again, but only as the person he had been in his last life; and Francis William Bessler will live again as the person he was too – though with a different name.
And that is the story of Good Friday through Easter for me today. Tomorrow, I will try to celebrate my upcoming passing – and on Easter, I will celebrate my upcoming new adventure. Will I be defaming Jesus by doing that? I do not think so. In fact, Jesus will probably be saying somewhere – I sure am glad somebody got it right.
It is most likely that if we live again, we will simply live again having inherited the person we were in a last life. That is what I believe now. Judgment is only having to inherit a person I choose to be. So, if I do not want to inherit a given person or attitude, then I better change that person or attitude in order to inherit one I would like. Can it be simpler than that?
Wherever I go, I should see Jesus – in every single person (and creature) I meet – and if I am wise, I will treat everyone I meet like they are Jesus. It is as simple as that. Now, correct me if you think I am wrong. Wouldn’t that make for a world of peace – if each of us treated our fellow man and fellow woman like they are Jesus? And wouldn’t that make Jesus proud for having led the way by not casting stones at those with whom he disagreed and smiling at those with whom he agreed and disagreed and saying –
HEY, MY FRIEND, HAVE A GOOD ONE!
Happy Good Friday, Everyone – and Happy Easter!
Gently,
Francis (Frank) William (Will) Bessler
and supportive wife, Nancy Shaw
Laramie, Wyoming
www.una-bella-vita.com and francisbessler.com