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Editorial: Big picture, or still looking
Op-Ed · April 17, 2014


Regardless of the religious beliefs with which you associate, the Easter story is a powerful message that goes well beyond the belief that we are all imperfect and must strive to improve ourselves every day.


In his 1934 poem, “The Guy in the Glass,” Peter Dale Wimbrow concludes that “You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years/And get pats on the back as you pass/But the final reward will be heartache and tears/If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”

This is a good message because it eloquently points out that we can lie to everybody but ourselves. However, it assumes that we have the capacity to develop a standard by which we can effectively measure ourselves.

The Easter story states that God has created the standard, and determined that all of us, whether you are closer to Mother Theresa or Hitler, have fallen woefully short. He points the finger at you, but offers Christ, who is blameless, to take the fall in your place.

We find ourselves hard-pressed to see this type of sacrifice much in today’s public arena. This is not the type of sacrifice our soldiers make to defend us and our country, for in that scenario the soldiers do not see us as deserving subjugation or punishment. This is more like a parent throwing themselves in the path of a moving car to save a child oblivious to danger.

The Easter story not only tells us to improve our behavior, or the way we think about others, to make sacrifices or how to better spend our resources. It also tells us to continually question ourselves and our motives, to be honest with what we think we deserve, and what we actually deserve, and to consider whether we really have the big picture in mind or if we have to keep looking.

Happy Easter.