Easter is a Time for Rebirth and New Beginnings

What needs to die in your life so you can start anew?

Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ today, believing he was crucified, died, buried, and rose again to atone for the sins of the world.

Christianity is not the only religion with a resurrection narrative, probably because it's a potent metaphor about life. Everyone, whether Christian or not, can benefit from understanding the symbolic aspects of the resurrection story.¹

Before we can have a new life, we must let go of parts of ourselves or aspects of our lives keeping us stuck. In other words, something must die before there can be a resurrection and rebirth.

This is not usually a fun process, which is why we so often avoid embarking on this kind of journey. It almost always involves some suffering, but in the end, the outcome is worth it.

In the story of Jesus, most of his followers understandably treated his death as a tragedy and were bereft and despondent. They were sure it was the end, and no good could come of it. Even though Jesus had repeatedly predicted what would happen² and urged them to never lose hope, this was all quickly forgotten as they watched his torment and death on the cross.

Only a few of his followers—all women, incidentally—remained faithful, expecting the promised miracle.

When the other followers realized Jesus had risen from the dead, they could see that his death was a good thing. Without it, there could not be the new life he promised. Interestingly, Jesus appeared to some of these followers on the road to Emmaus³ as they were walking away from Jerusalem to return to their village after losing hope.

How often do we do the same thing? We decide to take a step to change our lives, but when it gets too hard, we give up and go back to what is familiar.

But that's not all we can learn from the resurrection story.

Easter is the culmination of a process that ends in victory and joy. But before that, things get pretty dark. If you are a practicing Christian, the Church calendar will take you through this process during Lent and, more intensely, during Holy Week.

Unfortunately, few churches do a good job of helping people examine what needs to die in themselves and their own lives, particularly how their egos⁴ are causing problems and are impeding their spiritual growth. In fact, some spiritual and psychological interpretations see the resurrection as a metaphor for overcoming the ego and achieving a higher state of consciousness.