The perennial Easter Lesson.

Revised copy.

The perennial Easter Lesson.

 

I was six years old, and in the street of my school, there were more horses than cars. The world looked different than it does today, but the human behavior was the same. There was a bigger kid in the schoolyard, and he was loud and very sure of himself. He was dressed better than most of us and was followed around by a group of boys who obviously mimicked his aggressive behavior.

 

They, the popular group, would go after us, the smaller kids, and show us that they were superior. At times they would physically get into our space and even pushed us asserting their dominance. There was no way to avoid them and no place to hide. Later I learned that I was doing the same towards smaller weaker kids myself, but I don’t like to talk about it. Why would I want to assert my superiority using bully techniques? I don’t know, but I did. I am sorry. It was only years later that I realized I was doing it.

 

Jump forward twenty years, and I was at an Easter church service in Calgary. A story from the Bible was unfolding. Here was a person who preached equality and openly opposed the culture of the “winner takes it all.” He was Yeshua, or Jesus as they prefer to call him here. In a place called Judea then and Israel now, the old established ruling class, consisting of religious leaders and local king, conflicted with the Roman Empire that took over their land and bossed them around. A young Jewish teacher invented what we now call passive resistance and his theory threatened the people in power, both Roman and Hebrew. He taught love instead of selfishness and on the first Easter the rich and powerful executed him. They washed their hands assuming the problem was over but, HE rose again. His movement, named Christianity, was more powerful than the bullies, and it took over. The Hebrews were demolished, the Roman Empire was undone, and Christianity became the most powerful institution in the world.

 

Sixty years after my first day in school, again I am faced with the bullies, this time on the world’s stage. The main power, more powerful by far than the Romans ever were, is called the United States of America and it is backed strongly by the previous Empire, the British Empire, now called Great Britain. Now horses disappeared from the picture, electronics and technology are the main force and the worst weapons can obliterate all life on Earth with a push of a button. People’s nature remains the same. The powerful Empire is shoving and pushing, challenging the smaller nations for domination, with economic superiority being the coveted prize. The President of America is desperately trying to start a war, anywhere, in order to keep himself in power and become richer than he already is. Again the majority is oppressed, and people pray for deliverance.

 

History never stops, and with writing, printing, radio, TV and later the mighty internet, people are aware, on mass, that there are solutions to bullying inflicted by absolute power. Every person, even the least educated, is aware of examples from the past where oppression was fought against and defeated. The Hebrews were freed from Egypt by a God named “I am,” the Christians took over the Roman Empire, and revolutions decimated some of the greatest kingdoms. We now know how the circle of life functions.

 

First comes the natural bully, assisted by followers who wish to share in his plunder, and they never get enough. Next come some self-sacrificing individuals like Moses, Yeshua, Gandhi, or Mandela and wake the masses of people up. The people become none co-operating and later even physically rebellious. The outcome sooner or later is a transfer of power. Historically abusers and bullies enjoy a relatively short time in leading roles but always lose at the end. The taller they are, the harder they fall. It is not a story; it is history. There is no power on earth which can match the will of the people. Humans are made in the image of God and God, in the long run, always proves to be just.

 

Take a step into how we view the future, and you get images such as the most popular series Star Wars.  There is a dark power which takes over the known Universe. It possesses all the resources, the power, and mighty weapons and there is no possible logical deliverance from its strength and organization.  Some oppressed individuals and groups find themselves at a point where they can no longer exist without rebellion, and they are willing to self-sacrifice to gain freedom, which they do. We see it today with all the millions of people participating in protests around the world.

 

People may fly south for the winter, but the cycle of nature remains the same. There is winter turning into spring, summer follows, and onwards it goes. The controlling bullies gain power, and the people take it back. Like the famous professor Pinker teaches, overall humankind is moving forward. Health is improving; life expectancy is getting longer, and people overall are becoming more tolerant of each other and learning how to share the bounty that was given free of charge to all who are simply born.