Christians around the world have been celebrating Easter, a glorious shout of triumph after the muted darkness of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. (This year, it happened that Orthodox Easter also fell on the same Sunday as Protestant and Catholics’ observation of Easter.)

As our Methodist friends in the southern hemisphere would remind us, Easter doesn’t coincide with spring for everyone on the globe – our colleagues in Australia usually enjoy summer strawberries at Christmas. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, we celebrate the Risen Christ while flowers are bursting into bloom, harsh winds are softening, and daylight hours increase. Nature seems to happily coincide with the news of new life.

Recently I traveled to central Asia, where it was a joy to see how God is working in the hearts and lives of people on the other side of the world. I was able to witness baptism while there – death to the old self, rising in new life, a child of God. Whatever troubles us when we tune into the news, there is undeniable new life springing forth in the Kingdom of God around the world.

Let’s continue to pray for the flourishing of new life wherever it is springing up. Let’s celebrate it and share stories of the goodness of God. Let’s come together to testify to each other about God’s faithfulness. Like the women running from the tomb long ago, we are called to tell the story of new life that cannot be controlled or contained.

Where have you seen new life springing up?