LIFE WITHOUT EASTER
The story is told of a young mother who found herself on the last train out of Poland during Hitler’s regime. She had her first-born toddler and her newborn nursing infant with her. The bombing was fierce, and the train had to stop many times for the passengers to take cover. A trip that should have taken a few hours took a few days.
The food ran out and there were no liquids to be had. Consequently, when they arrived at their destination, the infant was starving and ill. A group of nuns met her there and took the baby to their hospital, where they would attempt to nurse it back to health. The mother felt great relief at the apparent reprieve.
But the joy was short-lived. The next morning she was given the news that the hospital had been bombed during the night and that her baby had not survived. The mother was given a flashlight to search for her baby’s body.
What a tragic scene. Imagine the confusion, the pain, the grief, the hopelessness of a mother who herself was a doctor, whose hands and skill had no doubt saved many a life, but could do nothing in this situation.
Life without Easter would provide the same sense of hopelessness. Imagine though that it had a different ending. The mother is desperately seeking through the rubble, her little one in tow. She is crying loudly, together with many others in the same situation. Suddenly, there is another cry - the
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