A beautiful Easter essay by Jennifer Finney Boylan, "I Know Why I Am Here on Earth" (in the 4 April 2021 New York Times) quotes the hopeful song from the Wizard of Oz "Optimistic Voices", with its lyrics, "You're out of the woods, you're out of the dark, you're out of the night. Step into the sun, step into the light." Boylan recalls her own father, who died on Easter Sunday many years ago, and concludes:

Did Christ rise from the dead? I don't know. I wasn't there. But I know that I am here on earth because my father loved my mother. There are hyacinths rising in my garden. I know what it is like to be loved.

He is not here. But his spirit is all around: in the music of Beethoven, in the pealing of church bells, in the rays of the sun rising above the ocean. And in our reckless, inexplicable hope for this banged-up world, a place so beautiful and so sad.

(cf Thanks For (2001-11-22), 2008-03-23 - Sunrise Service at Seneca Creek, Nothing Here (2016-11-21), Life Jackets of Hope (2020-04-20), Emptiness Blessings (2020-07-20), Easy to Forget (2021-03-09), ...) - 2021-05-13