Life, after death: an 'egg'cellent story

     

     This is the message of Easter that we have been celebrating this past weekend: 

     "... Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

— Philippians 2:6-11   

     Ultimately, all will one day acknowledge Him as Lord, whether willingly or not. The Easter message is one that even a child can understand and receive. 

     Consider this true story: A primary class was being given a lesson about the season of spring. Among the group was a little Downs Syndrome boy called Phillip. 
     Phillip could not always give the right answers like the rest of the boys and girls, so many times he was laughed at and not always treated kindly. To help reinforce her lesson, the teacher gave each child a coloured plastic egg and took them to the out-of-doors, to see what reminders of spring they could find, to put inside their egg. 
     Later, back inside, each child opened his egg and told about what they had found. One child opened her blue one to reveal a tiny new flower — certainly a very obvious sign of new life. 
     Next, the orange one was opened and some warm, brown soil fell out–certainly necessary to promote new life. The pink one had a tiny little butterfly, ready to fly off, using its tiny, new wings. The yellow egg opened to reveal a smooth, unusually shaped stone. 
     

     Then, one child opened his green egg and showed he had found a new, green blade of grass.

     It was Phillip's turn to open his purple egg. 

     But, when he opened it — there was nothing inside. The children all started to laugh at Phillip for not understanding what the teacher had asked. 
     "But I did," Phillip insisted. "Mine is like the empty tomb — Jesus wasn't there 'cause he rose from the dead to bring new life to us!'" 

     The children were awed by his answer, realizing what a great answer it was. They soon began being kinder to Phillip and saw him as their new friend. A few months later, Phillip took sick and passed away. At the funeral, all his classmates were there, and each one took their coloured egg up front and placed it in a basket along with Phillip's purple one, as a special memory of this very special classmate and friend.    

     "Do you believe in life after death?" the boss asked one of his employees. "Yes, sir," the new employee replied. "Well then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. 
"After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother's funeral, she stopped in to see you!"

— beulah