Easter and how I see it

EASTER AND HOW I SEE IT.

Until recently, when I discovered the ubiquitous significance of Numbers, I loathed mathematics.

I love Maths....but that was in Primary School. Wandering what happened...Why I loathed it?
Come with me...

In JSS 1, on that fateful Monday morning, which is still very vivid in my memory, I stared with discombobulation on the content of the sheet of paper on my hands. I couldn't have scored 10% out of the 30%?. Certain that it was a mistake on the part of my teacher, I decided to call her attention to it, so she could effect the correction. To my greatest amazement, she told me that it was actually what I merited that she scored me, that I failed all six questions save two. In a mild rage, I explained that 10% was indeed a small mark for everything I solved in that Test; that marks were supposed to be awarded for every correct step; that mathematics is not marked by the final answer alone, but by steps. She sheepishly sent me back to my seat, and she immediately made it clear to the whole class that she does not mark steps, that her concern was our final answer, which determines whether you passed or failed.

Albeit I failed that test, I was happy, because, she ipso facto simplified mathematics for me. Since all the answers to every question in our maths textbook can be found towards the end of the text, I simply went and memorised the answers to the questions in the text. Thus I passed all the subsequent tests and exams - just solve whatever you like...insofar the final answers are correct...you will pass.
This prevailed until JSS 3, when another maths teacher came and ousted the seeming status quo of the "final answer." The new teacher made us return to the conventional step-by-step method of solving maths. At that juncture, it dawned on me that I had travelled very far on the wrong road; going forward was not an option and going back to the right track was a Herculean task. And so it was that I loathed maths.

Why the story?
Still pay attention...

You see, the mathematics of life is marked by "final answer" and not "step by step". Everything is measured with the yardstick of success. We are judged by how often we succeed, not by how well we fight. The world has no patience with failure, and no excuse for defeat. Success alone counts. We are told to "work smarter, not harder". Thus glorifying the Machiavellian principle of "the end justifies the means."

Ever wondered the genesis of the myriad of certificated illiterates who parade themselves as graduates in the society? The "final answer" is the answer.

The story of Easter, though one of ultimate triumph, is in reality, the story of the success of failure - when His enemies nailed Him to the cross, even His chosen Apostles believed that He was a total failure; His mission ended. For here was dismal failure, gaunt and gory.

Then came Easter!

Christ rose from the dead, resplendent as the dawn. But then, His glory would have been like a glittering tinsel if He had not paid for it with the ultimate price of his Passion. He would have, simply from heaven, said the words "let every wrong on earth be right" and so it would have been. But He had to come to earth so as to teach us the valuable lesson, that, there is no shortcut to any place worth going; that success is most enjoyable when it has been won against all odds; that via Crucis est via vitae (the way of the Cross is the way of life).

Easter, therefore, should remind us, in the face of bewildering misfortune, that the sun sets only to rise again, that "every mount must have its valley, every desert its oasis, every lonely sea its island, every stormy cloud its rainbow, every night its day" and every Good Friday its Easter Sunday. Above all, Easter should continuously remind us that, non crux, non corona (no cross, no crown).

Be always aglow with the fact that Christ rose after three days of death, indeed a sign to us all that suffering has a purpose - glory. Do not despise your suffering but rather, suffer with hope of the resurrection.

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU!!