Have you noticed that we live in a skeptical city? Really, a skeptical world. Long gone are the days will mystery and miracles were part of the fabric and language of our society. Such things are now thought of as for those who don't want to "grow up" or face reality.

Many around us put the resurrection of Jesus in the category of a well-meaning myth...a nice idea to base a holiday on, but not a life.

Resurrection is foreign to us. Even those who are honest, authentic followers of Jesus have a hard time with the come-back-from-the-deadness of Jesus. Our only experiences with death have been the grief and finality of losing someone we loved. Heart-rending loss. The awareness that this loved one who was laughing one day had no breath in them another day. It is over. Done. They aren't touchable, hug-able, or next to us any longer.

One who has come back from the dead is not our everyday reality.

Resurrection is too distant. Too "unreal." Too mystical for lives that demand us to be practical. Even if we aren't skeptical about the historicity of Jesus' resurrection, we might be skeptical of the practicality of it. Does the resurrection make a difference? A real difference and not just a pie-in-the-sky religious difference?

What if the truth that Jesus is alive changes everything in our lives? What if his life is the source of our own fullness of life?