There in the midst of sunbeams breaking amidst the darkness, the speaker uttered: “shalom”.
Hebrews defined Shalom as a word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare. Its content bears more than language itself can contain in fact it can be understood as the whole essence of the transcendent message of the Christian scriptures, which means more than a state of mind, of being or of affairs.
Idiomatically it has been used to mean both hello and goodbye, which in a way also points to the timelessness of the word itself as something that cannot be contained within our linear definitions of time but rather can be seen as an all encompassing event that goes beyond time itself.
As the speaker Dr. Liza Lamis puts it: “shalom is where/when peace and justice embrace.”
Thus falling neatly into the goal of Jesus Christ’s Easter, resurrection because it tells us that goodness overcomes evil. To be good and to do good is to be a child of the resurrection as it is a way out from those that destroy ourselves, others and our island home.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the ultimate manifestation of God’s love for us and how this love is more properly understood and lived out in relational ways. Love demands justice and peace. Love demands inclusive communities and respect. Love renounces greed and offers new life.
May we all be instruments that usher in the embrace of peace and justice beyond Easter.
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