With Christmas now officially "behind" us, we prepare for New Year's celebrations, contemplating, some of us, resolutions for the coming year. And with spring time, with longer days, coming shortly, the thought of Easter seems so far away. But they are so different, aren't they? Christmas is typically a time of joy, feasting, merrymaking, and gift-giving. But with Easter, we generally think of  Lent, the passion of Christ, giving up, abstinence, etc. You get the picture.

And yet, the two events are separated historically by some thirty-three years. In human time, not God's time. First the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation, the "God becoming man." And then His crucifixion, His death for the sins of the world, the Easter event. But in Reality, they mirror one another, don't they?

As we prepare to usher in the new year, and soon turn our eyes on Easter, replete with daffodils and easter eggs, be mindful that in…