Mark Wenz
“They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn.” —Bob Dylan, “Meet Me in the Morning”
“To be a traveler on this earth, you must know how to die and come to life again.” —Goethe
Do you trust that you have the power to transform that which seems hopeless into something hopeful and that which seems dead into something vibrant and alive? If so, you believe in the resurrection principle, which asserts that nothing ever really dies.
Every flower and every tree implicitly trusts this principle. The flower will die, but the pollen released by the flower will result in new life. The tree will eventually die, but the seeds released by the tree will result in new trees sprouting from the earth.
Something has to die for a transformation to occur. Many of us recently celebrated Easter, which commemorates the miraculous transformation that occurred when Jesus was resurrected. Similarly, the caterpillar has to die for a butterfly to be born. Even when darkness is upon us, we know that light is right around the corner.
Look back at your own life, for examples. In my life, I felt devastated when I lost my job when I was in my 20s, but a better job and a career lasting 33 years as a middle school teacher ensued. When my wife and I were looking for a house in Tempe, we put in two offers that were rejected before we found a preferable house in which we raised our kids and lived for 29 years. When my wife was seriously ill in 2004-2005, she found the right doctor and emerged as a healthier person after two surgeries. When my wife died in 2023, I was miserable for half a year, but eventually I worked my way through the darkness and discovered new love. Even when we die, our lives will still flow with the currents of eternity, and our legacies will have an impact on our children, grandchildren, and the many people we have touched along the way. Whatever we are experiencing, we know that pain and heartache and loss are only temporary experiences before a restoration of joy, opportunity, and love bursts forth. We know that spirit lives deep inside us and that God’s grace will manifest a transcendence or an ascension in our lives as we spiritually evolve.
Don’t expect your life to be perfect or to be able to dodge or avoid tough times. They will inevitably come. But you can trust the process by surrendering to your higher self, which knows that everything happens in divine order. Bad times will be followed by good; new life will follow death. As you lift up yourself, others will be lifted as well. Such is the circle of our miraculous lives.
(I want to thank our spiritual leader at Sun Lakes Unity Church, Jeanne MacLaughlin, for the inspiring message on this topic that she delivered in church on April 27, 2025.)