when turning the power off, hold in the reset button, or all data may be lost

dragon warrior 3 has always been one of my favorite nintendo games (old nintendo, two-button controller, blow-in-the-cartridge nintendo).  it's what we called a "role-playing game"; usually, you're a knight (or a kid who will become a knight), setting out on a quest--there's always a quest--to destroy some monster who is going to either destroy or rule the world or princess (or both).  often, you will meet other people who will join you on the quest, and you may or may not learn what really happened to your father.  you don't jump on flying turtles, but instead fight monsters in what boils down to a battle of numbers: hit points, magic points, and other nerd goo.  no mushrooms to make you grow, leafs to make you sprout a tail and fly.  instead, you collect weapons, armor, and water toys by visiting village item shops, exploring dungeons, or killing a metal slime.

i love these games and still dust them off with a smile at Christmas time; the blocky graphics and electronic sounds are old friends.  part of the joy of the game is finding every little item; of having maps of the dungeons (or cave or castle or lighthouse) spread out in front of me and making sure i found every treasure chest; of completing every side quest and exhausting every option (which is the same reason why i would mark every "choice" with a bookmark (or my finger) when reading a "choose your own adventure" book).  i like to have everything.

earlier this year i was thinking about this (tim and i went through dragon warrior 2 in two days at the end of the Christmas break) and i realized that, when i turn off the power switch, it's all gone.  no matter how much armor or how many healing herbs i'd collected, none of it exists once i turn it off.  none of it means a thing.

today is easter, the day when rabbits lay chocolate eggs (i've never actually researched it, but that's what i gather from the tv commercials).  today is the day we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His resurrection is the culmination of His mission in mortality, the glorious finishing of His work that included suffering in gethsemane and crucifixion at golgotha.

His resurrection did not just break the chains of death for Him, but it extended to everyone without condition.  everyone who has ever died will be brought back to life, immortality, because of His resurrection.

my dvd collection, my car, my wall-e bed sheets: when the power is shut off, those are gone.  you can't take it with you.  it doesn't matter what or how much i had.  it's all gone.  

but i am not.  life and family continue.

how scary it would be to wonder if this were all we got; to be afraid of the off switch.

how wonderful to know it's not!  the Gospel is true!