It has nothing to do with chocolate...

 this should be what motivates us to make a positive difference in life.

One more full moon and then Easter will arrive. I was at the store recently and it just boggles my mind how chocolate became the focus of what Easter is all about! Chocolate eggs, chocolate candy, chocolate bunnies....and I wonder if children even know what Easter is really all about--do YOU know what Easter is all about? I realize that many people give up chocolate for Lent and thus, let's have that sugar high come Easter morning, but I am thinking that we need to go back to the origin of Easter...back to what Jesus lived and died for. It was to save our souls, to forgive us our sins and to show us what the Love of God is all about.

So...how about you...are you holding fast to your Lenten promises? Are you looking at others with eyes of compassion? Have you given more of yourself or are you waiting for that mysterious "someone else" to pick up the slack?

As I walk my dogs along the same route every day, I have noticed that the melting snow has left behind a lot of treasures that someone (or some people) were just too careless about-namely, their trash. Bottles, plastic bags and plastic containers all up and down the boulevard. Huge sigh.
I asked myself today, "when is somebody going to clean this up?" Well, why not me? I am somebody! You are somebody, too! Not that I appreciate cleaning up another's mess, but so be it...I am game to pick it up! Here's the tricky part: I don't really want to...and I know that I don't have to...yet...why shouldn't I do it with the same zest that Jesus showed to us when He washed the feet of his disciples...or when he fed the multitudes...or any number of times that someone begged Him to help them...to heal them? And He did it all out of Love!

Love for others...shouldn't this be our goal? Love for others should propel me out there to clean that stuff up. I realize I won't get a bonus, I won't get news coverage at 6 pm on every channel. This is not earth shattering...it isn't worthy of a medal. It's just someone else's garbage!

Isn't that what Jesus was called to clean up also...someone else's mess? Always something.

Today...look for "someone else's" garbage...make it better. It can be trash on the street. It can be a homeless person. A food shelf that needs to be restocked. A lonely neighbor...or a friend with whom you've been out of touch. There is so much that YOU can do to make a difference!

Easter...It has nothing to do with chocolate.
It has everything to do with God.