To those who have been lucky enough to study Bible in the schools, and to those who are luckier even still for having the grace to teach it, it is a well-known fact the Easter Story is included in all four of the Bible’s gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Usually the version from the book of John is used to tell hundreds of thousands on Easter morning that it is a day of hope. No other single event has shaped and changed history like the Resurrection, and today churches, from the smallest on a dirt road to the huge mega-churches in big cities, will again proclaim that Jesus Christ Is Risen.

According to a well-written article in the Chicago Tribune over the weekend, many of the nation’s clergy will abandon the Book of John this year in order to present Mark’s version of what went on. You see, it is in the second of the four gospels that the reader tastes doubt, and mystery, and uncertainly, and fear. These were all on vivid display as the three women visited the tomb and found it empty after Jesus had been crucified just three days before.

Do you think some of the 700,000 Americans who lost their jobs last month know anything about doubt and fear and uncertainty? As the flowers of spring lend color and fragrance to Easter morning, one out of every nine houses in the United States is as empty today as the tomb was on that very first Easter.

If you’ll read Mark’s account of what happened, you’ll see that Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and Salome took spices to Jesus’ grave that morning to anoint Him but were surprised to see the huge stone covering the entrance had been rolled away.

There, an angel told them Jesus was risen from the dead, to run and tell the disciples, but the women instead fled from the tomb, for “they trembled and were amazed,” according to Mark. Chapter 16 also said the women “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Well, a good preacher can play that theme with ease to congregations this year where those with employment disasters, uncertain futures, collapsing retirement benefits, and devastated stock portfolios are assembled. Add catastrophic diseases, alarming crime rates, and other things like rising consumer costs and – presto – it is a worrisome stew indeed.

But what paupers and scholars all agree on is this – Easter is a time of hope. If you have faith, hope comes with it. And, as one who celebrates my first Easter since my personal “miracle” occurred, I can unflinchingly say to anyone that if they are armed with hope and faith, things will get better. It has never failed to happen.

Are you kidding me? I know I almost died this past fall as several blood-related infections nearly did me in. I don’t care who knows it or who wants to dispute it, the “slide show” God shared with me one cold Minnesota afternoon left no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Easter is every bit as real and genuine as the sun itself.

Since begging surgeons in December to cut my arm off, I have spent four months really enjoying the fact my right arm and its buddy, my hand, are still around. Far better is the unfathomable love and kindness I have been shown, often by complete strangers, and as one who was in the deep darkness of the pit not six months ago, I can promise what the cross symbolizes is absolutely and undeniably true.

Mine hasn’t been an easy road, not at all. On Thursday I had to take a nap in the late morning and another in mid-afternoon I felt so bad. I eat pills every morning like a horse does oats and my pain deal, which I thought would be gone by now, has convinced me not to think real hard anymore.

Please, I’m not talking about the economy or banking bailouts or General Motors – I am talking about me! I’ve been blessed by a band of earthly angels who hover over me and protect me and assure me my only goal in life is to get well. Because of them, I am doing exactly that.

Do you know what it means, when you are deathly sick, to have someone believe in you? Do you know what it’s like to be one of 34 million who have been laid off, or who tremble over what may happen to Chrysler, or who worry about a mortgage payment , or who is going to pay the college tuition?

According to the Book of Mark – as well as the Gospels of Matthew and Luke – there is indeed Someone who cares, not so much about your worries but, far better, about you. Let me tell you how I know about that, too.

When I finally limped home after my 29th surgery last year, I was still really sick. I was forced to lie in my bed and keep a timetable on my antibiotic intake, my fever rate, and when, please Lord, I could next swallow a handful of Tylenol.

During this time, I slept a whole lot and I drank Gatorade and tried to eat, but what nobody ever talked about was how was I going to get a car, how was I going to provide for myself, where would I live, what would I do, and those unsettling thoughts would always creep around in the middle of the night when I was alone.

Sure enough, I would work myself into a great fret, and, so help me, every time I did, into my thought process would suddenly come a strong and clear voice, saying gently, “Let Me.” Other times the voice would say “Let Go and Let God.” Still others it would be, “I’ll handle it.”

Laugh if you want, call the guys in the white coats with the net, I don’t care because – guess what – I did. And – guess what – He did. That’s why today, long before sunrise, I celebrated Easter with the same God who showed up in the middle of many nights less than six months ago.

That’s why, this week, I have been drawn to Mark’s version of the Resurrection because I know about the fear, the doubt, the worry, the unknown road ahead. I was there just weeks ahead of the 700,000 who got laid off last month. Guess what –I let go and let God. Guess what? He did it.

Excuse me for getting real preachy but I’ve lived it. I still taste it in my mouth. I am still numb from all that has happened, but, as I celebrate my first Easter as a “miracle,” you need to know the miracles have yet to end. Some days I get “tapped” two or three times. All you gotta do is “Let Go and let God.”

That’s what makes the Easter story the greatest that has ever been told, no matter which version you read. Listen, just the fact “He Is Risen” is a miracle, but what about the fact He even allowed the Roman soldiers to crucify Him? The greatest slogan of the day is; “He didn’t have to … but He did.”

I promise you this because, over 2,000 years later, I was there in my bed this winter, and, time and time again, He did.

royexum@aol.com