For this corruptible body must put on incorruption, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
–1 Corinthians 15:53–
I have a friend whose mother is named Natalie. Natalie tells how, when she was five years old, she wanted a doll, just like all the other little girls she knew. Her parents were (alas!) too poor to buy fancy toys for her. Natalie loved her parents, and she somehow understood this, but she longed to have a doll nonetheless. This is how Natalie herself tells the story:
“My mother took a towel and folded it in thirds. She tied off one end with yarn to make the head. She wrapped it in a blanket and placed it in my arms.”
Note the remarkable statement that comes next:
“I don’t know what happened, but when I looked at what my mother had given me, it seemed to be the most beautiful doll in all the world. I think I saw, not the doll my mother actually gave me, but instead I saw the doll my loving mother wanted to give me.”
Wow! The doll that little Natalie actually had was not at all remarkable. Yet the doll her mother wanted to give her—the doll that Natalie herself actually beheld—was exceedingly beautiful. Love always desires the best for the beloved.
Each Easter, I cannot help but think of Natalie and how her mother’s love is very much like that of Our Lord. You see, the earthly bodies that you and I have right now, with all their frailties and imperfections, are really nothing to write home about. Yet when we recall the promise of Easter, we can contemplate, not the bodies we actually have, but the bodies that our loving Jesus wants to give us—and will indeed give us—in the Resurrection. They will be exceedingly beautiful. After all, Love Himself always desires the best for us!