When I was a pastor in rural southern Alberta, we held our Easter Sunrise worship services in a cemetery. It was difficult to gather in the dark, since neither mountains nor forests hid the spring-time sun, and the high desert plains lay open to almost ceaselessly unclouded skies. Still, we mumbled in hushed whispers as we acknowledged one another, and saved our booming tones for the final rousing chorus of “Up from the grave he arose…!” We did not shake the earth as much as we hoped. But we were confident that Jesus, who had once laid in a grave, would someday break open these tombs of our friends and family members, and bring in the new creation.

We all ache for resurrection, don’t we?! In 1954, Marcelle Maurtette penned his powerful play Anastasia. It was based on the true story of a wom…