Charlemagne was a blip of hope in Europe’s Dark Ages, but that only lasted during his reign.

I’ve read elsewhere that just before the turn of the first millennium in A.D. 1000, many Christian Europeans were convinced that the Second Coming of Christ, and with Him the end of the world, was nigh. Whether it was a fear or a hope, despair set in. Why bother with the misery of life when the afterlife promised eternal happiness?

The fact is that the human race can be its own worst enemy. History is the story of endless war; the struggle for survival in a zero-sum game. Jesus the Christ taught that it doesn’t have to be that way. A brotherhood of man is up to us. Jesus willingly paid for his teachings with his own life.

Happy Easter.