One of the realities of my life is that I always have too much to do.

I have found a measure of sustenance in the Alcoholics Anonymous counsel to live one day at a time. I do what I can each day and pick up the tasks the next.

And I try to avoid being buried by worries about what is still undone. In the midst of this busyness, one of the joys of my life this semester has been teaching our basic course on preaching at Bangor Theological Seminary.

Although this is the experience of the bus driver driving on a holiday, it is a pure pleasure for me.

A week ago in class we were looking at Chapter 20 in the Gospel of John and discussing preaching an Easter sermon.

I suggested that virtually every sentence in John’s account has a preaching point and was delighted when students found points that I certainly have not seen.

One student noted that in parallel accounts the women come to the tomb after sunrise. It is a distinction that I had never paid attention to. The student was wondering if the emphasis on darkness suggested that light was brought to the world by the Resurrection of Jesus. And that preaches for me.

I suspect that most of us are distressed by the darkness in the world in which we live.

The list of dark spots in the world is long: whether we look at Iraq as it teeters on the edge of the abyss of the sectarian civil war or the ongoing genocide in Darfur or the horror of AIDS in Africa.

There is darkness in the challenge of the United States to address our immigration policies in ways that sustain the rule of law, acknowledge the legitimate needs of our economy, and fulfill the aspirations of so many persons who are here simply because they seek to better themselves and their circumstances.

Yes, they are here illegally, but surely there are ways that we can work with our neighbors for the good of us all. So much of the argument against immigrants is full of the darkness of bigotry and prejudice.

The world does need light. Mary discovered that light when Jesus addressed her by name in that garden. She went to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”

All of us who proclaim the message of the risen Christ continue her witness to this day. Later that day when Jesus encountered the disciples, his first words to them were, “Peace be with you.”

That could simply be no more significant than “Hello.”

But I have always presumed that it expressed the core of Jesus’ message to us as individuals and for the world.

This Easter, may the peace and light of Christ shine in your hearts and throughout God’s world.

The Rev. Bill Imes is president of Bangor Theological Seminary.