I’ve spent a lot of this week writing Easter stories.

I’ve also thought about the fact that there inevitably are a lot of people experiencing some measure of hopelessness. Even if it’s in just one aspect of life, I know how overpowering that single struggle can seem – and how at odds with a belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that this has personal relevance.

So it was good to hear, from a pastor I interviewed for an Easter feature, the idea that faith isn’t the opposite of struggle. Faith doesn’t make life easy or free from uncertainty and pain and unanswered questions.

But faith does mean embracing these struggles and still believing that the seemingly hopeless turn things took on Good Friday was followed by Jesus emerging from it in a very surprising way – and that this does matter today.

I’m glad that this is how the story goes and that I can tell it without ringing dissonant to the reality of how hard life can be.