The video below was a live-streamed performance given today at the Duomo di Milano by Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli. The performance was broadcast via YouTube as a message from the singer to the world, reminding us that Easter is a celebration of “the trust in a life that triumphs.” It’s one of the most beautiful and haunting renditions of Amazing Grace that I’ve ever heard.

Toward the end of the performance, there are shots from the stilled cities of Milan, Paris, London, and New York. The images create a stark contrast between Bocelli’s message of hope and the dark hour besetting our world.

I found the dichotomy to be exceptionally appropriate on this Easter Sunday. The message of Easter from the Bible is not that dark times will not come. This was, after all, the lesson of Good Friday. The death of Jesus on that day had to have seemed rather dark, indeed. Today, the empty streets across our lands bespeak a similarly dark time for us.

And yet, the message of Easter morning is that we still have hope. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope that life will triumph. And to Christians, hope that death is conquered because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Without the cross (the bad times) there could be no resurrection (the hope for tomorrow).

I hope you’ve had a happy Easter, friend.