Happy Easter! For most of the world’s 2.38 billion Christians, today marks the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. For millions of devout Christians, this day marks the end of 40 days of fasting, prayer and penance. For anyone, it can be a day to appreciate the leaf buds and spring flowers that mark the season of life.

Easter this year follows the first night of the high Jewish holiday of Passover, which began at sundown Friday and coincided with the Christian holiday of Good Friday. That happened during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which began April 1. This marks the first time in 30 years that three major holidays of the three primary Western, Abrahamic religions converged in one day. All three faith communities consider Abraham the father of faith.

The holidays come as humanity struggles around the globe. Christians and non-Christians should take today as an opportunity to hope, pray, and strive for a kinder, gentler, more unified and peaceful world.

The highest Christian holiday comes as Russia continues war crimes in an aggressive attempt to conquer Ukraine – a country that elected a Jewish president and celebrates Easter with more art and enthusiasm than most other regions.

In Ukraine, the Easter egg is something more than the work of food coloring and crayons. It is high art. Eggs are blown to expel the contents before artists decorate the shells with complex and intricate colors, designs and geometric shapes. Known as “pysanky” – roughly interpreted as “to write” in Ukrainian – the tradition predates Christ.

“Decorating them has become a gesture of peace, as the war has brought new meaning to an old tradition,” explains an article in Time. “Now, more than ever, the decorating of pysanky is considered one of the ways to show that Ukrainian culture exists at a time when the war threatens to destroy sites of Ukrainian culture and heritage.”

Though few conflicts equal the slaughter in Ukraine, violence and spiritual darkness surround us during these holidays.

Throughout the United States, crime rates are soaring. The world’s evilest illicit drugs invade our country and kill more people ages 18-45 than anything else. It is a scourge from hell.

Post-pandemic global supply chain disruptions are exacerbating inflation as too much currency chases too few goods, services and commodities. Hollywood types say, “drink fewer lattes” and all will be well. Meanwhile, the lower classes have no lattes to sacrifice and hope to stretch food and gasoline to the next paycheck.

While devout low-income families will joyfully celebrate Easter, they won’t all have ham on the table. They won’t all have baskets of eggs and candy for their children.

As Christians celebrate eternal life, pray for or contemplate minorities, the poor and the oppressed. They are on the front lines of crime. Drug pushers prey on their children while they’re at work. They are the targets of those who consider death a solution to human challenges.

All around us we see an assortment of challenges to the fundamental sanctity of life. Consider Colorado House Bill 1279, signed this month to establish the country’s most extreme anything-goes abortion law.

The federal fiscal year 2023 budget proposes massive funding for the United Nations Population Fund. The State Department ended contributions in 2017 because the fund supports Chinese population-control programs that force abortions and sterilizations on Muslims and other ethnic and religious minority women – a practice Colorado Gov. Jared Polis opposes unconditionally.

Those who celebrate the high holidays this month, however they do so, should hope and pray for world peace – as advocated by Jesus who said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.” Passover celebrates freedom and peace. The Quran declares God “the Peace, the Defender, the Guardian …”

Peace requires reverence for the meek and the end of violence, wars, poverty, racism, bigotry, crime and human rights atrocities. Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin today. Happy Passover. Happy Ramadan. Happy Easter!

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board