Not everyone enjoys surprises. Imagine you are the sponsor of a high-school play — a slapstick comedy filled with corny jokes and wild costumes. You watch the young people work hard to learn their lines, hit their marks and flesh out the characters they are playing. Finally the day of the performance comes. The young people do a terrific job. Everyone who views the play demonstrates their appreciation for the performance with roaring applause.

            At the end of the play the entire cast is on stage. You, as class sponsor, are called up to receive recognition for your support and leadership.

            What you don’t know is that several members of the cast, in keeping with the slapstick tone of the play, have decided to smack you in the face with a shaving-cream pie. As you stand smiling before grateful parents and faculty, two young people approach from the sides of the stage and splatter you with shaving cream.

            Not everyone enjoys surprises.

Surprised by an empty tomb

            Mary may have felt she had been smacked in the face as she stared into the empty tomb on that first Easter morning. It was

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