Easter arrives tomorrow, and not a moment too soon.

The Easter message is one of hope. The dawn follows the darkest night; life prevails over death; hard times are followed by good; no matter how bad things may look, they’ll eventually get better. In the end, the good guy wins.

The Easter message is universal regardless of faith. It means there’s always hope and you should expect the best to prevail, particularly if you behave yourself, help your fellow man and leave the negativity to others.

Why is that message so important this year? Simply because of the immense amount of caterwauling taking place in the political sphere, from local city and county governments all the way up to Washington, D.C., Beijing, Tokyo and Brussels.

It’s hard to remember a time when there’s been so much complaining or more Cassandras predicting the worst is yet to come: The housing crisis will never end; the unemployment rate will never drop; local tax revenues will always decrease; we’re being led by a bunch of morons. Political name-calling is pandemic, hateful words are all the vogue and organizations spend all the money they can extort from frightened supporters to belittle their opponents. Polite, thoughtful, respectful debate seems to be a thing of the past.

This Sunday, go to church, bask in the hope-filled message and take that lesson of hope with you. Be positive, try to like people even though they may disagree with you, be thankful for what you have and set a good example for young people to follow. After all, it’s Easter.