At last we have sunshine!

The sun makes such a difference.  When the sun remains behind the cloud it is cold, dark and damp.

But when the sun forces its way through, the warmth is immediately felt and spirits are raised.  The warmth is very comforting as it penetrates the gloom that surrounds us all.

This is very much like Easter.  Since the 5th March we have been preparing for Easter.  Christians strip themselves of all their idiosyncrasies and foibles and look at themselves honestly and ask the question – “How can I grow to be more like the person God intended me to be?”  This is not a way of lowering self-esteem but a way of looking at one’s self as others see us and asking ourselves “what do I need to change?  How can I be more selfless?  How can I love my neighbour more tomorrow than I did today?”

It is an exhausting time of reflection!

When Holy Week arrives we travel with our Lord, not in the sense of accompanying him to watch and see what happens to him but accompanying him in the sense of trying to put ourselves in his place.  We try to understand how there is such a movement from support and joy to condemnation and death by those he has lived beside.  Many of us recognise this scenario, albeit on a much smaller scale, in our own lives.  Those times when we feel we are getting on well with people, sharing the same values, supporting one another – and then suddenly we can find the very people we trust have been talking about us and criticising us for their own selfish interests, and conspiring to discredit us or worse.  The sense of betrayal is huge!

And so it was for our Lord, the betrayal of him ended in his death on the cross.  Death seemed to have won, the critics seemed to have won and Jesus’ good works amounted to nothing as the power of authority snuffed out future good works.  But then, the shock came – Jesus was found on the third day to be present in the lives of his friends, those who believed in him.  Their spirits were raised and suddenly, those who had encountered God knew that no matter what, if they worked to be the people God wanted them to be then, even when they found themselves heavily criticised and gossiped about by their friends and others, a time would come when new life would begin again – relationships would take a turn for the better. Just as spring always follows winter so there would be new life in relationships which had died.

This Easter Day on the 20th April there will be a ‘son’ rise service in Derry Hill.  We will meet at the Football Ground, next to the Soho Inn, at 5.50am and watch the sun rise a little way across the grounds opposite.  As the sun rises we will be celebrating the rising of God’s son over 2000 years ago but also in our own lives to give us the hope and courage to go on.  Bacon butties will be served afterwards!  I do hope you will take time out this Easter time to thank God that the winter in our own lives is always followed by spring!

A very Happy Easter to you all, and I do pray that the sunshine continues to shine and that you feel the transforming love of God coming through it!

With love
Reverend Ann