Sunday 5th April, Easter Day

To paraphrase Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: “Jesus was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. […] Jesus was as dead as a door nail. […] This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”

Our culture is increasingly afraid of death. As Bernard Kalish writes, “We avoid it. We deny it exists. We avert our eyes from its presence. We protect little children from observing it and dodge their questions about it. We speak of it only in whispers. We consider it horrible, ugly and grotesque.”

Why are we so afraid? Perhaps because death presents itself as the ultimate reality. All that we do in life, all we achieve, all we accumulate, is ultimately nothing, worthless, pointless. In a vast, impersonal cosmos, we are infinitesimally small flickers of light, briefly sparking and winking out. In the long run, only darkness remains.

To all of which Jesus says, “Really? Call that an ultimate reality? That’s not an ultimate reality, THIS is ultimate reality.” And the ultimate reality Jesus reveals is, indeed, wonderful, and hopeful, and poignant, and eternal. Love has conquered death. A new day has dawned. And we can live in that new day, in the light of the love of God. For ever.

Every blessing
Roger