Dear Friends,
I wonder what you think about when you consider the month of April? Do you think about April showers, the new tax year or losing an hour’s sleep? Or is your mind full of the joys of spring; early flowers, tree blossom and the prospect of lighter mornings?
From the moment we wake, before our feet even touch the ground, we can find ourselves being pulled into the frenzy of the coming day. We are drawn in by the magnetic pull of today’s pressures and the fears and doubts that flood our lives. All too often, this leads to a focus on the negative; the showers, the tax year and the loss of sleep.
Christ offers us a different perspective, an opportunity to refocus and see the potential and beauty all around us. It is rather fitting then that this year both Easter and Fritillary Sunday fall in April.
The Easter story is the demonstration of the love and power of God and His Son. Christ’s death on the cross offers us true hope, forgiveness and reconciliation with God. His resurrection from the dead is the core of the Christian gospel. Christ rose from the dead because death could no longer hold Him (Acts 2:24) – we no longer have to fear death because Christ has triumphed over it (1 Cor. 15:55-57). Saint Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and hope are in vain (1 Cor. 15:14). The apostles of Christ would have continued as the disheartened group depicted in the Gospel of John in hiding and consumed with fear and doubts. They were in total despair until they met the risen Christ (John 20:19). The resurrection became the foundation of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4).
We are children of God. We bring our fears and doubts to the foot of the cross and celebrate our reconciliation with God and our hope for the future on Easter morning. This should cause our hearts to sing, praising God with hallelujahs, as we wholeheartedly give ourselves to adoration and praise that is worthy of the Lord of Lords. It is through the love that held Christ on the cross, that we find our true place in the world, our sense of belonging and true identity. He tenderly meets us in our place of need and pours out his endearing love.
So let us shift our focus from the moment we wake in the morning, changing our perspective from a glass half-empty, to a glass half-full. Let our hearts sing, surrendering all to God in praise. It is impossible to comprehend what Christ has done for us and not to be changed. This is what gives us eternal hope even in the midst of difficulty.
As Easter dawns anew in all of our hearts, may we all be found praising God with all our beings.
Happy Easter to you all and may you know a new awakening of belonging and love.
Andrea