Of all the Christian festivals, Easter is the one above all which celebrates life, joy, peace and hope.

            The Easter message is one that proclaims from the rooftops that death is not the end, that light is always stronger than darkness and hope always greater than despair.

            We are reminded of this each year as Springtime emerges from the bleakness of winter. Trees display the utterly brilliant green-ness of fresh new leaves. Blossom bedecks our gardens and verges. Daffodils bring joy along roads and lanes. The songs of the birds uplift the soul.

            In spite of everything we have faced in the past year, Spring has sprung again and brought a reminder of the power of its life into our lives. Winter has passed, and the world seems to live again.

            There has been much darkness in the past year, but there is always hope to be found. That is the long-lasting message of the Easter season, that no matter how bad things seem, no matter how deep the darkness, there is always something brighter to come.

            Jesus’s disciples knew the pain of loss when their beloved Friend and Master died. On the third day something transformational happened, and they were never the same from that time on.

The resurrection didn’t mean they never had a bad day again. Most of them faced serious opposition; some of them died for their faith. But it gave them a deep hope that, whatever happened, however hard things were, however much they faced, they would not be conquered because of God’s love and life for them. This gave them enormous courage to stand up for what they believed was right even when it resulted in persecution.

They knew that even the worst the world could throw at them was nothing compared with the love of the God who walked with them in the darkness and who would never leave them alone.

It is hard for us sometimes to see death as anything but negative; it causes so much pain. But Easter tells us that God’s life is stronger than death and when we lift our eyes beyond the horizons of this world, we see there is so much more to come.

May this Easter bring you hope, peace and life-giving joy.

  

With best wishes

Sarah