Resurrection

“And if the message of Easter is about [new life], then for us to fast from gathering for worship is our following the path of new life, new life for those who we might hurt by gathering together and new life for us by learning to live — not for self alone, but for others and for God – that's resurrection.”

- Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

I am writing this just days before the Christian Church traditionally celebrates Easter. With the rest of you I have found my life consumed by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. We have all been called on to take responsibility not only for our own wellbeing and that of our family, but also for the well-being of everyone else in our communities.

I have been struck over the last number of weeks of the number of Biblical stories I see being played out every day around us.. The Israelites hoarding the manna in the desert only to find it spoiled the next day are replaced with bare shelves in our grocery stores because certain things are being hoarded. Of course this only increases the anxiety of the next wave of shopper, who then begin to hoard as well. Or take the story of the loaves and the fishes. It surely demonstrates that if we all take only what we need there is lots for all. Instead of being told to look after the widows and orphans, the stranger with our gates, we are bring told to look after the vulnerable in our society, those who have lost their source of income, who have no home to isolate in or who perhaps aren’t safe in that home. Those who put all their riches into bigger and better ‘toys’ remind me of the rich landlord who stored all his crops in the barns. I wonder if either of them wished that those resources had been shared with others so that in this time of isolation they would be part of a community, even a virtual one.

The biggest lesson however that this pandemic teaches us is that people are connected globally, that race, religion, language, or wealth (or lack thereof) makes no difference. We really are all bothers and sisters, all linked in a fight against a common enemy.That it is only by global cooperation, that by sending those masks that we might need ourselves to others whose need is greater for instance, is the way we will all survive.

We have an opportunity here and now to take part in the greatest resurrection ever known to humankind ....the resurrection of the global community. Remembering the lesson learned we will embrace this resurrection with a new appreciation and understanding of how truly connected we all are.

Happy Easter

Stay safe and stay home.

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NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

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