Easter fast approaches and we take pause to reflect on this summit of the Christian experience of God come among his people in the person of Jesus. It is easy enough to describe the events of the first Easter... the story is well known. Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, brutalised, publicly executed, died nailed to a cross of wood along with two thieves and was buried in the tomb of a friend.
Astonishingly, when the women came to anoint his body they found the tomb empty. He appeared to his disciples soon after his death and ate with them... and risen to new life, he continues to be present to those who would be his disciples.
But just recounting the events is not enough to encapsulate the power of the Easter event itself. Perhaps the language of prayer from the heart of a believer touches its essence.
God of our hearts,
as the nights lengthen and the sun weakens
and time stretches through the darkening days of Lent,
may we be reminded of the pattern of these days...
below the seeping cold there is the warmth of hope,
behind the daily struggle there is the memory of joy,
beyond the encroaching night there is the new dawn,
above our heads is the transforming vision of the cross,
closer than our very breath you are The One who gives us life.
May we ourselves reflect the pattern of The Lord’s death and resurrection:
From fragmentation to wholeness,
From exhaustion to energy,
From bondage to freedom,
From loss to gain.
From death to new life.
May we be attuned to the subtle signs of life around us,
glimpses of possibility in the river of our life.
We ask this through him who shattered all that prevents life,
the one who passed through the dark valley of death
to the white shores of home, Jesus, your only Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
By Mike Hansen
