The other Saturday I spent the morning at The Chiltern Child Contact Centre. It was good to be there and see how this
organisation supports estranged families through the provision of a safe and
comfortable place in which children can meet up with a parent who doesn’t
currently live at home anymore. It was
truly moving to see this interaction and witness the quiet and gentle practical
support being offered by that morning’s helpers. I came away with a real sense that something
positive and life-giving was being experienced even though the overall context
was that of significant struggle and pain.
I suspect we could think of numerous other examples of such human support and encouragement given either by individuals or collectively through clubs and societies. Wherever these sorts of opportunities occur I believe something of the breath of God, the breath of Life is being experienced in our world.
The opposite is equally true and so we lament the life draining tragedies of the Syrian refugee crisis or the recent Boston bombings.
All of this has come into focus for me this week as I prepare to preach on the lectionary passage on Sunday about the raising of Tabitha by Peter in Acts 9. In many ways it asks difficult questions about ‘resurrection in real time’ – but looked at in another way the message of the passage couldn’t be clearer: God’s gift to us is a participation in His Life – a life of joy, of peace and love. Tabitha shared in that way of living before her death because we are told she ‘spent her days in acts of kindness and charity’ – what a lovely epitaph.
In this Easter Season – which now even feels like the season of spring – I think it’s important for us to re-affirm that the God at the centre of our worship is the God who offers us life – life in all its fullness.
With best wishes,
I suspect we could think of numerous other examples of such human support and encouragement given either by individuals or collectively through clubs and societies. Wherever these sorts of opportunities occur I believe something of the breath of God, the breath of Life is being experienced in our world.
The opposite is equally true and so we lament the life draining tragedies of the Syrian refugee crisis or the recent Boston bombings.
All of this has come into focus for me this week as I prepare to preach on the lectionary passage on Sunday about the raising of Tabitha by Peter in Acts 9. In many ways it asks difficult questions about ‘resurrection in real time’ – but looked at in another way the message of the passage couldn’t be clearer: God’s gift to us is a participation in His Life – a life of joy, of peace and love. Tabitha shared in that way of living before her death because we are told she ‘spent her days in acts of kindness and charity’ – what a lovely epitaph.
In this Easter Season – which now even feels like the season of spring – I think it’s important for us to re-affirm that the God at the centre of our worship is the God who offers us life – life in all its fullness.
With best wishes,
Ian
No comments:
Post a Comment