Monday April 21, 2008

From the Manse

From Easter 2008 Magazine

FROM THE MANSE

Dear all,

When this Magazine reaches your home we will be well into the season of Lent and of course looking forward to Easter.  Someone once said that ‘two things in life were inevitable, death and taxes,’ and in the main we just accept this. Is there a danger that we see Easter in the same light? Is there a danger that we become so used to the series of events that lead up to Easter morning and that glorious resurrection that they have lost their clout and universal significance?

One would hope that this would not be the case, especially when we look with fresh eyes at the unexpected and mind boggling account of the resurrection. There we see that Jesus Christ bursts the chains of death, ‘without warning and without permission. He disturbs every attempt to make God predictable and religion safe.’*

For many Easter is little more than a signal for the return of spring, a point in the year where we are already noticing signs of new growth, the birds returning to nest and yes, these things are undeniable, BUT more importantly, ‘Easter is about the cataclysmic shattering of the tomb of death. It’s the breaking in of a new world. It’s what J.R. Tolkien called “a joy beyond the walls of the world.” Surely that should make our hearts beat faster and cause more than a little excitement! Why?

God’s Love! It was love that brought Jesus to live among us, to share our life, to bear our grief. It was love that walked resolutely towards the cross and hung there so that we might have a relationship with our God. It was love that flung heaven’s gates wide. It is love that awaits us when we step ahead on into God’s eternity.

If your hearts are not already filled with that certainty, then think on, for if Jesus burst the bonds of death, then he is with us still, alive and waiting to have a relationship with us. If we are not yet sure of all that Jesus promises, then why not try to get to know him better? He is accessible now. ‘Through the resurrection Jesus is let loose in the world. The many followers of Jesus have found that they could encounter him in a garden, an upper room, on a walk out of town, by a lake or on a mountain top. Now we find that we can encounter him in our lives and by our side, in bread and wine, in prayer, in our neighbour….’* What a gift, reach out for that this Easter and yes, mourn the ill-treatment Christ suffered, but rejoice in what he achieved. New life here and now and life beyond this life.  Then May you be all you can be, happy and at peace with him by your side.

Happy Easter to you all

Pauline & Jim

* John Pritchard: Living Easter Through the Year SPCK (2005)

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Contact Information

Peterhead Old Parish Church, Erroll Street, Peterhead AB42 2PU

Our Minister  is Rev Pauline Thomson MA BD, The Manse, 1 Hawthorn Road, Peterhead AB42 2DW Tel: 01779 472618

Our Session Clerk is Mrs Hazel Ross 22 Linksfield Terrace, Peterhead, 01779 471383

Electronic mail can be sent via the message page or to john@mucklekirk.co.uk
 

                                                                                                       Last modified: 21-04-08