Christ's Light - brighter than any darkness

I remember flying out of Birmingham Airport, en route to Australia, on a low cloud August afternoon.  It was dreary.  Then came the moment, just minutes after take-off, when we broke through the cloud and entered a sparkling sun drenched blue sky!  The sun was out all the time – even though in Birmingham it had been obscured by thick layers of grey Cumulonimbus!

At Easter Jesus Christ won for us a great victory – the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of heaven.  Yet, all too often our pressing circumstances make it feel as if there are great clouds over us. Clouds of ‘struggle’, ‘uncertainty’, ‘fear’ or simply ‘monotony’. 

Part of our spiritual discipline, because I think it needs to be an act of the will, is to lift up our eyes and see the sunrise of Easter for what it is – a reality that we can depend on and rejoice in. 

Christ has risen and light has overcome darkness.  We can be a people whose lives have been touched and changed by the sunshine of God’s grace and love. 

That doesn’t mean we won’t get days when the ‘cloud’ comes down – but even at such times we need to hold on to the truth that above them God’s light is shining – that Easter is a truth that changes everything, even on the cloudiest of days.

I hope the commemorations and celebrations of the next few days will provide sacred space and spiritual encounter for us all.

With best wishes,
Ian