The 40 days leading up to Easter are called Lent, a time of challenge and personal reflection.
Less known is the fact that the 50 days after Easter are also a focused season, called Eastertide, when we reflect on what the Resurrection means for us in our own lives and in the world we are part of.
In short, Easter gives us encouragement to never give up.
There is a sense that the world ends on Easter Day- we do the worst thing imaginable to God in Jesus by murdering him – and then there is Easter. Love and light and hope and joy and beauty do not stay dead.
There is something about human hope and endurance woven into this – that we have hope because of Easter.
Over the last two years of the pandemic, even when there have been real times of challenge, difficulty, exhaustion and grief, there has also been something true and enduring about love and community and kindness and service which has shone brightly in the darkness.
Even now, in the midst of unimaginable horror in Ukraine and other parts of the world, there are still beacons of light and courage and hope shining, and they are getting brighter with every act of selflessness, welcome and kindness.
We all have choices about how we respond to the great challenges we face in our personal lives and as a nation.
The message of Easter is that the darkest hour is often before the dawn.
It inspires us to make our choice and decide where to stand, and whose side we are on.
It heartens us to choose life every single time and every single day.
The Revd Richard Lamey, from St Paul’s Church, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
