|
Dear Friends,
At the moment, it seems that all around us is one crisis after another. We are allegedly in a recession, we have been hit by a banking crisis, an unemployment crisis is looming and so it goes on. Daily our lives seem to be assaulted by people 'talking us' into yet more and more times of crisis instead of looking for the positive signs of growth and well being in our communities and our society and focusing on them.
It reminded me of a time a few years ago when we were in the middle of a very different recession, when the president and founder of the American company I worked for at the time was asked how he felt about the crisis of having had about twenty million dollars wiped off his personal wealth in one day.
In his usual style he replied that this was not a crisis, what after all was money? A crisis was if your child came home and told you they were hooked on drugs.
It seems to me that in his answer is to be found a great truth. For in many ways it is all a question of our perspective on life, what is important to us and what we choose to focus on at any given time.
Take for example a much more trivial situation - like the fact that as I write this many of us will be bemoaning the fact that we shall lose one hour of sleep on Saturday night as the clocks take us forward into British Summer Time.
With a different perspective, should we not instead be focusing on the fact that the signs of God's constant love and faithfulness to us are springing up all around us once more?
The rhythm of His creation is once again bringing new life to His world and if we focus on that and not the fact that we will lose sleep - we can see His hand in the lengthening of the days, those brighter longer days we long and wait for all winter.
We can see it in the lambs, which will soon appear in our fields, the rabbits which always multiply in spring and the baby birds, which appear in our hedgerows.
We can see it in the buds on the trees and the bulbs dormant all winter but now blossoming to life and in doing so bringing us such joy as we see them appear.
We should be thankful that God still cares so much for us and yet again has brought us through the darkness of winter into the new life of spring.
Likewise the rhythm of His creation is once again bringing new life to His people.
For in the rhythm of our Christian year we are again approaching the Easter event and the resurrection of our Lord, which we celebrate on Easter Day.
And in that day of resurrection and in the Risen Christ lies our hope for the future.
God has brought us too through our dark days and brought us into new life - everlasting life with Him - by the giving of His Son to die for us on the cross and in His rising to new life.
The Risen Christ is our hope for the future and that future is one of new life with God. And if that is what we focus on at all times then we too will blossom and give others joy and we will have a totally different perspective on the whole of our life knowing in our hearts, that our future is with God and we are part of the rhythm of His creation.
May the joy of the Risen Christ be with you all this Easter and His many blessings be with you and your family at this joyous time.
Caryl
|
