A GLORIOUS EASTER!

What a wonderful day! We often say 'Happy Easter' to each other but that fails to do justice to the ground-breaking mirth of greeting one another today, here, in the presence of the only person who has ever died and risen from the dead, and who therefore changes everything we know about life and death. Everything! Not just what we know but what we can experience too. God's grace has overcome my sin and won victory over spiritual death so that I can enjoy eternal life.

I love the words in Terry Falla's 'Be our Freedom Lord"
Universe, and every universe beyond,
spin and blaze,
whirl and dance,
leap and laugh
as never before.

It's happened. It's here! The new creation.

Christ has smashed death!
Christ has liberated the world!
Christ has freed the universe!

You and I and everything are free again,
new again, alive again.

This has been my first Easter as a cancer patient (still wondering what the outcome of my surgery is). Undoubtedly my darker walk has deepened my worship this Easter. The Tenebrae service on Friday was profound in its gradual darkening of the sanctuary as the appalling cost of Christ's sacrifice sounded out inexorably step by step. And the Easter celebration today lifted my heart as we shared in the centuries-old tradition of 'flowering of the cross' and sang out: 'He is risen, Alleluia'. Yes, everything changes for the better today. A glorious mirth-filled, joy-crammed Easter to you.