THE LIGHT OF CHRIST  
Easter came early to All Saints', Feering this year - with that marvellous "Messy Church" session on the first Sunday in March.  There were 68 children in attendance and approximately 100 adults - when parents, grandparents and helpers were accounted for.  Many congratulations and thanks to Claire Romer-Lee and her excellent team of helpers for all the hard work and planning in preparation for a most enjoyable occasion which helped us all prepare for the greatest of all Christian festivals - Easter.  I do believe that on March 7th at Feering a flame was lit which bodes well for the future of our parish church and United Benefice - for it was so good to see people from both our parishes in attendance.
 
Fire is one of those basic elements of life.  Fire is a powerful symbol of the resurrection - the warmth, the heat and the light - which gives new life. That's why at Easter, Christians, from all over the world light an Easter Candle as a sign of Christ's victory over death; the fire of God's love which can never be extinguished.
 
I remember from my visits in the 1990s the Holy Land an experience which still haunts me.  Just outside the city walls of Jerusalem is the shrine of Yad Vashem.  It is the shrine to the Jewish victims of the holocaust.  It's a memorial museum which tells the story of the rise of anti-semitism in Europe, the emergence of Hitler's final solution, which saw so many men women and children, sent to the gas chambers.  It speaks of the reality of human cruelty.
 
At the end of the exhibits, visitors come to the shrine, a huge hall, with no windows and a vast black marble floor with the names of the concentration camps inscribed therein - BELSEN - AUSCHWITZ - DACHAU - dotted all around - and in the midst of them all is a large flame which burns eternally. I remember the eerie silence - the darkness - the vast expanse of emptiness.
 
When we think of the resurrection, in all the excitement and joy, it's easy to be careless and forgetful, as we seek to describe the mystery of salvation. We pretend that the resurrection is just the happy ending to the story, so we can all be jolly again and forget the pain and the sadness of Good Friday.
 
But there is no place for forgetfulness in the Christian faith.  To forget Calvary, would be to forget the sad reality of human pain and suffering, whether it is the concentration camp or in the hatred and bitterness of the Middle East today so often displayed between Jew and Palestinian.  Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, but that does not mean that the earth shattering events of Good Friday and Calvary can be just swept under the carpet and forgotten.  Easter is no time for forgetfulness!
 
The Lighting of the Easter Candle and the silent flame of Yad Vashem. What do these two symbols say to us?  Well, perhaps they remind us that there are times in our lives when the light of Christ shines brightly; times when we are surrounded by the warmth and brightness of its light.  We see its reflection in the beaming smiles and the innocence and happiness of children - as we saw at the beginning of March in the faces of the children as they concentrated on being so creative.  I believe that the youngest person to attend Messy Church was Jemima who, at the time, was only ten days old.  I know the joy and happiness that the safe birth of a baby can bring to families - having experienced that same joy so recently myself with the birth of my granddaughter.  The New Life and birth of Easter can bring about a similar feeling as it fills us with joy and contentment.  We are encouraged to give thanks and remember that life is beautiful.
 
But there are times when the light shines in the darkest places, when the small spark of light seems feeble, unable to resist the alienated coldness and cruelty of our dead hearts.  There are indeed times when God feels absent, or at least we feel ourselves to be exiles, lonely and lost in the deep despair and blackness of the Dark Night of the Soul.
 
The dramatic events of Good Friday and Easter speak powerfully of redemption.  The symbol of the Easter Candle teaches us that the fire of God's love and the light of Christ engulfs and overcomes the darkness. There is nothing lost that cannot live again in the presence of His Spirit.  No heart so dark, so hopeless, that it cannot be enlightened and brought back, warmed back by the Risen Lord to the life of love.
 
Paschal Blessings,
 
Father David