A meditation on the meaning of Easter by the Bishop of Chester.

"Hope is patience with the lamp lit" ( So said Tertullian, a rather controversial African theologian and bishop at the turn of the second century.)

There is much that snuffs out light and mitigates against patience: conflicts, rising costs, uncertainty, and the grinding 'stuff' of life in an age which has lost the ability to trust. We live with a such a persistent hope deficit that we often fail to notice it.

And here it is, Easter! Here we journey through betrayal in the garden, terrible injustice at the faux-trial, bleak brutality of crucifixion, and aching emptiness during Holy Saturday.

And here, now, Christ is risen!
    
The lamp is lit, and it is lit right here in the world to which the risen Christ returns to his disciples in the Scriptures and today: our everyday, aching, breaking and muddled world. Wait for the gift of the Spirit! Why do you look into heaven? 

The Christ will return

The resurrection changes everything, not by denying the struggles, wiping out the challenge, or overlooking our brokenness. Rather it engages kindly, patiently, and gracefully, and through both the cross and the empty tomb it offers solid and patient hope. 

Easter hope is not magic formula; it transforms reality by embracing reality and still loving. It is patience, but with the lamp lit. It is faithful, it is hopeful, and it is loving... and

the greatest of these is love.

So, I wish you a happy, hopeful Easter, whatever you face in the coming year. Be patient, keep the light of faith burning, and wonder afresh: 

Christ is risen!
† Mark