Life has been turned upside down – again. Europe is in turmoil – again. Yet humanity shows its love and resilience – again. By the time you read this the situation may have changed, will probably keep changing. We pray for the better …

For me one thing never changes. The love of God, the promise of hope and peace, the salvation of humanity. Manifested on the Cross and glorified on Easter Morn. He is risen! He died and rose again. We either believe it or reject it, that is the gift of choice we have been given.

On the Cross, even Jesus cried out in His suffering “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” I cry out “My God, my God, thank you that you have NOT forsaken us, you are right here in the middle WITH us!” Because he chooses to be, stuck right here in the middle with us. That is divine love.

On this bright sunshiny day, I sit and look out at the beautiful tranquil olive groves and think of the pain and sorrow not too far away. With deep sadness, with a sense of guilt that I enjoy peace whilst my brothers and sisters suffer, worldwide. With tears, heartache that brings back memories of the peace we fought so hard to bring but is again threatened by one man. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The irony is that God has ALL the power but chooses to use it in love for all mankind. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Great leaders emerge during difficult times. Abraham Lincoln famously said “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all the time”. We can be fooled into believing there is no God, some of us. I like to think of the tens of millions of tiny lights shining in the darkness, rising into a great beacon of hope. Together we stand …

May you have a happy and blessed Easter, whatever it means for you. If you would like a confidential chat, I’m always available at: ahrea2@yahoo.co.uk or on 634 386 179.

‘Bye for now and God bless you

Rev Andrew Rea