Seeker

Experience teaches that death wins. Experience teaches that life is what you make it, so get what you can while you can, because it will be over soon. And the Easter message says, “ Really? How can you be so sure?” Death is real. We humans are not immortal. Jesus certainly died. Roman soldiers were efficient at barbaric executions. Jesus was buried, the tomb sealed and a guard set. There were eye-witnesses of this. There were no eye-witnesses of Jesus' resurrection. By that I mean no-one saw him rise from the dead. So why didn't the Christian story end with the crucifxion? Jesus'  disciples, who ran away in fear of their lives when Jesus was arrested, gave just one answer. They proclaimed that 3 days after Jesus was crucified, died and buried, God raised him to life. They preached it because they were witnesses, not that they saw it happen, but they saw an empty tomb, discarded grave-clothes, a stone rolled aside. And they met Jesus, in a garden,...

What is hope? If you are looking for a dictionary definition of hope, you won't find it here. What you will find are ideas about hope that have helped me recently. I chose  this image from October 2016 of a Syrian refugee child in Istanbul, Turkey, to illustrate hope. I love the hopeful expression on her face. I wonder what this child hopes for? A child is for me a sign of hope, of new life-enhancing possibilities, even in the middle of desparate situations. 'Hope' is an important word and theme of the Advent season . This year hope feels especially needed when so much has happened in 2016 to increase a sense of despair in many people. On the 1st Sunday of Advent this year I wrote about Entering Advent with Hope and about the truth that enables hope. Here are some further thoughts about hope. What is hope? Hope is the antidote to despair. Hope is not a denial of reality. Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope transforms darkness to light In her book 'S...