MESSAGE

Dear Friends,

Easter may seem but a distant memory when you read this, and yet Ascension Day, when Jesus went to be with the Father (for a while) is on May 1st, when I guess many of you will settle down to read this new issue of the Digest. And so, it is not until today that the post-Easter period with all those wonderful resurrection appearances ends, and we start anticipating Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

One of the things I really appreciated this Easter was the magnificent and thought-provoking BBC drama, "The Passion". I know that many of you watched it, and I know also that an estimated ten million people in this country alone did not miss an episode. Many of those did not, and perhaps do not, call themselves Christians. The BBC deserves our heartfelt thanks for doing what they did for the nation, and it is still not too late for you to write to the broadcaster and express your appreciation. I have.

A couple of days after The Passion ended, Channel 4 showed 'The Passion of The Christ' by Mel Gibson. What a difference between the two! The latter with all its gruesome attention to detail and gore was not, in my view, a patch on the BBC drama.

We know what happened to Christ before and during His sacrifice, we do not need to be reminded in such a manner that we have to look away at times. Not even the Bible goes into such detail. I doubt that the Bible would be the world wide best seller it always has been if Mel Gibson had written it, rather than the Bible as we know it and love it, the Word of God conveyed to us by inspired people from so many different traditions, capabilities and backgrounds. 'The Passion' got the balance absolutely right, and left us with a lot to think about and rejoice in too.

What joy it is now to be able to look forward to Pentecost on May 11th, when again the Christians in this village will be meeting on the Green for our open air witness. Not only that, but we shall also share in Communion together. What better way to celebrate the living Christ in and through the person of God's Holy Spirit.

Yes, I know it can be difficult to see the Spirit as a 'person', unlike Jesus, whom we read about and 'see' as a human being just like us (albeit totally divine as well), and God the Father, whom we may find it a little more difficult to describe, although most children have no such difficulty at all. I remember the story of the little girl who sat patiently drawing in her colouring book, when her Dad bent over and asked her, "What is it you are drawing". "I am drawing God", she replied. "But no one knows what God looks like", said the voice of 'experience'. "No, but they soon will", came back the reply.

So, if God is 'difficult' to describe, even more so the Spirit. And yet, whenever we see the reflection of love and compassion in someone close to us, whenever we see a hand being stretched out to us, whenever we feel lifted up when we stumble, I believe we see the Living Spirit in action. Remember that wonderful poem 'Footprints'? Says it all.

Christ is alive! He is alive in the BBC and He is alive in every situation where there is hurt and pain, anger and frustration, love and compassion. Above all, He is alive by God's Spirit in everyone who believes that things do not just happen, but that there is a purpose in everything and for us all. God's purpose, no less.

Let us look forward to Pentecost, remembering the coming of the Spirit some 2,000 years ago, but remembering especially that the One we are welcoming is already here, and always will be. God bless you!

Preben