diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'blog/2024/03')
| -rw-r--r-- | blog/2024/03/30/easter/index.html | 168 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 168 deletions
diff --git a/blog/2024/03/30/easter/index.html b/blog/2024/03/30/easter/index.html deleted file mode 100644 index 1d7691b..0000000 --- a/blog/2024/03/30/easter/index.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,168 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html lang="en-GB"> - <head> - <meta charset="utf-8" /> - <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/reset.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/base.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/hcard.css" /> - <link rel="stylesheet" href="/blog.css" /> - <title>Why Easter is the best week of the year | joeac’s blog</title> - </head> - - <body> - <article class="h-entry"> - <aside> - <p>This is a blog post by <a class="p-author h-card" href="/">Joe Carstairs</a></p> - <p>He wrote it on <time class="dt-published" datetime="2024-03-30">the 30<sup>th</sup> of March, 2024</time></p> - <p>Go back to his <a href="/blog">blog</a> if you like</p> - <p><a class="u-url uid" href="https://joeac.net/blog/2024/03/30/easter">Permalink</a></p> - </aside> - - <h1 class="h-name">Why Easter is the best week of the year</h1> - - <p class="p-summary"> - Based on a talk given to my colleagues at - <a href="https://www.scottlogic.co.uk">Scott Logic</a> for Maundy - Thursday, 2024. - </p> - - <div class="e-content"> - <p> - As you might have noticed, it is Easter this week! So I'd like to take five or - five minutes of your time to share why I – and about two billion other humans - going about the place just now – think Easter is the best week of the year. And - it's got something to do with a special Christian ritual called Communion. - </p> - - <p> - Communion, at its heart, is about as simple a ritual as you can get. You get - together with a bunch of other people. You share some bread, and you share some - wine. - </p> - - <p> - And it’s because of this ritual that so many people regard Easter as the best - week of the year. I want to explain to you why that is, and more than that, I - want to convince you that Easter is the best week of the year for you, too! - </p> - - <p> - If you’ve passed by <i>The Hub</i> at the top of Johnstone Terrace here in - Edinburgh recently, you might have notice the banner which is draped over - the railings just now – reading, ‘RITUALS THAT UNITE US.’ - </p> - - <p> - Now, that might seem like an odd idea. But wouldn’t that be great, if we - actually had a ritual which could unite us? Because the world could surely do - with a bit more unity right now. The world seems so divided, and sometimes it - seems like there’s no hope for real unity. - </p> - - <p> - We can see that in our politics. We’re divided about foreign policy, about - taxation policy, about trade policy, about environmental policy. - </p> - - <p> - And the conflicts that we have in this country seem pretty trivial when we - remember the conflicts that are playing out in other parts of the world right - now. In Israel and Gaza. In Sudan. In Russia and Ukraine. - </p> - - <p> - And there’s plenty of conflict happening on the small scale, too. Often it’s the - smallest-scale conflicts which hurt us the most deeply. Your landlord pushes you - around. That friend you trusted like no-one else in the world lets you down. The - partner or spouse you loved like no-one else in the world – you end up fighting. - </p> - - <p> - It’s possible that you’re going to be reading this right now with a heavy heart - because of a broken relationship in their life. And doesn’t that hurt more than - anything else we know? - </p> - - <p> - When the world is groaning so heavily under the weight of conflict, and some - banner on <i>The Hub</i> tells us a ritual can unite us, that seems so out of - proportion to the scale of the problem, doesn’t it? What can a ritual do? A bit - of old superstition? An excuse to divide people, maybe – what can a ritual do - to unite us? - </p> - - <p> - Well, two thousand years ago, a man had a meal with his friends. Together, they - shared a meal of bread and wine – which, in that time and place, was the most - ordinary meal imaginable. - </p> - - <p> - And yet, in that most ordinary event imaginable, something was happening which - was totally unimaginable. As this man, Jesus, shared the elements of this meal, - he made some extraordinary statements about what he was doing: ‘take, eat, this - is my body’ – ‘drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant.’ - (The word ‘covenant’ means a promise.) - </p> - - <p> - He told them he wasn’t just giving them bread and wine, he was giving his body - and his blood, and a promise. - </p> - - <p> - Before Jesus ate another meal, he was flogged and nailed to a cross. His blood - was spilt and his body broken, even to death. - </p> - - <p> - And yet, that wasn’t the end of the Easter story. Because three days later, - mourners turned up at Jesus’ tomb to pay their respects, and found the tomb - empty, the stone rolled away. Then they became the first of crowds of - incredulous eyewitnesses to see Jesus, the same Jesus who was killed on a cross, - alive. - </p> - - <p> - Some magic trick, right? But this matters a hell of a lot more than just some - magic trick. Because Jesus became the first person in history to prove that you - really can both have your cake and eat it. He gave his life, and lived! As a - result, we can have his life and our own. We can join with Jesus through the - ritual of Communion which he established, and thereby, through Jesus’ body, join - together with everyone else who takes part in that ritual, as one body. Then we - can start living our brand-new, full-fat, original-recipe life overflowing with - generosity where we too can both give our life to others and enjoy it ourselves. - Indeed, Jesus taught us and showed us that it’s precisely by giving our lives to - others that we get to truly live ourselves. - </p> - - <p> - This is why, in spite of all the division which persists in the world today, two - billion people regard this week as the best week of the year. Two billion - people, from every nation on Earth, speaking thousands of languages, of every - age and culture and gender and race, who defy the divisions of this world to - insist on joining together as one body in Jesus. - </p> - - <p> - That includes Edinburgh’s thriving and diverse Christian community, many of whom - will be taking part in the ritual of Communion at some point this week. And if - you want to hear more about how Jesus gave his life for us and why that matters - for all of us, I’m sure every church in Edinburgh will have their doors open at - some point this week and would be delighted to have you. My own church, - Bruntsfield Evangelical, will be having a service tomorrow, Good Friday at - twelve noon, and also at eleven o’ clock on Sunday – I’d especially recommend this - one if you’re new to church or haven’t been in a while. You’d be very welcome to - join me there! - </p> - - <p> - Because Jesus’ new covenant, his promise to all of us, is that in an apparently - hopelessly divided world, there exists real hope for unity. And that’s why - Easter is the best week of the year. - </p> - </div> - </article> - </body> -</html> |