A View From The Vicarage - April
Dear Friends,
From Calvary to Coronavirus
Under normal circumstances when I sit down to write at this time of year, I would be focussing solely on the end of lent, Passiontide and the joyful triumph of Easter and inviting you to journey with us through this most significant moment in the Christian year.
Easter 2020 finds us in anything but normal circumstances; I am convinced that our keeping of this most holy time this year will be somewhat muted to say the very least. As I write this (on 17th March) announcements from both Government and the National Church have been changing quite dramatically and by the time that you read this, they will have doubtless done so again!
It seems to me that the Easter Narrative has a great deal to teach us about the way that we should respond to the scourge of Covid-19, the Coronavirus pandemic which is causing such national and international panic.
According to the Gospels during the months and weeks before that Holy Week in Jerusalem and even during the early days of the week itself there was a developing sense of alarm and unease. For those who were aware of it there was, it seems, a growing awareness that something dramatic was about to unfold. For me, the past few months have felt somewhat similar from the first reports from China through to the confirmation that the virus had reached these shores and that our fellow citizens were now among its victims.
In common with those who witnessed those tumultuous events in Jerusalem so long ago, no-one it seems is fully aware quite how this will develop, but in common with them I think that we can be clear that our lives will have changed permanently as a result.
There were some in Jerusalem during those days who must have been oblivious to what was occurring, for them the execution of one more malefactor was hardly headline news. For many healthy people this pandemic won’t have much effect either. For others this will be dramatic and life changing in its effects, as Christ’s passion and death did for his friends and followers.
One of the recurrent features of the Easter story is the theme of waiting from the first days of the week though to the following Sunday people are being compelled to wait for something dramatic to happen, unsure of the future but knowing that the old certainties were certainties no longer. For all of us, that need to wait calmly and patiently will be one of the greatest tests of this health emergency. If you find yourself isolated at home please know that the Vicarage telephone number(01544 230525) is always available and please do let us know of anybody at all who needs support during these uncertain weeks.
The triumphant festival of Easter with its message of new hope and new life is also a reminder that this pandemic will not last; there will come a time when it is no longer the scourge of humanity it is at the moment, as has been the fate of all of its predecessors since the dawn of time.
In the meantime. Please do know that my prayers and support are always with you. Please let me reiterate my willingness to be contacted by any one at any time and let’s pray that as a community and as a country we will face this latest challenge with the same fortitude and stoicism that our forbears have shown in the past. In the confident hope that in God’s good time normal circumstances will be resumed.
With my love and prayers as always
Ben.