Spending a little time with our Village Playgroup, introducing the Easter Story to the very young, I came away remembering Steve Turner's challenging poem 'Christmas is Really for the Children' which, because this letter is not for young children, I offer for your reflection:

Christmas is really
for the children.
Especially for children
who like animals, stables, stars and babies wrapped
in swaddling clothes.
Then there are wise men,
kings in fine robes,
humble shepherds and a
hint of rich perfume.

Easter is not really
for the children
unless accompanied by a
cream filled egg.
It has whips, blood, nails,
a spear and allegations of body snatching.
It involves politics, God
and the sins of the world.
It is not good for people of a nervous disposition.
They would do better to think of rabbits, chickens
and the first snowdrop of spring.

Or they'd do better to
wait for a re-run of
Christmas without asking too many questions about
what Jesus did when he grew up
or whether there's any connection.

The truth about our Easter experiences is that most people, not just children, need a cream egg to get them through the challenging reality of Holy Week with its death, politics and betrayal before the true glory of Easter is revealed once again.

Perhaps it is because all too often the whole world and sadly Jerusalem itself, seems to be continually, not just for one week, all about death, politics and betrayal that we all want to find the 'peaceful garden of new life we call resurrection' to hide in from the pressures of ordinary life and so we take a short cut from Christmas to Easter as Steve Turner puts it. 'Without asking too many questions about what Jesus did when he grew up, or whether there's any connection'.

The Church's task is to help each person to make the connection between the joy of Jesus' birth and the fulfilment of his resurrection, by teaching that what happened to Jesus 'in between' times, was the same as what happens to us in our living from birth to death, and the difference Jesus' life and death makes for us all, as we have his perfect, sacrificial example to help us to get to the glory of Easter Day, and hang on to it in the cut and thrust of ordinary life. I hope our Easter this year will be full of Easter eggs (cream filled), rabbits, chickens, snowdrops and unlike last year, sheep too, to remind us of the promised joy and new life Jesus' triumph over death opens up for us when we ask questions about the spiritual side of life instead of being content to stand back and count our Easter eggs instead of our Blessings.