Harborough Churches article: This is a time of new beginnings!

You might think Easter is over and done now. The church though continues to mark Easter through the 40 days that Jesus continued to appear to his followers before he went to heaven.  In these appearances Jesus brought new hope where there was despair, new clarity where there was confusion, new belief where there was doubt, new courage where there was fear.  Where the road ahead looked like it had reached a dead end (pun intended), the risen Jesus brought new inspiration, vision and mission that opened up the dead end into a way ahead.   

Whether you share the Christian faith, or have a different faith or none, this is a message that can resonate.  New beginnings can be exciting and offer new opportunities, which for some, Is inspiring.  New beginnings can also be daunting.  They can be uncertain.  The new beginnings might be entered with fear and dread, with the weight of what has come before dragging us down. 

In either case, the continued Easter story can resonate.  Excitement and inspiration can resonate with the excitement and inspiration generated by the appearances of the risen Jesus.  A sense of foreboding, fear, uncertainty and the weight of what we carry into the new beginnings can resonate with this story too.    Jesus didn’t appear to people who were feeling happy, exited, brave, hopeful and inspired.  He appeared to people whose hopes had seemingly been dashed by his death. These people were grieving, scared, confused, and lacking a vision of the future.  It is in the midst of this that Jesus appear alongside then, and brining hope in the midst of worry.  It certainly didn’t mean that the road ahead for Jesus’ followers was going to be easy, far from it, but it did mean that there was fresh hope and life breathed into what seemed desolate.  This new life and beginning gave the flame of hope that was with them through all that life through at them in the days, weeks, months and years to come. 

So as we reflect on our new beginnings and experience the newness of Spring, we can be encouraged that in the continuing Easter story there is a message of hope that can resonated with us whether we enter these new beginnings with excitement of foreboding.

Phil Bryson - Vicar of St Dionysius Market Harborough