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Eyes to see
the Rector writes .... Two elderly ladies shared a room in the small community hospital. One summer’s day there was a thunderstorm accompanied by torrential rain. Unfortunately the window was wide open and the rain came in. Talking about it to a visitor later that day one of the ladies was cross that her bedding had got wet and the nurse had taken such a long time to come and close the window. The other lady had been delighted for she had felt the rain on her face, something she had not experienced for 18 years. She was blind but she ‘saw’ the situation in a completely different way. There is the well known difference between an optimist and a pessimist: one sees the glass half full, the other sees it half empty. Some would say that perhaps there is not much to be optimistic about today, what with global warming, the never ending increase in anti social behaviour and crime, the ‘credit crunch’ at so on. And it might seem that the Christian season of Lent, with its emphasis on the sinful nature of humanity is somewhat pessimistic too. Yet the Christian faith is essentially hopeful. This is not the kind of hope that says, with fingers crossed, ‘I hope it will be sunny today’ or ‘ I hope I will get the job’ but a hope which is based on a deeper truth that ‘sees’ beyond the chances and changes and appearances of the world. The unshakeable foundation of this hope is Jesus Christ – his teaching, his life, his death and his resurrection. Christians are neither optimistic nor pessimistic but are realistic. Lent is a time to be realistic, particularly about our limitations. As Christians we share a solidarity with the rest of humanity in an inability, despite our best efforts, to get things right. The essential thrust of Christianity is the belief that humanity has cut itself off from God; we think we can do better in our own strength. This seems so deeply rooted in the human heart nowadays and people look everywhere for a way forward except to God. Christians are realistic in their belief that without God Incarnate in their lives then any hope will be an illusion. But if we can make Christ the source of our hope then we shall have hope indeed. This is a resurrection hope which knows that there will be times of crucifixion too. It is a hope which says ‘even when things look at their worst, when we cannot see a way forward, when all dreams seem shattered, - as it seemed on the cross- God will not be defeated. The darkness will not overcome the light. The dawn will come again’ The world may give the appearance of having all the answers, the politicians and journalists and social commentators may dazzle us with their rhetoric. They want to convince us that they ‘see’ how things are. But there is a sight which is given to those who seek to put their hope in God. This is not what some disparagingly call ‘blind faith’. The blind lady ‘saw’ what the sighted lady did not. quirky quote "It is not so much that Christianity neatly answers all our questions, as that it questions all our answers" |
