In the Midst of Turbulence…
This week was never going to be easy… The journey towards the cross was not for the faint hearted… All too quickly the scenes shift, close companions nowhere to be seen... From declaring outright allegiance to downright betrayal, desertion, denial… Only then to be followed by brutal beatings, torture, cruel death… The atmosphere toxic – political agendas and religious agendas running wild, empire of domination and power reigns supreme. Narratives distorted, lies become truth, wrongs become right - a week of huge turbulence. That was the first Good Friday…
Yet this could so easily describe this week in Gaza, South Sudan, DRC, Ukraine, Afghanistan to name but a few… just because we don’t see it in our social media feeds doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Living in the midst of turbulence is an all too familiar way of life for so many women, men and children all over the world… who similarly find themselves facing unimaginable loss and grief through no fault of their own, victims of other peoples’ power plays… where every day feels like a perpetual Good Friday…
Perhaps turbulence describes aspects of your week, month, year or decade because of work (lack of it), health, family, cost of living crisis or just life… perhaps you’re in the midst of personal turbulence… with your whole world turned upside down, hopes and dreams shattered, on the receiving end of disappointment, at the mercy of power dynamics, unexpected tragedy, loss… Perhaps you’re in the midst of your own seemingly perpetual Good Friday…
In the midst of such turbulence, we are reminded by Jennifer Garcia Bashaw:
God’s power... preserves life, lifting up the needs and voices of the oppressed and giving them dignity. This is what Jesus did in his life and death and what God’s spirit does in the resurrection and through the message of the Gospels.
There is good news… even if it doesn’t look like it, feel like it, sound like it… Good Friday is only ever part of the story. God has not forgotten, God has not abandoned, God has seen and heard. There is hope on the horizon… Easter Sunday did arrive, although it may seem to have taken forever, although it may have felt as if the worst had already happened… Miracles are possible and Jesus has already emerged from the tomb. Even today new life breaks out and ultimately changes everything…
Praying Easter comes with joy and resurrection hope for all who need it.
Shalom…
