Eastertide Reflection, 2020

It is such a strange landscape to be living in. Everything looks the same, but it's all different. Simple things like shopping have become complicated rituals that need careful orchestration. Simple pleasures like visiting for a morning chat, are bound by rules and rituals we could never have guessed at. Think back to last Christmas, when no doubt you hugged family members and friends, passed the peace on Christmas Eve with the neighbours, never thinking that these lovely gestures would be forbidden some months hence.

And too, we may remember, that at special times of the year - and here I am speaking of this last Easter weekend - we have long memories of gatherings, of a celebratory respite from the press of the every day, of seeing friends and family, of conversation, of special moments held above the ordinary. And this last weekend, so much of that did not take place, and there is a sadness in this, a great sense of loss.

But I am hoping, as is the divine spirit, as is God, as are all the Christ-like spirits in this world, as are all the poets and artists, that our sadness is our sanctification, our purification, the cleansing of our souls of all that is not love. And this can only lead us into a place of greater humility, within each of our hearts and homes and thus, in our community.

Let us pray for this blessing. Love has always been, and will always be, the most powerful of all things, if only we will let it have its way.