13 April – John Owen, Vicar of Steep & Froxfield with Privett

‘When it happens to you, you’ll know it’s true’

Alexander Solzhenitsyn quoted a Russian proverb at a speech he made in New York in 1975. He intended it as a warning of the dangers of totalitarianism, and it is disturbingly relevant nearly fifty years later, as we see the horrific loss of life and destruction wrought in Ukraine. The proverb in its original setting doesn’t refer solely to the sad, bad, mad stuff of life – of which there is plenty – but can also be applied to the joyful, celebratory aspects of human experience. It’s like Good Friday and Easter Day in the Christian story. The bleakness of the crucifixion of an innocent man one day, juxtaposed with his new life of hope on another.

The war in Ukraine is likely to change the way Easter is experienced by many Christians this year. The brutality of this war is happening in Europe during one of the most sacred seasons in the church calendar. Scenes we had hoped had been left behind in human history are being seen on social media and news feeds. Demonic forces are still frighteningly alive in our own times. Christian ministers may have to learn to grapple more deeply with the darkness in the human heart when they preach their sermons, say their prayers and read their Bibles. If it’s true for them, how true it is for all Christians.

In the Easter story is found the narrative of an innocent and suffering Jesus, who yet denies death the final word when Easter Day dawns. It’s a compelling picture of hope in a world which is short of such a commodity. Let’s pray that the Ukrainian people will experience hope as Easter dawns, and that its central message, ‘Christ is Risen’ will be known to be true because it happens to us all.