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| Crown of Thorns. |
Pause for Thought (BBC Radio 2)
Good Friday 2019
New Life
One of my favourite TV programmes when I was a little girl was ‘The Phoenix and the Carpet’, in which four children found an egg wrapped in a carpet. The egg hatched into a phoenix and the carpet turned out to be magic and lots of exciting adventures began. My own children discovered the delights and mysteries of the legend of the phoenix through the Harry Potter books.
There is something fascinating about the idea of a mystical bird, full of wisdom that, when it reaches a grand old age, bursts into flames and out of the ashes rises to live again, carrying all the wisdom and memories but beginning a new life in a new body.
I thought about the phoenix, when on Monday night I watched horrified and mesmerized by the images from Paris as the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral blazed in furious flame. It seemed particularly poignant that this should happen in Holy Week, the week when Christians remember the events leading up to Jesus’ death.
On Tuesday morning it must have felt to the Cathedral team, to many in France and to millions watching from around the world that something of their identity, their hopes and dreams now lay in ashes. Yet an image emerged at the centre of the devastation and destruction – a cross – catching the light of the morning, intact and shining in the midst of the gloom. It was an empty cross, the symbol of resurrection – the very heart of Christian hope.
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| Crown of thorns - detail |
Today on Good Friday, Christians remember Jesus’ crucifixion, the cruelty and sadness; an event filled with despair and lost hopes. In the marking of those events, hope finds a way into the story because Christians believe that death is not the end. There is always a possibility for new life, a new beginning and we look towards the dawn of Easter day and the light of the morning that will shine on an empty cross, because Christ is no longer there, he has risen. I hope that you will have a very happy and blessed Easter.
Simply, thank You for your beautiful artwork and message. Even as we reel from that Parisian horror which silently drew our tears... We hear of a church roof collapse killing 12 sleeping people in Africa... Thank God we do have hope in the gloom of this extraordinary weekend even before love ensures the stone is rolled...
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