With schools reopening after the Easter holidays today, many will assume that Easter is over for another year. But Easter runs for six weeks and everything that Easter stands for; hope, renewal and new life will be celebrated during the coming weeks. The world we live in today is often short of hope and good news. Easter does not wrap us in a cocoon, protecting us from the knocks of life. But it does help us to cope with the knocks of life so much better.

If we haven’t got a sense of hope, life and new beginnings, then life will always feel as if we are pushing water uphill. Easter reminds us that it is so much easier to push it downhill. To push it downhill we must get to the other side of the hill or keep going until we are over the top. Many struggle to find a way to do this. Easter is the map to show us the way.

One interesting repeating thread in our Gospel Resurrection stories during the coming weeks; is how fear gripped the disciples and closest followers of Jesus. Everything was just happening so quickly for them. There was much uncertainty and a genuine fear of the unknown. For them it felt as if they were pushing water uphill, with no end in sight. Jesus appeared to them again, reassured them and calmed their fears.

Thomas is probably the one who needed reassurance the most and his doubts reflect our questions and uncertainties too. But Jesus was the one who gave him courage and hope. It allowed Thomas to go forward not without fear but to go forward in spite of fear. This same invitation is also extended to each of us too. This is at the heart of the Easter message. There will always be darkness, uncertainties and lots of the unknown. But Jesus is the one who gives us reason why and the reason to keep going despite everything.


Thought For The Week is updated each Monday with a new photograph each day