Vicars letter

April 2019

Click for the Vicars letter from March 2019

Death, taxes and the certainties of Easter

We all know what are said to be the only two certainties in life. Jesus mentioned one of them quite often, the dreaded taxes, and spoke about the other quite a bit, too, before experiencing a painful death himself. But what about the uncertainties? It strikes me that at the moment, every time we switch on the news, we are confronted with an absolutely huge uncertainty ... dare I mention the B-word? Brexit. I have absolutely no idea what the situation is going to be with Brexit or Parliament or Europe this month, or even this week. The uncertainties of life generally have a habit of making us worry: “What if I get passed over for that promotion, what am I going to do?”, or “What if I get sick, what am I going to do?”

As human beings we seem to need a healthy balance between certainty in our life - the normal, routine stuff - and a bit of uncertainty to make life interesting and slightly unpredictable, so that we don’t get bored by a constant routine. If everything in our lives is predictable, we often feel like we’re stuck in a rut; but if everything is uncertain then we are anxious about the future.

So, with this huge political and economic uncertainty hanging over us, how about I try and balance it with a bit of certainty? Here’s three certainties: on Palm Sunday we will be celebrating and remembering once again Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the week before he was finally arrested; on Good Friday we will gather and remember his death on the cross; and on Easter Sunday we will be gathering once again, but this time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. For me - as a Christian, as a priest - the resurrection, though I may not fully understand it, is up there in terms of its certainty along with “death and taxes”. It is at the heart of my faith. I hope that you will be able to join us as we celebrate once again this incredible event.

You will see from the calendar of events on the opposite page that there is a lot going on between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday (plus a similar number of services in Sandhurst). If you can’t make any other services, please come and join us for the biggest celebration of the Church year: Easter Sunday. If you can’t wait until 8am or 10am, there is always the Sunrise Service - 5.30am at St Nicholas, Sandhurst.

Speaking of the Sunrise service reminds me of another certainty: there will be bacon sarnies served immediately after it. Come along and enjoy one. And there’s one more certainty I can tell you about: the week after Easter I’ll be metaphorically “lying down in a darkened room” having a rest.

I wish you all a joyful Easter.

Revd. David Commander
Rector

Benefice of Benenden and Sandhurst

T: 01580 240658 E: david@dc-uk.co.uk