What does it mean to be a people of prayer in this season of Eastertide which lasts for 50 days and culminates in Pentecost? It means to pray ‘thy kingdom come’ it means to pray for spirit filled lives and so in our Eastertide collect we pray:

Risen Christ,
you filled your disciples with boldness and hope:
strengthen us to proclaim your risen life and fill us with your peace,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen

(Church of England Easter Collect)

and even in the ruins of Palestine the prayers have a theme of hope:

Victory of love over hate
Victory of justice over oppression
Victory of compassion over hard-ness and callousness of heart
Victory of hope over despair
Victory of peace over conflict and war
Victory of reconciliation and forgiveness over revenge and vengeance
Victory of nonviolence over violence
Victory of peace, security, and wellbeing over chaos, insecurity, and fear
Lord, let it be. Amen

(Prayer of Palestinian Christian Naim Ateek)

I wonder, what was the prayer you placed in the soil of Easter morning? What is your hope of resurrection? What are the resurrection moments in your life and in the lives of those around you?

As celebrations of VE Day roll out across the country this month it is sobering perhaps to remember that the victory referred to by Naim, the ‘victory’ of the cross is a very different thing…

Resurrection victory has the imprint of dark times and struggle just like VE day, but it often also comes from a place of weakness, vulnerability, wilderness.

Pope Francis whose life has been much talked of these past weeks had a wilderness period, ostracised from the church in Argentina he had to go away for 2 years and forfeit his priestly ministry; a time of deep pain and doubt for him lay the foundation of a more pastoral, radical, humble lifestyle and vocation. After the wilderness of Lent we are invited to celebrate resurrection, to pray for the spirit to reinvigorate our lives as it did the lives of the disciples, to hear new and courageous voices.

My prayer for us all as individuals, and for us as a community, is that we will find new and courageous voices, that we will be buoyed up by the prayers and songs and readings of this period of Eastertide and see new shoots reflected in the human and non human world around us.

Some of us will be discovering new landscapes as we walk The Golden Valley Pilgrim Route, but here at home the signs of new life are everywhere in our gardens and hedgerows, in our Eastertide Baptisms.

May you witness the victory of resurrection, of hope over despair in the people you meet and the power of our planet to regenerate, and build up your courage this Easter to be a Risen, hopeful presence in the world.