Rolled away!
One of the great symbols of Easter Day is the moving of the stone from the door of the tomb in which the Lord had been buried. The stone was meant to seal everything firmly in coldness and darkness, and ensure that nothing was disturbed.
Ulster has been a bit like that. The coldness with which we treated people who were considered ‘different'; the darkness what did not want any new light shed on our strange wee ways; and our ability to be numbed to others by pretending that our particular culture was the only one, are now legendary.
But the old inherited ways are passing, and I believe God is in it. The vast majority of us look forward with a real sense of freshness to May 8th and the full functioning of our own Assembly, and to a world where new ways of living will be seen. As we reflect on what has happened over the past weeks, there is a sense of amazement that we have come so far. But there is also a sense that God has been in it, doing what only he can do - bringing life where there has been death, warmth where there has been coldness, and hope where there has been hopelessness. Just as he did when the stone was rolled away and Christ was raised from the dead.
Happy Easter!
+ Harold