Do I grumble or complain constantly?
I'm tempted to reply - only when I'm awake! The old hymn 'count your blessings' offers a better way. Do you naturally look for the good and give thanks or look for the bad to have a grumble? My natural inclination is the second - I have to work hard at not being a grumbler.
As we go through Holy Week, there's lots that defies easy explanation, which brings us back to the Holy Club practice of reading the mystic writers together.
They instinctively understood that reason and explanation are important, but can never do all that we need to be Christians.
We will never fully understand the atonement - the meaning of the death of Jesus. The great theologians give us pointers, but none of them can offer a complete explanation. The death of Jesus is something that we need to enter into, not just think about. The resurrection is in one sense profoundly unbelievable - until we experience it, then its life changing.
The Holy Club consciously sought out an experience of God that would help them to believe in the salvation that Jesus won for us on the cross. Often that experience comes when we meet with others and unite our faith until we have enough.
The Primitive Methodists in the nineteenth century talked about 'getting in faith' not something we work ourselves up to, but something God gives us by his grace.
My hope this Easter is that once again, I'll not just read about and sing about the resurrection, but enter into it as I experience the risen Christ.
Bible passage to meditate on: Matthew 28:16-20
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