"I tried to write of Hope": Resurrection Sunday / A.J. Hendry
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I tried to write of Hope.
But, our society has little use for Hope.
We have mis-used it, abused it, grown fat on the possibilities it inspires, over indulging on dreams we have no intention or desire of turning to reality.
For we are content.
Content with the poverty and suffering that has made itself at home within our communities.
Comfortable with the inhumanity of a world where we allow our poor and our ill to live on our streets, and to fill our prisons.
Our whanau struggle to get by, our kids are cold, living in damp homes, with little food and less security.
And this has become acceptable to us.
Some will tell you that this is not true. That we do not want this for our people. That we are doing all we can. Just look at the charities we fund. Look at all the volunteers we produce. Look at the soup kitchens, and food banks we donate to and sustain.
We do more than others, our tweets alone show that much.
And yet the world remains unchanged.
Soup kitchens continue to be run off their feet, food banks continue to be restocked, and the systems that harm our whanau remain unquestioned.
You see, what is acceptable to a society, is defined by what that society will accept.
And we have accepted a society where some live in poverty, just struggling to survive, while others grow fat on comfort.
We have chosen this.
This is the world we have built.
It is a world which is sustained, both by our actions, and our inactions.
We should not congratulate ourselves for doing the bare minimum.
For offering a helping hand after allowing someone to fall down.
Our whanau do not need more charity, they need justice.
It is not enough to put our homeless whanau into motels, or to provide food parcels to those who are hungry, no, we must ask why they were in need in the first place?
Today is Resurrection Sunday.
A day that reminds us that what was, does not have to be what is.
The horror of Friday is still with us, and the utter despair and darkness of Saturday is still very present in our minds, yet today is different. Today, a man who was dead, has risen from the grave.
Today, we can believe that anything is possible.
Yes, there is still suffering, there is still pain, mother's still weep over children taken to soon, the powerful still play games with the weak, the rich still oppress the poor.
And yet through the darkness a light has begun to shine.
An answer to the horrors this world has to offer.
Death does not have the final word, our suffering will not last forever, for Love, true Love, can never die.
As the sun rises, so do those who will not allow evil to win. Who will not be content for the world to remain the way it is, who will not accept that nothing can be done to find the lost, shelter the last, care for the least.
The Resurrection invites you to join them. To be done with being content with the way things are. To renounce the sin of complacency, to become uncomfortable with comfort. It is not enough to sit and wait, to pray, to hope, the Resurrection calls you to act.
Because, today, everything has changed.
The emptiness of chasing power has been unmasked.
The foolishness of seeking personal gain at the expense of others, has been revealed for what it is.
The futility of amassing wealth, while others go hungry, has been put on display.
Amidst the darkness this light shines.
Through every small act of Love, every movement towards Justice, the Kingdom breaks through.
For today, we remember that Love always wins.
That Death does not have the final word.
That Love Is the Way.
For
He Is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
A.J. Hendry