Prayer and Reflection – Monday 13th April

‘Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul’. Psalm 85:4

Easter Monday is a strange kind of day, usually one in which we reflect on the felicity of Easter, and look forward to picking up the tasks of normal life, after celebrations and feasts with family and friends. This year it is so different, and hope and gladness seem elusive, despite the joy of spring all around us. Here in the northern hemisphere, we can consider this resurgence of God’s goodness and provision all around us, with fruit trees about to blossom, seeds coming up, and the days becoming warmer. But God wants all of us, no matter where we live to be encouraged by his steadfast love for us, new every morning. So I would like to share a few words from Gideon Heugh of Tearfund:

‘You don’t need to create
your own hope –
the sky is full of it.
Wake up early one day
and watch the sun rise,
watch how it encourages the Earth
to become itself, only more so,
watch how it allows all things
even the sad beings
to be colourful, and beautiful,
then listen as it says
quietly, but undoubtedly,
‘We begin again.’

May God give you hope and strength for this, and every day.