VICAR'S LETTER FOR APRIL

Children often ask the question, "What is God like – what does he look like?" I don’t envy the parent who has to try and give an answer! It has always been the business of religion to try and describe God. Religion uses doctrine, laws and the interpretation of scripture of form a description of God that followers must adhere to. If you don’t agree you are a heretic and as history tells us heretics suffered a lot of pain for disagreeing with their betters. Even today Christians still call each other names if they have differing views on interpreting what God is like. The adherents of Islam, just like their Christian brothers and sisters in Northern Ireland only a few years ago, are willing to blow each other up in the name of their own interpretation of religion. People who commit mayhem on behalf of God actually believe they are in some way defending God; I suppose it makes the defenders feel important – I just do not know.

If a child (or anyone) asked me what God is like I would point them to the New Testament 1 John 4: verse 16: "God is love, and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them". I deduct from the verse that God is Love, pure and simple. I would expect to find that those who claim to love God would be attempting to imitate God in their own lives, then, by their example I would find clues as to what God is like. Every parent knows (and child who looks after a parent) that love is sacrificial, even dying for the sake of the other. Jesus was put to death by those who thought they were defending true religion. His crime was to show others a different view of God: One of Justice, peace, forgiveness and mercy. Those elements of God were displayed in Jesus` being raised from death on that first Easter Day. God used the power of love to defeat the death caused by the misguided religious of the day! We can argue about what happened on Easter Day for ever. It will help to remember that what we dispute is, not whether Jesus was raised, but what God's love is capable of, and I would not wish to argue about that. Raising Jesus seems to be the most powerful thing God has ever done so I will stick with that.

A Happy Easter from your friend and priest, Robin.