Bwana asifiwe! (Praise the Lord) asthey say in Tanzania. Ive recently returned from there, visiting the Dioceseof Morogoro with a group from the Diocese of Worcester.
We learnt how towalk together as sisters and brothers in Christ; to share the good things wonderful food, and dancing, and music, and the great joy and vibrancy ofworship there the zest of life.
We also embracedsomething of the pain of Africa; of crop failures, of poverty, of drought. Weshared something of the agony of those who are facing really difficult times intheir lives, including a young girl in Berega Hospital who had lost her baby, justbefore we had arrived.
In thesedifficult times we prayed; waiting on Christ and the transformation that hepromises.
Lent has been atime of waiting as we have prepared for this most holy of weeks. On Palm Sundaywe entered Jerusalem in the company of Jesus and his friends, with the joy ofthe Hosannas and the joy and vibrancy of the procession.
On MaundyThursday we remembered how Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it,yet was soon to be arrested.
On Good Fridaywe shared in the sense of the bereavement, the gut-wrenching emptiness of hisdisciples and his mother. We prayed and waited with them.
The joy ofEaster comes out of this long journey and patient waiting. It is to be caughtup in the transformation that Jesus brings for the life of the whole world. Ina world divided by conflict, he seeks reconciliation. In a nation divided byBrexit, he seeks communities coming together. In families divided by differentloyalties, he shows us how to love each other.
I know that inTanzania theyll be celebrating Easter with joyous music and dancing. My prayeris that something of their joy will fill your life this Easter.
+Graham
