Thought for the Day - Life in front of the sofa



On Saturday, a new series of Doctor Who will send children of all ages back behind the sofa as the Doctor and his companion face monsters, the end of the world and all sorts of dangers. Watching Doctor Who was the source of more than one of my nightmares when I was smaller.

This week, Christians mark Holy Week, the remembrance of the last week of Jesus’ life. This week we recall all the intrigue, the plotting and the violence. It is indeed the stuff of nightmares as we follow Jesus from a rapturous entry into Jerusalem to betrayal by a friend, desertion by his followers, a gross miscarriage of justice and finally execution and death.

Christians mark this week, however, because we know that the story does not end there. On the third day after his death, Jesus was given new life. Jesus is alive and present with us now. And so we can face the dangers, betrayals, and trials of our lives, and even death, confident that we are not alone in all this. Jesus, who is with us, has been through all of this.

A well known Psalm puts it this way. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me … Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long” (Psalm 23 4,6).

Or to put it another way, we don’t have to live our lives behind the sofa. Whatever difficulties and dangers we have to face, we don't do so alone.

(Given on Radio Bristol, 22nd March, 2005.)

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