Bishop Martin's message for Easter: Recovery is the Christian message

The coronavirus lockdown has reminded people of my mum’s generation of distant and vivid childhood memories – in my mum’s case, as a girl growing up in south London.

One of my hopes for this exceptional, historic era that we are living through is that it can be a good one for children. I hope that their good memories are now in the making, to be treasured in the future.

When we Clap for our NHS Carers on Thursdays at 8pm, I also want to clap for the carers of children who are doing a really great job, and a demanding one. And you can see evidence of this everywhere in painted rainbows in the windows supporting the NHS.

But I also hope that the rainbow will be more than a memory. I hope it will unlock a powerful story for life beyond coronavirus.

In the Jewish and Christian traditions, the rainbow comes from the story of Noah’s flood and the gift of peace, represented by an olive branch, that comes as a sign of recovery after terrible destruction.

Recovery and an unshakeable sense of hope for the future is also the Christian message of Easter Sunday, when Jesus rises from death. The destructive power of death and hatred is reversed by the power of love and new life.

As we emerge from this pandemic, and we will, let us commit to the recovery of a different and better society.

This must mean a renewed, urgent sense of care for the planet, tackling waste, and knowing you can make a difference. It must mean a greater sense of having a duty to care for people at risk, young or old, and irrespective of class or race.

I hope it means we are quicker to express thanks for the people and organisations we depend on, like the NHS, schools, shopkeepers, public transport workers, cleaners and emergency services.

Finally, I’m mindful of the words with which the Queen concluded her message: “We will meet again”.

This evokes a haunting wartime song by Vera Lynn. But it is also a powerful expression of Christian faith.

The good things we have lost on earth are the golden threads by which God leads us beyond death, to find in heaven everything and everyone we have ever truly loved.

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