Faith Matters: Responding to death
Writing this month, Bishop Martin of Chichester, reflecting with sadness on the recent conflicts in our world, draws on the upcoming Easter story for hope.
Death is prominent in the news right now.
The middle east conflict presents us with widespread death inflicted by precision technology. Too often there is a shameful contrast between that technology and the culture inhabited by many of those it kills.
We have been uncomfortably shocked that outposts of western culture offering holidays, retail opportunities, and tax efficiency should have been hit. Destinations that promised what every modern city can offer, but with the guarantee of sun and sea, now also offer the trauma of death through global politics.
For me as a Christian, the outbreak of renewed conflict and utterly tragic loss of life in the middle east places the upcoming celebration of Easter in a sombre setting. Here are three things that I feel most keenly right now, in response to the media profile of death.
The first is that I know people in Syria and Lebanon who live each day in fear. They are Christians living ordinary lives, bringing up their children, trying to hold down a job they hope will survive. A bishop for some of those people came from Syria to welcome me when I first arrived as bishop of Chichester: he was kidnapped and murdered.
The second thing is the uncertain value we seem to place on the sanctity of life. As the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Lift) Bill makes its way slowly through Parliament, the enormity and moral complexity of what it means deliberately to end life becomes more apparent. Again, it is the needs of the vulnerable, who can be misunderstood and dehumanised in a world constructed by others, that stand out as being most at risk.
Third, Good Friday is when Christians watch Jesus die on a cross, outside Jerusalem. He was innocent. He chose to become vulnerable to death in order to rescue us from its power. He did this out of love. The reality of that love is the foundation of all human dignity and the source of hope for this world.
‘Holy Hour’ during Lent: Join for an hour of personal prayer every Thursday (1pm-2pm) during Lent at Chichester Cathedral. For more info: www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/events/holy-hour-during-lent
Find your local Anglican church: ‘A Church Near You’ (www.achurchnearyou.com) enables you to easily see what services are being held by churches in your vicinity throughout the year.