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Easter 2011 Dear Friends, Lately, I have been contemplating the effect of modern technology on our relationship with God and each other. Behaviourists believe actions are based on classical conditioning, learned behaviours and observable actions. It seems to me that with technology becoming more and more accessible, we can't help but be conditioned by its impact on our lives. For instance, there was a day when you would write a letter and wait anywhere up to two weeks or even more for a reply. Today, since the advent of email, we simply type our message, click and send, and likely start to feel a bit antsy if we don't have a reply within the hour! And by either turning to the movie channel or putting a DVD in the player, we have immediate access to full length movies that often bring us through some conflict to a happy resolve within a time frame of two hours at the most. When thinking in terms of our spiritual journey, however, things are not resolved nearly as fast as emails or movies. The conflict we encounter in our lives both individually and corporately as Christ's body, often takes a significant investment of prayer and discipline before we even begin to feel like we have made any progress at all. As we think about this against the backdrop of Scripture, however, we really shouldn't be surprised. If we take Peter for instance we observe someone who at one point confesses clearly that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God", while later on flat out denies even knowing him (Matthew 16:13-16; 26:69-75). Another time Peter steps out of a boat and courageously walks on water toward Jesus only to begin sinking when confronted with the reality of the storm around him (Matt. 14:22-33). The good news is that this same Peter rose from the ashes of failure and despair to eventually become one of the key figures in the history of our Church which continues to be inspired by both his life and teaching. I wonder if there isn't a little Peter in all of us. We share a solid belief in the one who has come to bring forgiveness, peace, and hope to our lives, but we find sometimes that the reality of life's storms prevent us from going forward in ways that we know are God honouring and life-giving! We get frustrated and despair that our journey is more one step forward, two steps back; preventing us from resolving the "issues" in our lives and making the progress we would like! Perhaps the real miracle of Easter is that the risen Christ comes back to our broken lives again and again to offer healing, restoration, peace and hope. May God grant us the patience and courage to follow Him faithfully as we continue to journey together ever further into the riches of His Grace and Mercy. In the Hope of our Risen Lord
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