And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them;
but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them,
“Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them;
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it at all.”
Mark 10:13-16
(the Mayor busy on Easter afternoon gathering eggs / Julie Cook / 2019)
Almost a week ago on Easter Sunday, my small family had gathered together in order to
celebrate the Ressurection of Jesus Christ.
We basked in the warmth of an April afternoon while hunting plastic eggs with
the smallest member of our clan.
We gathered around a table and enjoyed the bounty of the season.
We feasted and fellowshiped, celebrating our faith within the presumed safety of
our democratic afforded freedoms.
Yet around the world that “afforded freedom” is not exactly afforded to others
and if it is, it is often viewed with disdain.
While I’m on babysitting duty, I thought I’d take this busy time to share a
very important post from our across the pond friend and former Anglican Bishop,
Gavin Ashenden.
It is a heart wrenching yet very honest and truthful post…
…And tragically, it is a very sobering post.
When I read his introduction, which was actually taken from a letter penned by one of
the bombed Sri Lankan church’s Sunday School teachers,
I felt the hot tears of sorrow trickle down my face.
This is what the children of these bombed churches were doing on Easter Sunday morning.
“One of the Sunday school teachers in the Church in Sri Lanka has written about what
they were doing on Easter day.
“Today at Zion Church we asked the children,
‘how many of you would be willing to die for Christ?’
Everyone raised their hands.
Minutes later we took them into the main service.
The blast happened. Half of them died on the spot.”
In one of the two other Catholic Churches that were blown up,
the bomber waited until the children had come back into the main liturgy before he detonated.
Killing the children appeared to have been a priority to him.
The good Bishop reminds all of us, that as Christians, we are told that we are to love our
enemies, we are to offer compassion to all we meet…
with the teachings of Jesus being a far cry from that of Mohammed or Karl Marx…
And yet the world continues to defend and embrace the teachings of both violence and hate
while condemning the followers of the one resurrected Redeemer.
Please read the post here:
cookiecrumbstoliveby 