Easter Day

4 April, 2010

This was a day for recovering from the events of the last few days.  There was only one liturgy that I wanted to attend, and that was the Easter service at St George's cathedral.  The cathedral was almost full when I arrived and people steadily trickled in after that, until the nave, the transepts and even the choir were filled (there was no local choir to fill those seats).  The service was both in Arabic and English and a reasonable proportion of the congregation were Palestinian.  The liturgy was fairly standard Anglican and after all the other liturgies I had attended, I enjoyed worshipping in my own language and in a way that was more familiar.  One thing struck me as unusual, though.  During communion the first piece of music played by the organist was 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', which is a pop-song from the 1960s by the group Procol Harum.  At first I couldn't believe my ears, because it is such a secular tune and the song seems to be about some sort of drunk or drugged experience.  But as I prayed, the tune led me to a sense that everyone needs Jesus - those who were in the church, those who had been pushing and shoving in the Parvis or the Holy Sepulchre, those who didn't know God at all in Jesus Christ.  We all need to encounter the risen Lord who brings life to us and to all creation.  These thoughts opened up the opportunity for some heartfelt prayer and a sense of thanks and closeness to God.  This moment seemed to be the result of many experiences over this course and is something that I will take away with me when I go.  I hope that it will continue to influence my prayers - God's love and goodwill is for all of us whoever and whatever we are.