Easter message from the President of the Methodist Conference

The Revd Graham Carter, President of the Methodist Conferenceoffers his thoughts this Easter:

'Easter is about celebrating life Ð but not a self-centred, 'let mebe fulfilled at all costs' kind of life. It's about the life thatdoes not depend upon wealth or power or status, but the kind oflife that comes from the experience of the cross, that is, theexperience of self-giving love that goes on giving, whatever thecost.

'During my presidential year I have experienced the immensegenerosity of poor people in various parts of the world. It hasbeen embarrassing to receive gifts from people who are the poorestI have ever met. I have experienced God's grace in acts of puregenerosity and come away with my understanding of lifedeepened.

'Some time ago, when I was working with BBC Radio Merseyside, I hadthe opportunity of an interview with Jon Sobrino, one timecolleague of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated in ElSalvador while saying mass. He told me that those of us in thewealthy part of the world should not be paternalistic in our givingto charity, but learn that we had as much to receive from the pooras we had to give to them. This is what he said the poor have togive us:

á The poor don't take life for granted Ð they know the value ofsimply being alive
á The poor have a real sense of community and belonging to eachother Ð they know their need to depend on each other. Community ismore important than individualism
á The poor show creativity at all levels Ð surviving is, in itself,an act of creativity
á The poor know how to celebrate Ð celebration is not the same asentertainment or amusement. Celebration means people are happy whenthey are with one another, they celebrate life in each other
á The poor have tremendous generosity and commitment, even to theextent of giving up their lives.

'This sounds like real life to me and is a reminder of howattachment to riches can prevent us from experiencing life as it ismeant to be lived. It would be wrong to use this as an argument forkeeping the poor in poverty, but for me there is something in thisthat echoes the Easter story. Resurrection life is not in spite ofthe cross, but because of it. It is only through self-giving lovethat we can experience real living.

'Easter is about celebrating life, but let's be sure what kind oflife we are celebrating and really go for it!'