Like many other people I was up early this morning and went to celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter. I was in a fairly subdued mood and began by sitting on my own, very soon I was joined by Claire, Claire has learning difficulties and needs help with our service books. I will have to be honest I sometimes find Claire difficult to deal with and was not really in the mood for helping her negotiate the pages this morning especially as we weren't following the liturgy right through.
As we stood to sing the first hymn she turned to me and beamed, "He's alive" she said, she sang with gusto, and followed the prayers and readings with equal enthusiasm, throwing in extra "Alleluias" all over the place! Her joy was infectious and she led me to a place in worship that I would not have gone to on my own, I left the service filled with the joy of the resurrection and ready to assist Douglas in presiding at the morning service that followed!
Claire's joy and faith were a lesson to me today, her desire to receive communion before going on to a celebration service at the Christian Fellowship Center where she is a member spoke volumes of the depth of her understanding of the Easter message. The Christian Fellowships service was not planned to offer communion, but for Claire not to celebrate through the elements of bread and wine seemed wrong on Easter Sunday ( I agree with her) and so she looked for an opportunity, deciding to join us at the Methodist Church. I am glad she did, she certainly brought me joy this Easter day!
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
