It is encouraging to see that the Press and Journal picked up on my message – here is their truncated version that has gone to hundreds of thousands today.
Easter offers hope and renewal in the midst of depair
On Thursday night, along with seven million others, I watched the much-anticipated seven leaders’ TV debate.
It was entertaining and better than most TV political debates, and yet at the end I felt profoundly depressed. Why?
Yes there were some good ‘performances’ but that is just what they were, ‘performances’.
I found the whole debate to be shallow, superficial and lacking any real vision, backbone or reality.
There was nothing substantial that would change the heart of a nation.
I heard the sound of politicians talking, arguing and trying to persuade us with their soundbites, self-deification, plastic images and unreal promises.
Sometimes I think that what is missing from these important debates is a sense of the bigger picture. What is the ideology, the ethos, the vision on which our society is based?
From wandering the streets, listening to conversations on the buses, reading the newspapers and comments on social media, it is clear that many on our shores reject and even mock Christian teaching.
I often feel the clamour of those who hate God.
I see the hatred in their eyes, hear the anger in the voices and read the contempt in their words.
I observe how the poison of materialism, secular humanism and enlightenment rationalism have sapped the spirit of the Scottish people.
I experience the lies, joys, pains, heartaches, confusions, stresses and sins of people all around.
I see the broken promises, the ridiculous vainglory, the escapist delusions, the false religions, the distraught parents, the abused child, the dysfunctional families, and the destruction of sexual confusion.
In spite of this, and against all the odds, the Church has a responsibility to tell the politicians and the people – hear the word of the Lord.
This Easter in Scotland, I stand as a broken person in the midst of a broken people. But, God can, and does, open the hearts and minds of even the staunchest non-believer.
Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. That is one Easter promise that will never be broken.