— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
We are living in rational times and the more we perceive the presence of the reality in and around us, the better we feel being on a safe ground. Our statements and judgements should represent the truth, be evidence based; observed phenomena should be repeatable and hopefully measurable. The more directly our senses perceive (see, hear, taste, smell, touch) the reality around us, the more comfortable we are and the more confident that everything has its place in the material world.
But then it comes to Easter, the risen Christ. This is a provocative message for our era of rational thinking and a challenge for our convictions. The miracles attributed to Jesus may still find a natural explanation but resurrection is another dimension putting faith (which dominated the middle ages) alongside rational thinking (which is the imperative of our time). In the Easter stories we find the one on Thomas, a critical thinker, honest and straightforward, somebody who presented in those days our “modern” way of thinking and doubting. But he changed his mind when seeing the wounds of tortures. He accepted the mystery of resurrection just as the other disciples did after having seen the lord.
For the modern world this incredible event of the risen Christ can be a reality when we are open to what our fellow ACF member Silvia Paddock summarises as “The external world is an illusion” in her book on “Plato`s prisoners”. She shows -together with her brother (both natural scientists)- in a number of examples that our world is created by consciousness. Others like the biologist Johann von Uexkül showed how different people and different creatures see and interpret the same reality around us in a completely distinct way. This may help us to understand that beyond our world there are other worlds. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 