Encounter

Abundance

Abundance in the most unexpected of places

On Holy Saturday I realised that despite having organised 72 Easter Eggs for an event on Easter Sunday, I had forgotten to buy an Easter Egg for someone I really should have bought one for. Not a problem, I thought; it isn’t Easter till tomorrow, I’ll call into the nearby Tesco (other shops available) and buy one. Imagine my surprise when I called into Tesco, then the CO-OP, and then Spar to discover there was not an Easter Egg in sight! They had all sold out and it was not even the first day of Easter, I don’t think there’ll be any left by day 50 of Easter at Pentecost!

Alongside the significant amount of grovelling I then had to do with a very large bar of Galaxy (other chocolate available), I reflected on my shopping experience. The irony, of course, is that on 27 December, just after Christmas, I’d have had the choice of hundreds of Easter Eggs, an abundance of Easter Eggs, though that wasn’t when I would have expected or wanted them.

As I thought more, it struck me that Easter is all about Abundance in unexpected places. When Mary and the women went to the tomb, they thought they were going to anoint Jesus’ body, to find death – the very opposite of Abundance – yet they found nothing, literally nothing; the tomb was as empty as Tesco’s shelves. The emptiness was indicative of Abundance, for Jesus was risen and death was overcome. Later in the resurrection narratives, the disciples are gathered together in a locked room, feeling lost and bewildered, when into the room, through the locked door, the risen Jesus appears bringing God’s abundant love to their loss and despair.

Abundance, God’s abundant love for us all, flows from Jesus’ death and resurrection, from the most unexpected of places. For each of us there are times when we feel alone, lost or in desperation, but then we discover the last thing we are looking for. In these moments our instant reaction can be uncertainty, frustration, and/or annoyance, but if we take a moment to look carefully I imagine we might just find Abundance, God’s abundant love, in unexpected places.

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