Every so often I come across a tale that is just too groan inducing that I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to pass it on. And as this story is linked to Easter (sort of). now seems as appropriate a time as any. So here goes:

A man was driving along a country lane when the Easter Bunny hopped across the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the Bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying.
The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over and got out to see what had become of the Bunny and the basket. Much to his dismay, the colourful Bunny was dead. The driver felt terribly guilty and began to cry.
A woman driving down from the other direction saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong. "I feel terrible," he explained, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. There may not be an Easter for the children because me. What should I do? "
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal. Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped off down the road.

Fifty yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped off down the road. Then in another 50 yards, he turned, waved hopped and did it again in another 50 yards!
The man was astonished. He couldn't figure out what could possibly be in that woman's spray can. He said to the woman, "What in heaven's name is in your spray can? What was it that you sprayed on the Easter Bunny?"
The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said: "Hare spray. Restores lifeless hare. Adds permanent wave."

Groan, groan groan, groan, groan, groan etc.
Easter is a great time for devotes of chocolate. But it’s a lot more than that. Along with Christmas, it is the major festival in the Christian calendar. In fact Christmas without Easter would be like a being let down on a promise. A promise of chocolate eggs that didn’t get fulfilled – only more so.

The (true) story of Jesus’ arrest, execution and then miraculous resurrection is the crux of Christian faith. It seems beyond belief, but then isn’t that the nature of miracles? And anyway, so much of what science achieves today seems to be beyond belief and certainly would have been so to previous generations, were they around to see what we have achieved. So just because we can’t explain it doesn’t make it untrue.
But it IS exciting and interesting and fundamental to understanding the purpose and meaning of life. There were no magic spray cans around but that event did make a permanent difference. And the impact of that first Easter subsequently reverberated right around the world.
We, along with all other Christian churches, will be celebrating this great event on Sunday 23rd March. If you don’t normally attend a church, then can I personally invite you to come along to Waverley school and enjoy Easter with us. Who knows, the Easter Bunny may even have delivered some chocolate!

Every blessing                        Graham Robinson