I hope you all had a very pleasant and most blessed Easter weekend. Whether you were at church, spending time with family and friends, playing sports, camping or a combination of all those, also spare a thought for all those who were alone.

Then further afield the media headlines were not centred on the Christian celebrations at all. The main news was on the atrocities being carried out in Syria where 68 children were among the 126 dead blown up on a bus that was carrying evacuees from besieged Syrian towns.

No group has boasted on being the perpetrators of this latest atrocity. In fact this one is so bad, and as a media exercise so ghastly, everyone involved in this war have publicly said they had nothing to do with it.

How the vehicle that was packed with explosives could have got anywhere near the bus that was part of a convoy heading out of the war zone, without government permission, is inexplicable.

And the government claim without a shred of evidence it was the rebels. Why the rebels would blow up some of their own supporters that were also on the bus along with innocent women and children is difficult to explain at to why.

And the other big story at Easter was North Korea and their failed attempt at letting off one of their ballistic missiles.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meanwhile issued another warning to North Korea after its failed missile launch. “They must stop these belligerent acts and comply with UN resolutions,” he said.

Boris, Pyongyang has a leader who is totally mad. He believes he is invincible. He is God. Why would he listen to you?

Pope Francis in his Easter message of love said the bombing of the bus near the city of Aleppo, was “the latest vile attack on fleeing refugees”.

“May [God] sustain the efforts of those who are actively working to bring comfort and relief to the civilian population in beloved Syria, who are greatly suffering from a war that does not cease to sow horror and death,” he said.

Easter was also marked in Coptic churches in Egypt, where attacks a week ago, claimed by Islamic State militants, killed at least 45 people.

In Britain, the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the Rt Rev John Davies, said “all sorts of atrocities” taking place in the world were “crushing lives”. He highlighted the Palm Sunday bombing at two Coptic churches in Egypt, which he said was caused by a “loveless and barbaric ideology”.

He called on people to commit to supporting people who are in “immediate need” and encourage those in positions of power and influence to address what he called the “mindless violence”.
‘Love and life’
He said: “Believer or non-believer, none could argue that the example and teachings of Jesus are anything but noble, decent and life-fulfilling.

“So, when we witness the love and future hopes of others being crushed, when we hear of cries of joy being changed to cries of anguish, when we see images of bodies torn apart by ruthless bombing and when we try to grasp something of the daunting catalogue of human need world-wide, we must not only be outraged.

“We must also be driven to try and be part of the answer to prayers made for that better way of living to become real.”

He added: “Whatever you believe happened on the first Easter Day, you can surely interpret the surrounding stories as hope-filled expressions that love and life can always rise above hate and death.

“If that resonates with you as it does with me, then I urge you to share in both the responsibility of supporting those in so many places of so much need, and of encouraging those who work to confront those dark forces which daily disfigure so many lives in today’s challenged world.”

Well said Bishop Davies.

We should all praise God, or give thanks to the plants, tree and animals if you don’t believe in a God and Jesus Christ, for living here in the Cayman Islands.

We will be hearing our own rhetoric from the seemingly ‘hundreds’ standing in our May Election.

Whilst I was standing in line at Foster’s last Saturday I said ‘hallo’ to a Caymanian I hadn’t seen for years. After wishing him a “Happy Easter” I asked him if he was standing in the election. He laughed and said he is one of the Caymanian minorities – he is not.

I, along with my wife, spent a large part of our time at church. We normally go to different churches but this Sunday we were both together at Elmslie. The beautiful singing, the dancing and the inspiring Easter Message from Rev Derik Davidson made me feel happy and loving amidst the gloom and despair.

On Good Friday we were at our different churches but the message was the same. The agony Christ went to to take all our sins and die for us, to teach us and to save us from God’s wrath.

Both churches (mine is St George’s Anglican) on Good Friday had one piece of music in common. We both sang The Power of the Cross” a modern hymn and I leave you with the words:

THE POWER OF THE CROSS – WORDS AND MUSIC BY KEITH GETTY AND STUART TOWNEND COPYRIGHT © 2005 THANKYOU MUSIC

“Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
”Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.”

Media News Source: BBC World New