Some Cotswold highlights are famous, some are quietly fascinating, and The Truth that refuses to die is one of the reasons we keep finding new things to love about the area.
You will find the background, local detail and small points of interest that make The Truth that refuses to die worth knowing about, especially if you enjoy the stories behind the Cotswolds.
31/03/2015
Thought for Easter by Rev Stephen Wookey, St David’s Church, Moreton-in-Marsh
I heard the story recently of a minister who was on holiday in Italy. Whilst he was there he saw the grave of a man who had died centuries before, a man who was an unbeliever and completely opposed to Christianity, but a little afraid of it too.
So the man had had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he would not have to be raised from the dead – just in case there was a resurrection from the dead.
He had insignias put all over the slab saying, “I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don’t believe in it.”
Unfortunately (for him, at least), when he was buried, an acorn must have fallen into the grave. So, a hundred years later, the acorn had grown up through the grave and split the slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree.
As the visiting minister remarked, “If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab of that magnitude, what can the acorn of God’s resurrection power do in a person’s life?”
For many years people have tried to refute the resurrection story by claiming it was a hoax, a misunderstanding, or a legend that had grown up around a remarkable man.
Today whenever the subject of religion or Christianity is raised in the public sphere, the blogs are inundated with those who sneer about sky fairies and the like.
Those who speak out against it are often applauded for their bravery and their insight. But still the resurrection is a truth that refuses to lie down and disappear.
Why? Because it is a truth which has never been refuted, or adequately explained away, but which has transformed countless lives over thousands of years. Millions upon millions of people would testify that they have been changed for ever by the reality of Christ risen from the dead.
They know the experience of Him living in their hearts. They have seen Him restore relationships, reconcile warring factions, bring hope in place of despair, love in place of hatred.
On Easter Day, all over the world, a response will be used in churches of all different kinds and denominations. The minister will say, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!”, to which millions will respond, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!” It is a cry of triumph, of hope and conviction, and deeply moving.
Larry King used to present a TV programme in the US called Larry King Live. Over the years he interviewed all manner of famous people, politicians, film stars, musicians and the like. He was once asked, of all people in history whom he would most like to have interviewed and what would he have asked him.
His reply was simple: “Of all people I would most like to have interviewed Jesus Christ. And I would have asked Him, did you or did you not rise from dead? It is the most important question in all the world.”
Indeed it is. But if you were asked the question of what you believed about the resurrection, what would you say? Why not try to find out this Easter by visiting a church near you, or reading one of the Gospel accounts?
After all, each one of us will one day die; this truth will never die.
So the man had had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he would not have to be raised from the dead – just in case there was a resurrection from the dead.
He had insignias put all over the slab saying, “I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don’t believe in it.”
Unfortunately (for him, at least), when he was buried, an acorn must have fallen into the grave. So, a hundred years later, the acorn had grown up through the grave and split the slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree.
As the visiting minister remarked, “If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab of that magnitude, what can the acorn of God’s resurrection power do in a person’s life?”
For many years people have tried to refute the resurrection story by claiming it was a hoax, a misunderstanding, or a legend that had grown up around a remarkable man.
Today whenever the subject of religion or Christianity is raised in the public sphere, the blogs are inundated with those who sneer about sky fairies and the like.
Those who speak out against it are often applauded for their bravery and their insight. But still the resurrection is a truth that refuses to lie down and disappear.
Why? Because it is a truth which has never been refuted, or adequately explained away, but which has transformed countless lives over thousands of years. Millions upon millions of people would testify that they have been changed for ever by the reality of Christ risen from the dead.
They know the experience of Him living in their hearts. They have seen Him restore relationships, reconcile warring factions, bring hope in place of despair, love in place of hatred.
On Easter Day, all over the world, a response will be used in churches of all different kinds and denominations. The minister will say, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!”, to which millions will respond, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!” It is a cry of triumph, of hope and conviction, and deeply moving.
Larry King used to present a TV programme in the US called Larry King Live. Over the years he interviewed all manner of famous people, politicians, film stars, musicians and the like. He was once asked, of all people in history whom he would most like to have interviewed and what would he have asked him.
His reply was simple: “Of all people I would most like to have interviewed Jesus Christ. And I would have asked Him, did you or did you not rise from dead? It is the most important question in all the world.”
Indeed it is. But if you were asked the question of what you believed about the resurrection, what would you say? Why not try to find out this Easter by visiting a church near you, or reading one of the Gospel accounts?
After all, each one of us will one day die; this truth will never die.
