Oli Preston writes:

On one day out during our Easter break we were driving through a lovely little village, past a pond with a duck house.  It was very pretty and peaceful.  Until a massive wild goose swooped out - almost right into the windscreen!  It was quite a shock, completely interrupted our conversation, and really woke us all up.  

In this Easter season - as we read passages about Jesus appearing to people in gardens, locked rooms, and on the road - I’m reminded that His appearance must have also been quite shocking!  He frequently says ‘Peace be with you’ - and I’m sure the disciples were filled with joy when they saw Him - but the peace Jesus is sharing here is not a gentle dove, it is the honk of a wild goose. Celtic Christians often depict the Holy Spirit as a Wild Goose - loud, disruptive, surprising, passionate, noisy, untamed, courageous…  This image can be exciting, but also a bit uncomfortable.  Do I want to be interrupted?  Not always.  And yet, this is the Risen Lord Jesus.

The One who walks into locked rooms and says, ‘Peace be with you’ (I always imagine with a cheeky grin on His face).  

The One who stands by the empty tomb asking ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’.  

The unexpected familiar-stranger who we meet on the road - where we find our hearts burning within us as we talk, and our eyes opened as we invite Him to stay a while… 

It seems to me that if Jesus is Lord of my life, then I need to be open to the idea that my comfortable, predictable patterns might be disrupted.  If Jesus is Lord of the Church, then we need to be open to the possibility that the breath of the Holy Spirit might blow through like a rowdy, honking Goose!  Jesus invites us to be interruptible - to adventure.  Not alone, but together, and with His faithful presence.  Breathed on us.  Here among us.  And honking in, out of left field, when we least expect it!

Revd Oli Preston Multiply Minister