Dickens and Holy Week

It may be one of the most famous opening paragraphs to a book ever written. Charles Dickens from Tale of Two Cities:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period."

As I think about next week, Holy Week, I think Dickens's comments are still true. The period is so far like the present period. "What period?" you may ask. Any period. I think Dickens sums up the universal theme of the universe. Good and Evil, Wisdom and Foolishness, Light and Dark, Hope and Despair. Not much changes from epoch to epoch. For the world, that paragraph could have been written in 1000 BC, at the time of Christ, or March 2006.

Except for this: 2,000 years ago Christ came. Light overcame darkness, despair was dispelled by hope, we now have everything before us and it is the epoch of belief.

I want to encourage you to think about the week before the week. Maybe make some plans to read, listen, and perhaps attend a service. This weekend we will be distributing a CD entitled "The Good Friday Experience" We created it here at Perimeter and hope it will be helpful to you as you think about the week when darkness reigned, if only for a moment.

Blessings