IT is April and hopefully there will be some mild and sunny weather this Easter holiday.

As this is England there may well be snow and ice but we can hope!

The Easter weekend contains in its heart a very human story but it is a story with an unexpected ending. On Friday, in church services around Basingstoke and in the outlying villages, Christians remembered the trial and crucifixion of Jesus and the hurried burial of a broken body in a borrowed tomb. It is a time of lost dreams, raw grief and facing the brutality of death.

On Saturday, there was no fast-forward through the pain of mourning; only waiting, watching and remembering.

In churches on Easter morning, Christians remember that the women went to the tomb early in the morning and were witnesses to the resurrection. God’s purpose breaks into a human history. On the first Easter Sunday there is surprise and joy and unlooked-for new beginnings and hope. That hope is celebrated this weekend as it has been done in churches for nearly 2,000 years.

Happy Easter!