Easter 2026 by Alfred N. Muggins (Part 2)

5/4/26 / 9/4/26
   Finally Alfred was up, admittedly only half UP in his dressing gown, but it was enough to be awake and to participate in the Resurrection of Jesus, and the reawakening of mankind. It was a bright and pleasant day, enough to lift the spirits of a world worn down by the miseries and selfishness of Donald Trump and his completely unnecessary war!
   In an effort to intensify the Easter Experience, and spread it to all the others currently in the crowded household,he decided to find some Easter music on the smaller TV now hung on the wall in the kitchen. Unfortunately this one took a bit of switching on, in this age of immediate choice and short attention spans. He pressed the on button. A red light came on, but nothing else. Frustrated he switched it off and then back on. Still the home screen did not come on, and he was beginning to wish he had just set his  phone onto You Tube; it would have been so much quicker. Perhaps he pressed a channel number or something, he wasn't quite sure, but suddenly Bingo! There was the home screen! His patience had finally been rewarded. Suddenly the world was his oyster, again. Instead of finding the recent news on the BBC IPlayer, which he often tried to do in this uncertain period of constant headlines and war, he went into You Tube. You could find anything there. So he searched for Easter and then down to the Easter Music option. It came on, bland and religious, but also modern. He wasn't sure this was really what he wanted. A beautiful image of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it was just a bit too clean, a bit too glistening and perfect. The music, while pleasant, was not sufficiently awe inspiring for him. He gave it a few minutes while he made coffees and a tea, for Himself, Mrs Muggins and her firstborn son.
   No this music was not quite what he was looking for. He switched to another Easter Music selection. At least the image on this one was a bit more 'Spartan', with a cross and shroud, and the track listing, the music a bit more inspiring, but not very. Surely there was more Easter music to choose from than just this? Still the positive Easter mood was upon him. It was time to go in the lounge with some breakfast pancake and jam, to watch something there. He left the atmospheric Easter Music on in the kitchen, and went into the lounge with his tray to put that larger (and much faster!) TV on and sit in comfort on the settee. His wife's firstborn son was in there, also in Easter mood, so he would not complain if Alfred put the TV on and chose some appropriate Easter programming. Alfred quickly put the TV guide on and selected an appropriate Easter Anglican service (Henry VIII would have been proud of him!), at a beautiful Cathedral which turned out to be Ripon Cathedral. The strong familiar hymns accompanied by intensely powerful organ music was much more to his taste than the relatively insipid music in the kitchen. He looked at the faces of the congregants and felt affinity with them all. These were adults and some children of all ages, all making some kind of stand for British decency and Christian care. The current pointless and destructive war came into stark contrast with the resilience of ordinary people celebrating the meaning of Christ and the higher values of our still remaining civilisation.
   Then another religious, but non musical programme came on, this time from Rome, that historic capital (or Capitol?!) of History. The sun blazed down in completely clear blue sky upon St Peter's Basilica and the central courtyard of the Vatican. Here History and Present came together in a flash of communal prayers and concern for the world which has once again become so broken. Crowds from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Africa and everywhere else came together to listen to their new Pope Leo, of the last year speak to the modern Catholic Church and to the world, including those of other religions, creeds and faiths, and of none. As the new Pope, from Chicago, America, spoke Alfred felt a rising sense of elation. This Pope, like his predecessor, was willing to fight back against the real evils of today. It was quickly obvious to all exactly who the Pope was referring to, that source of so much of the modern evil which had entered our improving world to roll back our progresses. Alfred could see that this Pope wanted to overturn the money lenders' and human sharks' tables.
  "Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!"