The final irony?

Death is certainly inevitable but it often comes surrounded with irony. Last week the oldest survivor of the Titanic, 97-year-old Millvina Dean, died in a nursing home in Southampton. She was 9 weeks old when the ship sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic with the loss of 1,517 people including her father.

But only days before, Carl Spencer, 37, regarded as one of the world’s most accomplished divers, died from an attack of the bends whilst diving in the much warmer waters of the Aegean to film a National Geographic documentary about the Titanic’s sister ship the Britannic.

Meanwhile Dr George Tiller, one of the few physicians in the US to perform late term abortions, was shot dead inside the lobby of his church whilst serving as an usher at morning service. He had survived a previous attack 16 years ago. Whilst the assumption was that his killer was – ironically – a supporter of pro-life movements, anti-abortion organisations were quick to denounce the shooting.

Every death is sad. But these are just three amongst many. Estimates of the number of civilians killed recently in the final days of the civil war in Sri Lanka range from 7,000 to 20,000.

John Donne wrote, ‘any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind’. If he was right, the impact on us all is staggering.

All of this is put in perspective by this week’s readings. Christ’s death for sin is completely inseparable from resurrection. In our suffering world his death and resurrection really do bring us hope.

Emlyn Williams