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42 Phonebox Magazine | June 2025Newport PagnellTurning Upside DownA day doesn%u2019t go by without a war going on somewhere. Is there no end to the lust some have to dominate others, personally and internationally?Jesus said that there would always be wars and rumours of wars in human society. The problem starts from refusing to let the real God into each human heart. Our nihilistic culture also encourages people to believe that there is no God or divine purpose in our lives and that we are all in control of our own destiny. We are subtly encouraged to pursue self-preservation, to live as long as possible and to be as comfortable and wealthy as we can until we face the fi nal oblivion of death. Millions believe that only science holds the key to a %u2018proper%u2019 life and that we should stick to what we can see and sense. We are urged to forget primitive ideas about %u2018repressive religion%u2019 since nothing exists beyond our senses unless it can all be scientifi cally proved in a laboratory.However, this reasoning is not scientifi c at all since it is absurd to claim that something doesn%u2019t exist just because we cannot see or touch it. Our senses are limited and we cannot possibly perceive everything in the natural and supernatural universe. Even my dog can hear and smell things that my nose and ears cannot pick up!So the atheist nihilist needs to ask themselves %u2018why is there something in the universe rather than nothing?%u2019Materialism isn%u2019t about collecting things %u2013 a materialist is one who bases their perceptions only upon what can be seen and touched and places their faith entirely in human reasoning and senses.I%u2019ve observed that many who do this eventually face a nagging depression and lack of real purpose in their lives %u2013 and depression is a massive problem in our culture. However, the resurrection of Jesus changes all that because it shows that there is more to this life than the things we see and touch. The resurrection reveals that life doesn%u2019t end in our oblivion when we die. The resurrection of Jesus changes the whole way we see the world. Christians across the centuries have been prepared to die for Jesus rather than place their faith in %u2018things%u2019. Something signifi cant and very real happened at the tomb of Jesus. Hundreds of people encountered the risen Jesus and dined with him. Ghosts don%u2019t eat cooked fi sh %u2013 but the real resurrected Jesus did!The news quickly spread across the cruel Roman Empire. People refused to be quiet once they had witnessed the resurrection.The resurrection puts the nails into the nihilist coffi n since Easter shows that God%u2019s love is more powerful than death itself. Our old assumptions about life are now blasted away and the whole focus of our life has to change.What we once believed is true about the nature of things now has to be undone, and there has to be a literal revolution in our thinking %u2013 a turning upside down of old assumptions and thought patterns that once excluded God from the reckoning.The resurrection shows that my life is no longer all about me. I am part of something much bigger and more magnifi cent than my ego drama %u2013 and life here on earth is just the beginning.The resurrection truth is that the more you give yourself away in the pursuit of loving God and others, then your being increases in ways you had never dreamed of!The paradox is this - if you trust in the things that you can see, they will let you down %u2013 but if you trust in the God that you cannot see, then He does not let you down, and you begin to experience the resurrection life.Jesus was God giving his life away for us and it led to his resurrection and powerful presence in the world today.The more you give yourself away in love to others then the more you will grow and experience the resurrection life.Through Jesus%u2019s death and resurrection, God is calling us to share in his divine life. What a privilege and destiny!Revd Nick Evans, Rector of Newport PagnellOlneyCelebrationsEach year brings with it any number of anniversaries, and 2025 is no diff erent! On 8th May we celebrated 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe, and in June it will be 75 years since the start of the Korean War. Two hundred and fi fty years ago Jane Austen was born, and in that same year the American Revolution began (though this may be somewhat overshadowed by the United States%u2019 birthday celebrations next year, as they mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776). These are significant national and international examples, and alongside these there will be a whole range of anniversaries observed more locally by diff erent communities and institutions. Yet no less important are those anniversaries that we mark each year: birthdays, romantic anniversaries, days when we remember the passing of loved ones. At St Peter & St Paul, we%u2019re currently preparing to celebrate one particular anniversary, as we mark the church%u2019s 700th birthday with a range of festivities later in June; this is an occasion when we can give thanks for God%u2019s provision over the years, and look forward in hope to another 700 years, but also remind ourselves that the story of these past 700 years is more than just the story of the building itself. In fact, it is a huge number of diff erent stories, the stories of all those who knew or worshipped at or encountered the church in a whole range of ways, both positive and negative; and these were people who knew the realities of love and loss in their lives, and marked these moments in celebration and mourning much as we do today. While we cannot know all these stories, we can trust that they are known to God; and I hope we can honour them all in the way that we honour the God who draws alongside us not just at particular moments of our lives, but at every moment, because his love is enough to hold each one of us at all times and in all places. This is what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, %u2018the very hairs of your head are all numbered%u2019 (Luke 12:7), and in the same way every minute, every second of our lives, is precious to God. To celebrate the story of our church is to recall ourselves to the truth of this love, and to rejoice afresh that through Jesus Christ we are all invited to be part of God%u2019s story, each one of us no less valued than any other.Hugh Reid, Assistant Curate, St Peter & St Paul, OlneyChurches Together