WITH Easter just around the corner and lockdown restrictions easing, the Bishop of Colchester believes residents can finally start rebuilding and restoring a sense of normality.

The Rt Rev Roger Morris has compiled a special Easter message which reflects on the unprecedented year the world has faced.

He said: “It feels as if we are living in a land that is forever March and never April.

“The lockdown that happened a year ago has left many of us frozen in time. Meetings, events and holidays have been cancelled. Millions of people have been furloughed, children have hardly been seen or heard and life for many of us has been put on hold.

“Now, as restrictions are gradually lifted, we emerge from our confinement, squinting in the springtime sun as we set about the work of rebuilding and restoring a sense of normality.”

He hopes the vaccination rollout coupled with the relaxation of Covid rules will reanimate town and villages to bring the nation back to life.

“Soon we shall meet with all our loved ones again, and sing again and hug again, and gather in pubs again, and press ourselves into crowded venues again,” he added.

“Instead of all that deadly white, the world will become a blaze of colours. And instead of the deadly silence, the whole place will ring with the sound of happy roarings, stampings, shouts, hurrahs, songs and laughter.”

Bishop Roger said despite people longing to return to how things were before, time always marches forward.

He added: “We can always only go forward. That is how we see the Christian faith. We are not on a journey back to Eden. We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth.”

Bishop Roger admitted he does not know what the future holds, but he said he knows it will not be plain sailing and many obstacles and challenges await us.

He added: “I know our experience of the pandemic and the sufferings, losses and traumas that we have endured will have changed us for ever.

“I also know that, amidst the difficulties, there have been some positive things to emerge. “

Many of us will have become proficient in areas of technology we never even knew existed, he added.

“We have found new ways of working with those within and beyond our organisations,” said Mr Morris.

“Tens of thousands of people in Essex alone have volunteered to help their communities – from delivering food parcels to helping administer vaccinations.

“We have even developed new ways of being church that have enabled millions of people online to engage with worship.

“And maybe the seriousness of the global pandemic has also caused us to re-evaluate our priorities and focus more on the quality of our lives rather than the quantity of our acquisitions.

“Who knows what all this will mean as we venture together into the future?”