Inspired by this months theme 'After The Cross', Albert Bogle reads a reflection on our four stages from the cross on the 'Flinch'. The moments when we draw away from the cross, are afraid to look, are burdened with shame. 

To truly see the cross is to see pain, horror, and torment. There is no resurrection without death, no Easter without Calvary. To embrace Easter involves facing the cross. The resurrection does not ‘undo’ the cross — Jesus still bears the wounds afterwards.

Some people flinch from the cross and never return for a closer look. It’s too much. Perhaps they drift away from the cross entirely or instead they keep it always at arm’s length — this is the cross as a picturesque postcard — not a brutal reality.

But seeing the cross and flinching from it is a natural human response to the suffering

Find out more about this months theme: After The Cross