As Easter approaches we thought it would be an appropriate time for our town to mark the memory of all who have been affected by the Covid pandemic by erecting an Easter Cairn in the church grounds outside Kintore Parish Church.
A site has been selected near the front of the church building where a wooden cross marks the position of the cairn. Between now and Easter, 4th April 2021, we are inviting everyone in Kintore to come to the church and place a stone or stones at the cairn. Some may wish to do so in memory of a loved-one who died during the pandemic, others in gratitude for the NHS and other organizations that have kept us safe and connected during the past year, and others may simply wish to mark their own loss, sadness or gratitude about the time of lockdown. Some may wish to write a name or a message on their stone/s, or to decorate them with rainbows or other symbols of hope.
We acknowledge that the lockdown is not yet over and that it may be months or even years before everything settles back to normal, but Easter seemed the appropriate time for us to pause and make this act of remembrance. In the Christian tradition, Easter is the celebration of the idea that our God goes through suffering with us and that hope for a new beginning can emerge from even the darkest parts of our suffering.