It is 6.30 am and the church is dark. The congregation gathers; the crucifer leads the procession; priests and acolytes move purposefully like planets in orbit. Lent is here, and at this time of year the stained glass of the eastern dormer is dark, only a dim taper illuminates the tessellated sanctuary. The grim priest sub fusc, chalice bearers, acolytes in red cassock minus surplice — shadows at the altar. The gaunt Chaucerian verger reflects our sombre affray. Lent is big in our faith, a life to be lived and crucial to the education of sensibility, forming values and eternity. Pre-Lent is Shrove Tuesday Lyme, bacchanal then on to sobriety, fasting, betrayal, death — grief. Resurrection is the dividing line between us and the rest. Easter is joy!

Ash Wednesday is fasting; 40 days of ash-crossed sacrifice; good for mind, spirit and calorific intake, so if you lose no weight in Lent your path is dark. I navigated church Easter buns with care, but as each one sold benefits residents of Majesty Gardens my avoirdupois is in a good cause.

To walk with Jesus is hard; hills of faith, plains of temptation, valley of death towards the inevitable crucifixion. Many stumble or fall, but grace is sufficient. The joy of serving God and man; Sunday fashion show and marriage market — church is better than match.com. Certainty in uncertain times is priceless.

An interfaith TV show about Easter with Muslims and Christians proves if Jesus did not exist we would have to invent him. Our harsh life, fear of savage murder finds surcease in His balm. Islam was the first Judeo-Christian offshoot; closer than most, but Easter is not for them. Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH), got inspiration from diaspora Jews (Orthodox and Christian) who fled to Mecca after Jerusalem’s fall — we be parent and child. Jesus was born, lived, died, buried a Jew and never started a church — “my kingdom is not of this world!” Easter is not in the Bible, but over millennia faith develops rituals to keep us on message. Thank God!

Muhammad (PBUH) born into Arabia’s culture of many gods, got revelation from God, founded his order which grew by diplomacy and the sword in Arabia and Africa. He was clerk for and married a rich businesswoman and it afforded him a dozen wives and time for his mission. Islam seeks to supplant Judeo-Christian revelation, unlike other churches which revere their roots. Years ago we had a move to reject Christianity and English names; some took African names, so we thought African faiths would grow, instead we moved to Arab names and Islam. We are strange. Today some German trains have gender-segregated carriages to cater to Islamic refugees, and were I German, I would be furious at not being able to sit with wife, kids or mother. Islam and Christian sects that do not mark Easter may harm civil liberties, so be alert as ancient Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, you and me, may have to defend our traditions.

At 6.30 am on the third Sunday in Lent the eastern dormer filtered lashings of light; silhouettes of vehicles and people on the road behind vivified the grim chiaroscuro like a lantern slideshow. The multi-hued skylights etched pews below in the gloaming. Lent is dark; Holy Week is inward looking, not missionary; intense, daily eucharist, stations of the cross; to sit and pray for hours so derrieres, knees suffer.

Eastern churches have no seats so folks stand, walk. At St Mark’s, UK, kids in the lateral nave listen, paint Easter eggs, play quietly under parents’ eyes. We complain kids are feral but exclude them from worship as some say they are distracting. Kids are more important than your attention deficit, so get over yourself. Maundy Thursday is Passover Seder (our Holy Communion) with unleavened bread; Jews escaping Egyptian slavery had no time for dough to rise; they ran! Our 1834 ancestors did not riot but awaited their gifted freedom and peeps say this posture remains and iconic days mean little to us.

On Good Friday morning the dormer is dim; shoals of pale yellow butterflies from the cemetery’s ancient Lignum Vitae grove swoop and swirl then retreat from the gloom. Later that day my penance was fry fish, ‘hardo bread’, full-cream butter. Jamaicans suffer with Christ via Good Friday movies, beer nuts and bun — pain is not us! Real pain is nailed Filipinos, blooded Christians in Italy or Brazil; don’t mess our Sunday best!

What’s good about Good Friday? Imperial Rome was alert at Passover when Jews mark their escape from Egyptian slavery as politics and faith are close. Jesus had revolution in his heart to bring Jews into a right relationship with God, transform a venal priesthood, and kick out the Romans. Lent is personal sacrifice for national goals too, but we virtualise so much and never suffer. Passover for Jesus was broken spirits and loyalties, “I know not this man”; imperial ambitions dashed; death. Our altar unadorned, the nave and chancel bare; where have the flowers gone? The faithful queue across the transept to nail Him virtually to the “old rugged cross”; broken legs, bitter gall, pierced side, blood and water.

In John 11: 35 Jesus wept, not for himself, but for Lazarus…for us too. Good Friday, darkest day in our festival of death; the cross, the crowd, thunder, lightning, blood, the veil rent. “My God, why hast thou forsaken me!”; so “It is finished!” Holy Saturday vigil was tense as resurrection is the differentiator between Christ and charlatan. Would He appear? Whoops!

At 6.00 am on Easter Sunday the church was bright. The news “Christ is risen!” was scooped by women. Allelulia! Easter, brightest star in the Christian firmament; rock moved, hope springs! The east, north and south windows fully irradiated; glorious Easter lilies in the sanctuary; all vestments white, Paschal candle, holy water, incense, resplendent choir. The butterflies return; one upended in the maelstrom of a fan, they make way to the apse; darkness banished, light regnant, hope restored. Christ, the God man, lives! Romans crucified thousands as “shock and awe” to subdue Jewish dissent, but no gods died this ignominious death.

Jesus is counter-culture, has no army or empire; the revolution came was brutally crushed and the temple torn down stone by stone. Orthodox and Christian Jews were scattered and the diaspora was born. The fall of the Jerusalem temple was a blessing, as venues abroad opened up to Jew and Gentile followers of Christ equally. Easter is revolution and we need a 180 degree turn from evil and idle to do good and work hard so Jamaica may prosper in your time. Stay conscious!

Franklin Johnston D Phil (OXON) is a strategist and project manager. Send comments to the Observer or franklinjohnstontoo@gmail.com..