Dear Friends,
We have all done it, we have all been there. We know how righteous indignation makes us seethe and boil. I was recently been affected by the reports of angry men in balaclavas blocking coaches to take migrants picked up by RNLI lifeboats in Portsmouth to Dover. My indignation heightened when it was disclosed that RNLI volunteers had faced unacceptable abuse.
Then, I was aware that when the ‘Assisted Dying Bill’ was rejected in parliament that there were many who would have experienced boiling point in their indignation and frustration.
It takes us a long time to realise that those who have a different point of view, or who are different in their way of thinking or different in their needs are all God’s people and are loved and cared for by him. God does not fix boundaries or limits which labels some as deserving while others are decidedly not.
Jesus reached out to the tax collector and sat at table with prostitutes showing in practice the way God loved. All this was to the disgust of the religious leaders who thought they knew better how a prophet ought to behave and with whom he should spend time.
As we hear the news or read reports of the news, may we all seek to endeavour to grasp the wider and more far reaching picture of the nature of God’s loving towards all his people.
Help us to work for a better world,
Where all people are given a chance
To live healthy and worthwhile lives
Where the dream of justice for all can come true,
And where God’s compassion is shown to be real.
Amen
In Christ,
Daphne
Daphne Cook, LLM