Hello.
How can we begin to comment on such a terrible week here in the UK? The memories of the attack on innocent children while they danced and laughed followed so closely by destructive street riots will be with us for some time to come.
Surely our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. The Apostle Paul, writing over 2000 years ago to his readers in Rome, captured the essence of the Christian response. He lived at a time when violence was commonplace. In some ways society and the world at large mirrored how things are today for us. He had something to say to all of us who face atrocities be they near at hand or in a distant war-torn country.
He wrote, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good…Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn…Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:9-15).
Did you note the phrase, “mourn with those who mourn”? Other translations include the ideas of weeping with those who weep and crying with those in tears. Jesus, who wept with the other mourners when his friend Lazarus died, can help us do this.
Let’s join with Jesus in sharing his hope-filled compassion with everyone caught up in grief and sorrow.
Kind regards,
James.
About the Writer:
James Henderson is a Minister in Grace Communion International.