Thought for the week

On Monday 6 August 1945 at 8.15am the US bomber Enola Gay dropped ‘Little Boy’, the first nuclear weapon ever used in warfare, on the city of Hiroshima. The whole city was destroyed and an estimated 120,000 people, 90% of whom were civilians, were killed instantly. Many more died later from burns, radiation sickness and…

What matters most to you? What defines you as a person? In July Scottie Scheffler, the 29-year-old world number one golfer, won The Open Championship. He said that winning The Open, one of the four golf majors, was “living out his dreams.” He only has to win the US Open to complete a career Grand…

One of the best-known and best-loved hymns in the English language is “Amazing Grace!” It was written by John Newton who was born 300 years ago this month. The hymn is John Newton’s personal testimony: “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found,…

When our children were young, we lived in North Wales and were friends with a couple whose children were the same age as ours. Both families went to the same church. Our friends’ eldest daughter Sara did very well at school and was accepted to study medicine in Liverpool, but things didn’t work out as…

Spring has given way to summer, and the long evenings are with us. Many parts of the world never experience a long evening. They know nothing of the beauty and stillness of a summer evening. The busyness of the day has passed, the heat of the day has cooled, the skies are blue and the…

Restorative justice has a life-changing power. It brings together criminals and their victims to try to repair the harm and to find a positive way forward. Simon, Nick Dawson’s twin brother, was tortured and murdered by 2 men who had kicked and beaten 30-year-old Simon until he was unconscious. They removed his watch, stole his…

Many autocratic leaders don’t tolerate any dissent and treat people terribly. Sergei Tikhanovsky, the husband of Belarus’ opposition leader, has been freed unexpectedly and reunited with his wife in Lithuania. He has been forced into exile. Sergei was arrested in 2020 as he planned to run for president of Belarus. In 2021 he was sentenced…

The conflict between Israel and Iran has brought the issue of nuclear proliferation into sharp focus. Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on earth. One can destroy a whole city, potentially killing millions, and jeopardizing the natural environment and lives of future generations through its long-term catastrophic effects. The dangers from such weapons arise…

Last Sunday Christians around the world remembered the Day of Pentecost when in the first century the Holy Spirit came upon the Christians in Jerusalem. Before he died Jesus had promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them. He said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor…

King Solomon was famous for his wisdom. When he became king, in succession to his father David, God said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon was young, just 20 years old, so he asked, “Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right…