Thought for the week

Tag: grace

  • The Plight of Afghan People

    Afghanistan is no longer in the headlines, but the plight of the Afghan people is desperate. NATO forces, who were there for 20 years, have been withdrawn. The Taliban are in power. Many people have lost their jobs, the economy collapsed after foreign aid ended overnight, the currency has lost almost half its value, the…

  • The James Webb Space Telescope

    On Christmas Eve the James Webb Space Telescope was launched by an Ariane rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. The $10bn telescope is on a mission to show the first stars to light up the Universe. It is the successor to the Hubble telescope and is 100 times more powerful. Thousands of people…

  • Justice delayed is justice denied

    The Court of Appeal has cleared 39 former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses in what is the most widespread, known, miscarriage of justice in the UK. Between 2000 and 2014 the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses based on information from a new computer system called Horizon. Some went to prison following convictions for false accounting…

  • Hope in the face of death

    More than 3 million people from more than 200 countries have died from Covid-19. These people come from every strata of society and every age group. Most deaths have been of elderly people but that doesn’t diminish the significance their deaths. None of us can escape the reality of death for ourselves and also for…

  • Loved with everlasting love

    The bright sunny days and glorious blue skies have lifted our spirits. People are out walking, jogging and cycling and there is a feeling of springtime in the air. The natural world is coming to life again with the beautiful snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils bringing colour to our gardens and hedgerows. The winter is passing…

  • The God who gives hope

    As we enter a new year one of our great needs is to find hope. The problems of our world are great and there are no easy solutions. In our personal lives and families, we may be experiencing sadness and pain. On Christmas Day a good friend died of Covid-19. Even the dark, damp days…

  • Now thank we all our God

    Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran minister in Eilenburg, Saxony, at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, which was fought between 1618 and 1648. It is estimated that between 4.5 and 8 million people, both military and civilians, died in that war, most from disease and starvation. In some parts of Germany as many as…

  • Hope in a world of injustice

    Many people in the world today are experiencing injustice. In Hong Kong tens of thousands protested against the postponement of the planned election and Beijing’s imposition of a new national security law in Hong Kong. They face long prison sentences. In Minsk, Belarus, thousands demonstrated against the alleged vote-rigging in the recent re-election of President…

  • Finding forgiveness

    The lives of some well-known people are coming under critical scrutiny. In the past statues have been erected to men who did notable things that benefited the societies in which they lived. Now, however, attention is being drawn to the bad things they did, including being involved in or supporting the evil slave trade. William…