Reflection for March
'Put your hand into the Hand of God'
Once again, and yet again, we find ourselves confronting a war over which we have no control. The unleashing of terrible destructive power which, despite the claims of accuracy in targeting, strikes indescriminately at villages, towns, and cities taking many innocent lives is the reality of it.
Who can we trust? Who tells the truth? Who will stand up to stop the slaughter and destruction? We have to turn to God, yet with all the strife and uncertainty it is worrying that so many people no longer consider that God has a place in their lives. We do not have to look far to see the unwelcome effects of godlessness in our society, but there are many who consider that it is much easier to lead life free of the duties and restrictions that Christian and other faiths place upon us. But whenever as now the trouble comes closer to home it is “God help us” that we hear. And we raise our voices in prayerful supplication that God in his Love and Mercy will indeed hear us and help us and all those suffering directly from the present conflict.
I have no hesitation in repeating the following lines from a reflection written in 2024. "In the first days of the Second World War, King George VI broadcast to his people, anxious and facing a fearful future. He used words from the poem, “The Gate of the Year” by Minnie Haskins. “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”, then “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”. St. Luke reminds us of God’s promise to Abraham (Luke 1: 79) “God’s sunrise will break in on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide their feet into the path of peace”. May it be so." Amen.
David Peacock