The warmth of an embrace

Within the past couple of days I have found myself embracing two ladies - neither of which were my wife! The situations in which these embraces occurred could hardly be more different.

The first lady had been seeking asylum in the UK for some years. Anyone who knows anything about the asylum system will understand that the application process can be long, tortuous and, at times, dispiriting. In most cases there are many ups and downs along the way, and there sometimes appears to be little compassion or understanding given to people who may have endured some harrowing experiences. In this case, the lady had been waiting for many months for the result of her appeal to be made know. When I saw her earlier in the week, the smile on her face gave me an indication that she was a herald of good news! When she told me that she had been given leave to stay in the UK, it felt natural to share in her joy with an embrace.

For the second lady, however, the word "joyful" would not be the first word one might think of when describing the situation she faced. After quite a lengthy period of increasing ill-health, her husband of more than 60 years had finally passed away. Again it felt natural to offer an embrace, but this time as an attempt to express empathy and love at a time of great loss.

I realise that not everyone is a "touchy-feely" type, but I firmly believe that in all sorts of different situations, an appropriate embrace can express far more than mere words.

One of the most well known of Jesus' parables is the parable of the lost (or "prodigal") son. The son demands his inheritance, and leaves the family home. He duly squanders the whole lot, and finds himself in desperate circumstances. Eventually he makes the journey home, unsure whether he will be forgiven by his father. However, we are told, 'When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.' The warmth of a father's embrace! The father was overjoyed, and welcomed his son back into the family with a party!

Jesus told that story to illustrate God's love for each of us. Whatever our past, whatever our background, whatever our failings, God longs to embrace us with his love. And the love he gives us is for us to give away. Is there someone you know who needs a hug?

A little cross

Back in 2004 a major movie, The Passion of the Christ, was released. Directed by Mel Gibson, and starring Jim Caviezel in the title role, the movie portrayed in a very graphic way the last 12 hours or so of the life of Jesus Christ leading up to his crucifixion. The violence was extreme, but probably not more than the actual reality of what happened around 2000 years ago.

Some time later, though I am not sure exactly when, I was in the Christian bookshop in Hull, and happened to notice a cross and chain which was one of the items being sold in connection to the movie. Having wanted a cross and chain for some time, I bought it. As I was walking down the street afterwards, I noticed something unusual about my purchase. Most often, when one buys a cross and chain, the chain will include a link which can be fastened and unfastened, allowing the wearer to put on and remove the item easily. However, I realised that there was no link in my chain - I just had to hope that it fitted over my head!

With a little bit of a struggle, I managed to put the cross and chain over my head, and it has hung around my neck ever since. Over the years it has become somewhat tarnished, but I have never thought about exchanging it for a new one. Yesterday I noticed that although the chain was still around my neck, the cross itself had disappeared! Presumably part of the metal of the cross had worn through, and it had fallen off. I may never know exactly what happened to it. What I now have is just an empty chain.

There is a danger in the church today, when talking about the Christian gospel, to stress the "nice" bits. We talk about things like the love of God, the peace and hope we have in Jesus, and the joy of Christian fellowship. But I wonder if sometimes we are guilty of avoiding the less easy bits. The suffering and crucifixion of Jesus lie at the very heart of our faith; if Jesus had not died on a cross, there would be no Christian faith. Yes, he rose from the dead, and is alive today, but there would have been no resurrection without the crucifixion. The amazing thing is that he died for us - so that we can be forgiven and know the assurance of eternal life.

And Jesus himself said that if we are to follow him we must first "count the cost". Yes, the blessings of following him are amazing, but the cost is great too - we must give our lives to him. The cross reminds us of how much God loves us. It also reminds us of the call for us to lay down our lives.

Keeping up Appearances

Keeping Up Appearances was a hugely popular 1990s BBC sitcom. It was centred on the life of eccentric, social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket (who insisted that her surname was pronounced Bouquet!) Hyacinth's obsession in life was to present herself as a lady of refinement, who belonged quite clearly in the upper echelons of society. She desperately and continually looked for opportunities to climb the social ladder, despite being wedged in a working-class reality. Her attempts were regularly thwarted, not least by members of her own family who did not share her grand designs!

Last Saturday a few of us were involved in the Healing on the Streets ministry outside Priory in Doncaster's town centre. It happened to be the final day of the Doncaster St Leger festival. During our time outside Priory on Saturday morning, quite a number of people passed by who were obviously heading for their big day out at the races. Everyone seemed to have dressed up for the occasion; the women, especially, were resplendent in their outfits. The most noticeable element of their garb, however, was the massively tall high heels worn by some of the ladies. I do wonder how some of them managed to walk without doing themselves serious damage!

Why would someone wear shoes which were so obviously uncomfortable? I was talking this week with a friend who said that in her younger days her dad continually warned her about the dangers of high heels. She ignored his advice, and is now paying the price. Of course, it's all about appearances, something which our society seems to have become obsessed with. People spend small fortunes on trying to make themselves look good, not least through cosmetic surgery.

The reality is, of course, that the outward appearance of a person will never reveal who they really are. In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, God says to the prophet Samuel, "The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Martin Luther King was absolutely right when he said that the right way to judge a person is not by the colour of their skin (ie their outward appearance) but by the content of their character.

View from above the clouds

I don't particularly enjoy flying (perhaps I ought to resist an attempt at humour by saying that it makes my arms rather tired!) Long flights, especially, can get rather wearisome, especially when I am not in an aisle seat and the leg room is restricted. Our recent flights to and from Spain weren't too bad, being only approx. 3 hours flying time each way. On the outward journey I was sitting in an aisle seat. Coming back, I found myself in the centre seat of 3. The benefit of this position was that I was nearer to the window, and therefore able to catch glimpses of the awesome sights from above the clouds.

The cloud formations were amazing in themselves. But flying above the clouds also has the advantage of remaining in the sunlight (unless it's night time, of course!) For most of our time in Spain we saw relatively few clouds. It was not surprising, however, that as we headed back to the UK the cloud formations began to make themselves known. As we flew over the clouds, I thought about those on the ground below. No doubt there were more than a few people complaining about the dull or rainy August weather! The perspective we had from above the clouds was completely different from what those on the ground were seeing.

I wonder whether there is something of a comparison to be made when we think of the human perspective in certain issues and how God sees them. There is no doubt that we all come up against difficult issues in life, situations and circumstances with which we grapple. Maybe we just can't understand why God would allow such a thing to happen.

I am reminded of a verse in the Bible, when God says, "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9). I am convinced that there will be some things in life which we will never fully understand, because we don't see them from God's perspective. Ultimately, we have to recognise that God sees some things from a very different perspective, and so we need to trust that he knows best.

There will come a day, when we stand before God, when many things will become clear. St. Paul puts it this way, "Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." (1 Corinthians 13:12). I'm content to leave it there.