Making A Real Difference

My wife recently told me that she often finds it difficult to listen to the news because it is so sad and depressing, I have to agree with her. 

Two weeks into the New Year and the news has been dominated by the crisis in the NHS as A&E departments struggle to cope with the pressures being placed upon them.  The Ebola outbreak in West Africa.  The war in Syria which has claimed the lives of 76,000 people last year alone, and the dreadful terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 people dead. 

It is easy to be left feeling helpless in the face of such suffering, and for any sense of hope and optimism that the world could be a better place in 2015 to quickly evaporate. 

Faced by these problems and challenges, what if anything can we do to make the world a better place? 

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-14)  The thing about salt and light is you don’t need much of it to make a big difference.  A pinch of salt can help transform a meal, and even the smallest candle can dispel darkness. 

Whilst we may not be able to solve all the world’s problems, we can make a difference. 

As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Small acts of kindness done in love can change the world.  It can be something as simple as visiting someone who lives on their own, doing the shopping for an elderly neighbour, remembering always to say thank you, seeking to encourage others, forgiving someone who has hurt you, standing up for justice and fighting racism and fear. These small acts in themselves may not seem much, nor are they likely to make the news, but they do make a big difference.      

Whatever 2015 may bring, we can help make the world a better place if we strive to follow the words of John Wesley who said: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” 

The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword

The events in Peshawar in December, when the Taliban attacked a school killing 145 people, and the terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo this week which claimed 12 lives, reveals that what extremists fear the most is the power of the pen, and free speech.  This was illustrated by a Matt cartoon in The Daily Telegraph following the Paris attack, which showed the two assailants with their weapons saying to one another as they prepared to enter the offices of Charlie Hebdo “Be careful, they might have pens.” 

In 2013, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, herself a victim of a failed assassination attempt, said in a speech to the United Nations “The extremists are afraid of books and pens… So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.” 

Following lasts weeks terrible events in Paris, silent vigils were held in cities around Europe.  People of different races, faiths and no faith at all gathered together in defiant solidarity to light candles and hold up pens and banners saying "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie).  These vigils sent out a clear message that we will not give in to fear and intimidation, that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, that love is more powerful than hate, and hope more powerful than fear.  It also conveyed the message that we can hold unswervingly onto our beliefs, and yet be loving, gracious, generous and respectful to those who disagree and maybe even mock us.  As the French philosopher Voltaire said “I might disagree with your opinion, but I am willing to give my life for your right to express it.” 

Violence for the sake of your beliefs, whether it is the Inquisition, the Crusades, Mao’s religious purges, Al Qaeda or ISIS, is an affront to humanity created in the image of God and deeply sinful. 

The Apostle John gets to the heart of the matter when he writes ‘Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.’ (1 John 4:20-21)