No one would want to deny that we continue to live in challenging times with such enormous hikes in fuel and energy costs; something most of us never saw coming.
So I was cheered yesterday to read of the discovery of a bundle of letters, found in a wardrobe in Reading, between an airman and his sweetheart in Blackpool during World War Two. Their discoverer hasn’t found a marriage certificate but would dearly love to pass them on to Ronnie and Frankie’s family.
These letters, one containing a pressed flower, are a testament to the triumph of love even during the bleakest days of war. As the world battled these two young people found each other, fell in love and dreamt of better days. Their letters are full of hope, tenderness and compassion.
Such a story has been told a million times. It’s also at the centre of Christianity. For, on a terrible day filled with injustice and violence, on a hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem, our Lord showed forgiveness in the face of aggression and responded with love after encountering hate. The cross shows us there is another way to live.
The other evening at church, the AFC Pastoral Team reflected on that phrase from Irenaeus of Lyons that The glory of God is a human person fully alive. It’s a wonderful thought that reflects the gospel truth that God longs us to embrace life in all its fullness.
We have recently lived through a very desperate crisis (one that has not fully receded yet) and it’s becoming clear that we have emerged into another. However, I do not share the newspapers’ sense of doom. The cross teaches us that we are called to face our challenges with courage and integrity, and that bundle of letters from Ronnie and Frankie remind us that even in the darkest hour, love can triumph.
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