In debt for the love you have given me. Undeserving, sometimes callous, thoughtless and cavalier with the expectations of others. Yet I am loved. And so I owe this debt of love. How can it be paid? How do I repay the patience of a nurse who stands by me while I am sick? How do I return the love of a mother who invested her life in my life from birth to her death? How do I thank those people who affirm me in what I do, in writing and in teaching? How do I thank the teacher who told me, but then demonstrated that from his point of view there was some good in everyone? How do I thank my son for music, art and an openness of spirit? How do I thank colleagues who have stood by and encouraged me as my life has changed pace and direction often giving them more work to do? How do I thank my wife for her care? How do I thank the child who smiles and hugs me and says, ‘That’s better’? How do I thank countless friends who have done the things that only they could do? How do I thank the father who taught me to work with wood? So much to be thankful for! Am I in debt? Surely…
To each and all is owed a lifetime of love, so graciously given, so easily received.
No wonder he said, ‘Love one another”! I’ll try, really I will.
What is this love? Just this we know
that love transcends all pomp and show,
that love exists, above below,
love was and is and is to be,
by grace we are both loved and free.
What is this love? It precedes life,
it overcomes all dark and strife,
love is the Spirit’s keenest knife,
pure love has brightness in its eyes,
yet breathes forever, never dies.
Love is the interface of change,
no difference rests beyond its range,
its nature gracious, other, strange,
it holds birth, death and all between,
here all is safe: both hidden, seen.
Love is the point where hell is breached,
where joy is glimpsed and heaven reached,
the outcasts find they’re unimpeached,
on this wide earth the lost are found
for love is safe, is solid ground.
Andrew Pratt 17/4/2022
From Rev Dr Inderjit Bhogal, former President of the Methodist Conference, and shared with his permission and encouragement:
“The gospel does not go from crucifixion to crucifixion. It goes from crucifixion to resurrection. Anything that goes from suffering to suffering contradicts the gospel. The Nationality and Borders Bill currently before Parliament is a case in point. It treats already suffering people with more suffering and humiliation. It treats people as deserving and undeserving refugees. The criteria to determine refugee status is not fleeing suffering but the means of travel and routes taken. Sending people seeking sanctuary to Rwanda is inhumane, cruel, morally bankrupt and theologically nonsense. It demonises harmless people, dehumanises human beings, sanctions hatred and hostility. It takes people from crucifixion to crucifixion. We need safe routes for all refugees, from anywhere in the world. Government has a duty by UN Refugee Convention to provide safe care and hospitality for all refugees. Justice, mercy and humility, not injustice, cruelty and humiliation for all the crucified people of the world. This is the challenge of redemption, resurrection, restoration.”
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