Dear friends,

In December, when storm Darragh hit I decided to snuggle in bed, listen to Saturday Live whilst doing some paperwork. I was feeling rather low as all the news had been about the failings in the Church of England. I was aware of one of the guests Rob Parsons as I have read some of his books but the story he told had me in tears. I immediately ordered the book he had written and read it in one sitting. “A knock on the door” tells the story of Ronnie Lockwood. Ronnie and Rob had known each other at Sunday School. Ronnie went through his childhood in local authority care and became homeless. On the 23rd December 1975 Ronnie turned up at Rob's door. He and his wife Dianne had been married for 4 years. Ronnie had been given a chicken and he wondered if Rob could cook it for him. They invited him in, gave him a meal and a bed for the night and he ended up staying for over 45 years. He became part of a loving family that he had craved all his life, he got a job as a bin man and was accepted into a local church and became part of a family larger than he dreamt possible. He became a volunteer and when he died, he gave all his money to the local church and in 2022 the Lockwood Centre was opened which is a well being centre for one of the most deprived areas of Wales – where coincidentally our niece is the manager. When asked why he had done it, he referred to the Bible.

Then the King will say

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was a stranger and you invited me in.

I needed clothes and you clothed me.

I was sick and you looked after me.

I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Lord – when did we see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and gave you something to drink?

When did we see you a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick or in prison?

Then the King will reply “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine – You did it for me” (Matthew 25;34-40)

This is what being a Christian is about – loving God and our neighbour. When we see our neighbour in need – how can we fail to act. How can we fail to speak out when we see injustice.

I have just finished reading Justin Welby`s book called, “Reimagining Britain.” Within this he looks at many aspects of our country and how things could be changed, how we could re-establish a loving and generous society. It was a challenging read, considering how we can put the command to be “love in action” into practice .

As we are fast approaching Valentine`s Day I thought more about love.

In the Bible there are at least 4 different words for love, storge means affection – I love books, dark chocolate and Hastings. Philia was used to refer to deep friendship. For romantic love, the Valentine`s day type of love, the word Eros was used. Agape was used to refer to sacrificial love, the sort of love shown when someone gives their life to save another. It is a love that keeps on loving even when it gets nothing in return. It's the sort of love like the father who welcomes back his completely undeserving son. In the New Testament whenever the love of God or Jesus is mentioned then the word agape is used. As we look towards the start of Lent, in March we start to consider how much God really loves us. When we have worked that out we need to ask ourselves how are we going to respond to that.

To close with Charles Schulz the author of the Peanuts cartoons “Little things we say and do in Christ’s name are like pebbles thrown into water, the ripples spread out in circles, and influence people we may know only slightly and sometimes not at all.” Let`s throw some more pebbles and see how we can embody “love in action.”

Christina