The pictures say what I need to say this month, alongside this hymn we have been singing in church to the tune ‘Love divine’. Anything else seems trivial other than to say, please pray for Ukraine? You can use the hymn if it helps. The words, by Richard Lucas have stirred and haunted many of us.

To the dark place, bring a candle,

To the cold place, bring a flame,

In the night of our despairing,

Light and warmth shall come again.

For the candle in the darkness

Is the light that shines the way,

Is the hope that brings the day.

To the helpless and bewildered,

to the victims of the gun,

bring the suffering, dying Jesus,

bring God's broken, murdered Son;

he who brings no easy answer

to the heart that will not mend

suffers in us and beside us

and is with us to the end.




To the ones whose love lies buried

‘midst the bombs as freedom cowers,

bring the calm that rests the war-torn

in the darkest of all hours;

he, who in the tomb lay broken

travels with us through our night,

by his word of love once spoken

brings the candle-glow of light.




To us, as the storm-clouds gather,

in the skies of west and east,


to us, fearful of the future,

of the threat of war unleashed,


to our world, of peace despairing,


to our world of threat and blame

to our dark place bring a candle,

to our cold place bring a flame.