What sort of world do we live in when a child of 8, along with 21 other people, is slaughtered in the name of a religion?
What is the world coming to when the lives of thousands are turned upside down by the aftermath of such an atrocity?
Good as our security services are, they cannot possibly detect every would-be terrorist act. We have to be vigilant too.
At one of our services last week, Ian described his working day and the good conversations he had with colleagues of other faiths and none. When asked for his favourite bible verse, he quoted Micah 6 verse 8:
What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Those words take us beyond ourselves to our relationships with those we meet day by day and with God. They take us on to our frontline where we put them into practice. While it is natural to seek justice for those directly affected last Monday, we are required to act justly as we seek fairness and equality for all, particularly the weak and powerless.
To love mercy is to show kindness as in love, loyalty and faithfulness to those with whom we have a relationship.
To walk humbly with our God is to love him in the same way he loves us. A tall order, but with his help we can, and together we can make a difference. There is an old Chinese proverb: change the world begin with me.
The ball is in our court!