29 January  2026

(Another one from John)
There was a terrible fire at a club in Switzerland on New Year's day. PLEASE do not think I am trying to make light of what was a tragedy for so many involved either directly or indirectly: lives destroyed or changed forever, and even now DOZENS still in hospital with severe burns!
There were, though, two interviews on the television the following day that really made me think.
Firstly, an elderly man in an hotel just yards from the tragedy heard a bang and wondered why 'young people' were letting fireworks off so close to his hotel. A few minutes later he heard shouting, which he put down to drunken revellers, then heard police cars - presumably to arrest the young drunken revellers. Only when there were more and more rescue services did he realize a tragedy was unfolding.
Immediately after this interview they spoke to a youngster who had got out of the fire almost uninjured. He spoke of seeing someone whose hands were covered in blood with skin peeled off. He then told of his horror when he realised that this man could not hold a glass or operate his telephone.
I am afraid that, though I prayed for all involved and for these two people in their shock - and, possibly, later, guilt - the juxtaposition of the two interviews sent my thoughts spiralling into the question of how we, as Christians, deal with the different starting point of folk when we speak to them. How do we speak about a loving father to someone who has suffered years of family abuse? How do we use words like "foregiveness" or "hope" to those,whose lives have been destroyed by others? I am sure that the short soundbites I heard were not really representative of the real feelings of these two caught up in a moment of abject horror. It did make me wonder, however, how on earth we can bridge a gap which so often exists in perception, in values, in the very meaning of life between people of different ages, social settings, upbringing and experience.
Pray God that I can at least TRY to respect that others have a right to opinions very different to mine (and only take issue if their views mean, or might mean, physical or psychological harm to others!!!)
With love ,
John
 
PS - on the line of a gap in starting points, our church in Portsmouth was a popular gathering point, not always for the right reasons. On one occasion, Jacquie, on entering, remonstrated with a youngster for their behaviour, ending with the suggestion that 'this is God's house'. She, however, was floored by the response :- 'Is God your 'usband, miss ?'