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One dear friend responded to yesterday’s post with the words: “It feels very dark in the valley ”. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul URGES   that “ supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions.” At this time of crisis we need to take this even more seriously than usual. So I’ve just made my list .  It contains the names of The Queen The Prime Minister Boris Johnson The Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Our local MP Ian Murray It also contains the names of: Two dear friends and a close relative who are hospital doctors. Two dear friends who are GP’s. An uncle who is a critical care nurse. Family members of colleagues who work in midwifery and the ambulance service. The GP’s who work at our local surgery. These people on the front line of this crisis need our prayers. They need our prayers NOW as they prepare themselves. Other personal messages from fr...

This morning the UK woke up to stricter Government-imposed regulations on our movements. They had hoped that if people were informed about the right thing to do we would choose to comply freely. Alas! We have seen pictures of crowded parks and beaches and people crammed together in queues to buy fish and chips. Their selfishness  in flaunting their ‘freedom’ means that we are all just a little bit more isolated now.  This is a helpful illustration of what the Bible teaches about sin:  ‘Self’ really does cause isolation! Jesus said that God has given us two stand-out commandments. The second of these is: ‘ Love your neighbour as yourself ’.  This is the ‘spirit’ of the famous Ten Commandments, which spell-out what loving your neighbour means in practice: honour your parents, and do not murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or be jealous of other people. In other words “Don’t be selfish! Selfishness is the opposite of love. It only causes division ...