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Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). What is your greatest fear? Whether it is fear of snakes or fear of spiders, fear of closed spaces or fear of open spaces, fear of heights or fear of water, we all have our phobias. You might put a brave face on most of the time but sooner or later a ‘near death experience’ or a ‘close call’ will forcibly confront you with the fact that the clock is ticking and your life will not last for ever. Perhaps through the threat of this viral pandemic you have realised your own deep-seated fear of death - many people have. The Bible is realistic about this universal base-line fear. It calls death the last enemy .  Death is not a walk in the park. However, the Bible also makes it clear that death is a defeated enemy . Christians have a spiritual brother in Jesus who became like us in ever...

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). As Jesus approached the city of Nain he met a funeral procession. A crowd of people were following the bier but that was little comfort to the woman at the centre of the scene. Already a widow, she was about to bury her only son. This probably carried  a significant social stigma - she must have done something really bad to deserve this! I wonder if the mourners crowded about her or if they followed at a safe distance? Either way, she was now all alone in the world. I don’t know if anyone reading this can relate to this widow? Quarantine regulations mean that many people are experiencing painful isolation. Perhaps you have been recently bereaved and must attend the funeral alone because other family members are not allowed to travel. Perhaps it is the anniversary of an earlier berea...

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). This photograph appeared on the 5th April Telegraph  article reporting that “Covid-19 has killed more than 90 priests as well as dozens of missionaries, monks and nuns” in Italy. In contrast to the regular stories of power abuses by members of the Catholic clergy, this conjures up a much more positive image of the priesthood - identifying with the sick and vulnerable in order to pray with them even at great risk to their own lives. It also reminds me of some verses in the book of Hebrews: “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed  to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.” (Heb. 5:1-2). ‭‭ However, the tragic re...

This is the fourth and final part of a short series of blogs posts written from a definite Christian standpoint and interacting sympathetically and respectfully with the Dalai Lama's 'Time' article:  "' Prayer Is Not Enough.' The Dalai Lama on Why We Need to Fight Coronavirus With Compassion ". Click here to read the article. The earlier instalments of this short blog series have expressed appreciation for the Dalai Lama's humility and concern for compassion . These are values which are at the heart of Christian ethics too. Acknowledging that, on a practical level, Christians and Buddhists might show compassion in very similar ways we have nevertheless highlighted two areas where there are important differences. One of these has to do with our different ways of dealing with a failure to show compassion and the possibility of forgiveness . The other  considered the different underlying worldviews which motivate and catalyse Budd...

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). Some of our politicians have got themselves into trouble in the past few weeks by ignoring the social distancing regulations they have imposed on other people. Leaders who act as though they are above the law do not inspire confidence or admiration! The Bible makes big ethical demands on Christians and this sometimes leads to the perception that God is an angry dictator in the sky. This couldn’t be more wrong! When the Son of God came to live as a human being He did not flaunt His authority and excuse Himself. Instead He lived up to the standards which God has set for people perfectly . So now He can never ask us to do what He has not already done Himself. What is more, He has promised to be with and in every Christian by His Spirit so that we are never on our own. That is true whether...

This is the third of several blogs posts written from a definite Christian standpoint and interacting sympathetically and respectfully with the Dalai Lama's 'Time' article:  "' Prayer Is Not Enough.' The Dalai Lama on Why We Need to Fight Coronavirus With Compassion ". The first blog in this series can be read here:  https://fidzbit.blogspot.com/2020/04/2-dalai-lama-virus-conversation-prayer.html   The article can be read in full here:  https://time.com/5820613/dalai-lama-coronavirus-compassion/ . Both Christianity and Buddhism emphasise responding to human suffering, like this coronavirus pandemic, with compassion . Believers from both faiths would agree that to pray without helping, where we have the resources to do so, reveals a hollow hypocrisy in our religion. But where does compassion originate in Buddhism and Christianity? What motivates and catalyses compassion ? " We Buddhists" the Dalai Lama says, " believe that th...

Jesus is a spiritual big brother for every Christian. Having suffered in  every way  like us He is able to sympathetically come alongside us with grace to help (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-16). You have just spent all day with sick people. You can’t remember what time you got up or whether you stopped for lunch. You are so tired you will probably fall into bed without speaking to anyone. When you wake tomorrow it will all start again! Jesus knows how you feel. Mark’s gospel records a day in Jesus’ life when he went to the synagogue to teach. A man who was under a terrible evil influence came seeking help. No doubt this was deeply troubling for Jesus to see and ministering to the man must have been exhausting. Jesus retreats to a friend’s house and is immediately called on to heal a sick woman. As the sun was going down the whole town gathered in the doorstep looking to Jesus to heal the sick and deliver the possessed. Yet early the next morning Jesus got up to pray... and th...