Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you

Today’s choice of hymn, following the themes of calling and baptism (or “Christian initiation” as the Sing Praise hymn book has it), is a song that our own church music group has used several times. The chorus is “do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are mine”. That idea – that God calls us individually, in different ways (by our name) and that because of that there’s nothing to be feared in life – occurs throughout the Bible, in fact I’ve heard it said that the phrase “do not be afraid” is one of the most common in the Bible.

The first four short verses each suggest ways in which life might make us afraid, then the way in which God will protect us. All of these are relevant to the current Covid pandemic and lockdown.

Firstly we may feel we are “out of our depth” with what’s happening (perhaps especially appropriate today, as the North of England faces yet another warning of devastating floods), but he won’t let us drown. Or we may feel that we are surrounded by fire (the virus is just as dangerous, though invisible), but he won’t let us get burnt; or lonely (a problem many are facing in this pandemic) but God is always with us so we are never truly alone; or exiled away from home (perhaps in the sense that the culture around us is changing rapidly and makes us uncomfortable) but never far from God’s love.

The final verse reminds us again that we are God’s children and that he loves us. That’s what it all comes down to: whatever the pandemic brings, whether anxiety, fear of physical harm, loneliness or just life moving too fast for us to keep up with, the one constant is God’s love, so we need not fear.

The Apocrypha in Lent – 10 March

If this is your first visit, please see my introduction to these Lenten readings.

10 March. Ecclesiasticus chapters 5-7

Among these chapters of proverbs, I wish to pick out the short passage (6:5-17) that deals with friendship.

Our local Member of Parliament, Rachel Reeves, is currently promoting a campaign to recognise the dangers of loneliness, which she describes as “toxic to health and devastating to communities”. She recommends that we connect more with the people around us – chat to fellow travellers on public transport, colleagues at work, shop workers and so on.  That is the basis of a secure society where people feel included – “a kindly turn of speech multiplies a man’s friends” (Ecclus. 6:5).

But the author of Ecclesiasticus realises that not every acquaintance deserves the name of friend. He warns against three sorts of so-called friend: those who “are friends only when it suits them”, those who “fall out with you and make your quarrel public”, and those who “share your table but do not stand by you in the day of trouble”. A faithful friend, on the other hand, is described as “a sure shelter … beyond price … the elixir of life”.

The best friendships – often those made early  in our adult life, or sometimes even sooner, and which last for decades – are founded on mutual respect (which includes respecting each other’s differences as well as shared interests), empathy and a willingness to get involved when our friend is in trouble.  The Biblical writer describes these as “one in a thousand” which sounds about right  – we probably get to know a thousand people reasonably well in the course of a lifetime, but may only have a couple of really good friends. Treasure them.

The Bible in a Year – 4 August

Please excuse the delay in posting this and the next few instalments, as I have been without Internet access for a few days.

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this, and also my introduction to the Proverbs.

4 August. Proverbs chapters 27-29

Today I am considering just one verse from these three chapters:

“Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred on the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbour who is nearby than kindred who are far away.” (27:10)

Friends and family are both great to have. Even introverts like myself (I use the term in its technical sense, meaning someone who is happy working or relaxing alone) enjoy spending time with friends and relatives.  Like many people in our increasingly mobile society, my family is scattered – my nearest cousin lives twenty miles away, and my mother and sisters much further than that.  So I particularly value friends. Some of those friends live close and I see them every week (or more), others are old friends is different parts of the country whom I meet less often but are still in my thoughts and prayers.

Loneliness on the other hand is a state that many people fear, especially as they get older.  One of the downsides of living a long life is that gradually, and more frequently with the passing years, one’s older relatives and friends, and then those of one’s own generation, die and are taken from us.  It is not always easy to find new friends in later life, and for those of us who do not have children of our own it can be difficult to make friends with younger generations in the family.

The writer of this proverb may be saying something similar.  Kindred (family) may have a moral or even legal obligation – stronger in Biblical times than our own –  to look after their kin.  See the book of Ruth for example, where even a distant relative by marriage from a foreign land was owed a duty to be looked after. But in practice, having a loving sister hundreds of miles away is not of great help if you have some urgent need today.  The woman next door, or the friend a few streets away, is likely to be of more help, so make sure you have such networks in place – and of course, offer your own help to them in return.