'Do not be afraid.'

Friday 8th January, 2021

Another perfect winter's day. The sun shone and the sunset was full of yellows and pinks and a whole series of changing colours.

I have done little. I have read some more about faith and how Carretto sees it. It is a matter of trusting, believing, hoping and accepting that God is God, a mystery beyond us, yet with a divine spark within. That spark, once described to me as heart calling upon heart ( a St Augustine expression, I think ), makes us restless yearning for fulfilment. Carretto writes of wanting to evolve out of this world in to the next. He sees suffering as a gateway of sorts but all is mystery. It is a mystery which we accept even with the inkling that there is undoubtedly a God beyond our capacity to understand.

I did see an old friend and legally shared prawns and chocolate mousse. We spoke of faith. She mentioned in passing that the retired Bishop on the Dunkeld Diocese had had his vaccination. It seems that he now has the virus, is infected, but is showing no symptoms. It has protected him but is he contagious? So the lack of understanding, the lack of knowledge goes on....and so do the rumours, promises and commentaries. The vaccine is a brilliant human discovery but it still leaves mystery.

As I was about to write this piece so a friend sent me a quotation sent her by the Salesians. 'Do not be afraid'.

If Carretto is right we are all within God's love and mystery. He will not abandon us. We, humans, although we do not have the answers to the many riddles and perplexities of life and being, are to trust. As Dame Julian of Norwich notes we are in the palm of his hand. I believe her.

Yet we must work to relieve suffering. Thus the vaccine, thus the research and the generosity of each for the other. To this end I received a letter from SCIAF, the Scottish International Aid Fund. There are efforts to help, to alleviate poverty and suffering and abuse. The last paragraph mentions the COP 26 Conference in Glasgow in November.

" This is a huge opportunity in the fight against the devastating effects of climate change....we will be asking politicians and world leaders to make the care of our world ..a top priority". We may have the mystery of God but we also have the opportunity to show that we may not be infallible but we can help, we can make a difference to the lives of others. In a strange way I think that is part of our being as graced by God.