Thought for the Day - Tuesday 11 August

 

Thought for the Day – Tuesday 11^th August

^{‘Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!  Praise his holy name.  His anger lasts for a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime!  Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning.  You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.  You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.’}

‘’ (Psalm 30: v4-5 & v11-12)

 

Since the Covid outbreak, many families all over the world have been touched by this frightening pandemic.  Changes to our day to day behaviours, limitations on freedoms that have always been taken for granted, limitations on travel and many other things but, worst of all, the number of folks that have fallen ill with this virus never to recover.

Many families in Scotland have been affected, my own included, when my cousin who had been dancing the Gay Gordons at New Year 2020 in the church hall in Holytown, succumbed to this terrible illness.  This was a fit man of 73 who had hardly suffered a day’s illness in his life and who was an elder in Blairhill Dundyvan church.

The family, not being allowed to visit, received daily updates from the hospital and for the first few days they were all fairly positive but they soon became less encouraging.  One day there would be a slight improvement, the next day would be the opposite and after around 18 days of treatment in Hairmyres, he passed away.

I’m not sure of the reason but I’ve never seen the close members of a family being affected by grief to the level and extent and duration that those closest to my cousin have been affected in this instance.  All we can do is to be there for them and to direct them to passages of scripture like the one included for today.  The next step is up to them either alone or with Christian support and guidance.  As far as my cousin goes, I am sure of the next part of his journey, because he was well and truly of the Christian faith and served well.

Now my intention is not to drag you down by sharing this story.  My reason for including it is to give those who have not been directly affected by the pandemic an idea of the impact it can have.  It may even make the wearing of personal protective equipment and changes to routine less of a chore.

Prayers

 

Loving God,

We thank you Lord that you are always there and prepared to listen to us during the good times in our lives as well as the darkest times.  We thank you Lord that we are part of your plan.  We pray for those who do not have the same confidence in you that we have and we pray that their hearts and minds may be opened.   Amen.