Tuesday 18th March

Last night I was at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast at the healing service at which I lead worship once a month.  Its a very quiet and holy affair and I always love going.  As it was St Patrick's Day the talk was about Patrick and focused on the grace and courage he showed in returning to Ireland - the land he had escaped after having been kidnapped and enslaved there and treated pretty terribly for several years.   The speaker pointed out that it takes a special sort of person to be able to embrace the very ones who have inflicted pain.  He used the example of Nelson Mandela wearing a springboks jersey as he walked out onto the pitch to his first rugby game as President of South Africa.   I had in my mind the Queen and Martin Mcguinness shaking hands .  Those two gestures spoke so loudly to their respective deeply divided cultures and showed a new way.

It always takes someone to make the first move.  It takes someone to decide that they are not going to rest on their justifications and wear their victimhood like a crown.  It takes kindness and a generosity of spirit to make the gesture which tells others that past hurts are laid aside in favour of a better future.   It is not easy.
Jesus looks down from the cross at the very ones who have just nailed him to a piece of wood.  They are playing dice for his last piece of clothing.  They hate him and are only too happy to see him die.  Yet He looks down on them and asks God to forgive them.

We arent all called upon to make grand gestures which help to change the culture of a nation.  But we are all called upon to be generous of spirit.  To make the first move.  Be unnecessarily kind.  Extravagantly and unreasonably selfless.  Holding a grudge is just uncomfortable and means your hands arent free to take the gifts God is offering.  So this Lent lets examine ourselves and if there are things we could be doing to bridge gulfs and make things easier for others lets do them.