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A Very Old Promise

A friend a generation younger than myself recently lost her Gran after a long illness. Anita (not her real name) is an atheist from a family of atheists but she has listened to the entire Bible on her iphone and is willing to talk (or perhaps listen!) to theology. She was unable to make a planned visit to Deirdre and myself because of family stresses around Gran’s death. “Everything’s in chaos here,” she texted about her parents and wider family.

Today I read a wonderful piece of scripture that I thought might help her so, having had permission to text her my thoughts from time to time, I sent the following.

‘Hi Anita. I hope you are feeling better after your illness and that you are gradually coming to terms with the loss of your Gran. Also that the chaos and family stresses are settling down.

I thought of you as I read today’s Bible bit. At the start of his public ministry Jesus announced at the front of his synagogue: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me…” As I wrote once before, he was either mad, bad or God. As he continued to apply the prophecy from Isaiah, given 700 years earlier, Jesus promised freedom from the ‘prison’ of sin, sight instead of spiritual blindness, release from inner oppression and ‘favour’ (unity , love and support) from God himself. “The oil of gladness instead of mourning… praise instead of despair… a crown of (inner) beauty instead of ashes.” Everyone needs this. Not everyone accepts it. I really hope that one day you will. May God bless you, (preachy) Ian!!! ’

I should add, before anyone jumps up and down as if I am that claiming becoming Christian solves all our problems, that Anita is well aware of the difficulties Deirdre and I have had with Deirdre’s long-term illness and that I have suffered from stress and depression. One of the greatest compliments she paid us was to say once: ‘I don’t know how you have coped with all this.’ When things seemed at their worst, we admit we clung on to faith by a very slender thread.

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