Daily Thought for Friday 11th April 2025
“But I trust in you, O Lord.”
Psalm 31:14
One of the two
Anikó Schütz Bradwell
The world can be heartbreaking. Wars, violence, the inhumane treatment of others, the climate crisis, illness and pain, and so, so much injustice. Living in this world can be hard. I could despair at watching how so much of the world’s suffering is caused by human choices, by putting greed for power or wealth above compassion and simple respect for our common humanity.
No matter how different we may be, there will always be more that unites us. All of us are beloved by God, valued by God, so why would we choose to hurt one another?
There’s a poem by Australian writer Michael Leunig, in which he describes that everything we do is based on either love, or on fear.
(See: www.leunig.com.au/works/prayers ).
I truly believe he’s got a point, and that many of the decisions in the world are motivated by one of the two. And I don’t need to look at the news to find examples: I’m also aware that I don’t always succeed – much as I’ve got good intentions – to base all my actions and responses on love.
St Paul writes about faith, hope and love, and encourages us also to base the way we live on these three, and foremost on love. Elsewhere, we are reminded that God is love. And again and again, throughout all of Scripture, we are encouraged not to be afraid, but to put our trust in God. We can trust God that love will overcome all evil, all hatred and indifference and all fear, too.
And we’ve got a role to play in that, too, in every choice we make, in how we think about and speak to one another, in how we relate to each other and to the world. In trusting in God, we can declare our intention to be guided by God’s love.
Shall we pray?:
God of care, help us to live lives that are ruled not by fear, but by love. Amen.
Anikó Schütz Bradwell is minister of Lammermuir.