The last hymn today, #575, is probably one the Vicar would call “one of his favourites”. As I read through the verses, I can understand why he likes it and how and why it speaks to him. The second verse speaks to me; it begins, “For the healing of the nations, for peace that will not end, for love that makes us lovers, God grant us grace to mend.”
I happen to favour the next hymn in the book, #576, which I first met a small Church while vacationing in Maine, USA, in the 1990’s. It shares part of the above as the opening words of the hymn. “For the healing of the nations, God, we pray with one accord.” And then the first verse continues with the theme of our Gospel reading, “for a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords.”


As we have all thought and shared and prayed, we are in the midst of a time of hostility, anger, conflict, and confusion. We worry about our economic situation, nationally, socially, and individually. And we want more, more security, more stability, more peace, more comfort. As I look at my own situation, I often think, “I want this tool, I need that attachment.” But if I am honest with myself, I have enough, more than enough. I remember reading an article in one of my woodworking magazines about a man who went to visit a third world country where he saw some exquisite furniture being produced by a workman in a small village, working under the shade of a woven palm leaf awning with a small collection of very basic hand tools. “He was producing work that I, with a full shop of top of the line tools, could come nowhere near achieve,” he wrote. “For a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords.” In several of his books, Tom Clancy wrote “war is armed robbery writ large.” As Christians, we have a number of guiding principles to help us live in harmony within our society; the Ten Commandments (particularly the tenth), Jesus’ law of love (John 13.34), the Golden Rule (Matt 7.12), and the Beatitudes (Matt 5.1-12) are all good places to start.


The struggle for us as Christians is to balance our lives so that we reflect the love of Christ that lives within us. God grant us grace to amend. Amen.