24/05/2022

The people who had listened and condemned Paul and Silas were shocked into belief by the shaking of the earth; the breaking of the captives chains; by the collapse of the retaining walls; but most of all by the refusal to escape. The whole family was joyous at its conversion into belief in God. I was born into a believing family; into a believing Church; into a beliving nation where "Abide with me" was sung at the final event of our Football season.

Some 80 years later I am alone in believe in my immediate family. Thanks be to God, one sibling has stayed true to the Faith but not one of my nearest and dearest has the faith that brought joy to the gaoler's family and has been my mainstay in life. The Church that I entered some 10 days after birth has been weakened by quarrels, changes in liturgy, but most of all by the personal sins of its adherents and pastors. The nation's Christianity is no longer here, not even with the lip-service it has had for most of my life.

Jesus "proofs" of the Advocate seem to have passed us by for the World has taken on the role of arbiter of sin that Jesus promises the "Holy Spirit" will be. The "world" tells us how to behave and we present a futile facade of protest.