There are so many things in the news at the moment that make our hearts ache.
We might think of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the irrationality and brutality of Vladimir Putin; instability between China and Taiwan, and Xi Jinping’s oppressive rule; tensions around Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan; Afghanistan; the state of US politics; the state of UK politics, for that matter; climate change; famine in Africa; the drought; the Lambeth Bishops’ Conference; soaring energy prices; problems with the NHS; the gap between rich and poor – and so on.
We are reminded of the words of Jesus: ‘You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
