Oh Hell! Well that was the expletive I let rip at 6.20 this morning when, having again checked the readings for the day (Sunday 14th August), I found I had printed the wrong ones from the Lectionary in the pewsheet for both this and next week's services. (The Lectionary, by the way, is a listing of bible readings to be used for each service throughout the church year - which starts on Advent Sunday, rather than 1st January.) It's not often I'm right, and there I was - wrong again!!! Ah well, nothing so unusual about that. I don't usually have a problem in admitting my errors and so it was, having welcomed everyone to our main service this morning, I first apologised for my mistake.

That all got me to thinking about "forgiveness". We've heard a bit about that over the past week or two, having heard how, no matter how hard it must have been for them, the family of 18 year old Anthony Walker, who was axed to death in Liverpool, said they forgave his killer. There are many, many other examples of forgiveness - remember the father of that young woman who was killed in the bomb blast in Omagh at the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland? … and the most unforgettable example of all, of course, Jesus himself, as he hung on the cross implored his father to "forgive them, for they know not what they do".

But forgiveness does not come easy, especially when people repeat their mistakes, despite their best intentions - be it a matter of alcohol or drug addiction, physical and emotional abuse, greed or things of lesser importance but which still impact on the life of others. When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his "brother" he was told "not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:21-22).

I seem to recall during my pre-ordination studies having read that one of the main differences between Christianity and the Muslim faith is that Muslims do not practice forgiveness. (Why is it that one can never find these passages when you need them?) That statement might have been a little simplistic but it was on the right track. In "How to Understand Islam", Jacques Jomier writes, "Forgiveness is contemplated and even praised in the Qur'an on certain occasions, but it is not the subject of a general and absolute law, as it is in the New Testament." He also reminds us that, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented his followers with new demands - the two great commandments:
- to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength and
- to love your neighbour as yourself

Jomier goes on to say that whilst Jesus' requirements are known in Islam, they are only suggested as an option, whereas, for his followers, they are obligations.

It seems to me the word "love" in the context of this second great Commandment is not intended to be the slushy, dewey-eyed kind of love we associate with a Hollywood film, but rather a caring for those with whom we come into contact during the course of our lives. The well-known parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10,: 25-37) is a fine example of how we should act.

I so often hear of examples of loving deeds carried out by "good Samaritans" in our village - serving the community in a variety of ways, and many acting as carers for a sick relation or friend, often for years. May God bless you all for your devotion and selflessness in your shining example to the rest of us.

Renée