This day, 1 year ago...
Today, we mark with sadness, 1 year to this day, 26th January 2020, where we faced our first registered COVID19 cases in the UK. Today, we have reached a deeply disturbing and tragic marking of the number of lives lost by this virus, At today's latest record, 100,162 deaths have been recorded throughout the UK.
We went in to lockdown on the night of 23rd March 2020, the morning of 24th March, we began to realise the crisis as we were placed under lockdown. We never thought that what we were to face throughout the year, would be as it is now.
Today, more than ever, the severity of this horrific situation becomes more prevalent and that we as citizens of the United Kingdom should and must do what we can to combat this virus.
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IN PRAYER OF THANKS...
Dear Lord, Let us give thanks to all those who have come to our rescue, to those who have changed our lives in such difficult times and made our lives more bearable when faced with such sadness.
To all those who have sacrificed their time, careers and more in order to protect us and our NHS. We have true and remarkable heroes in our communities who make such a difference, unsung heroes who give their time, care, patience and support, we thank you.
To those who come up with innovative solutions to the problems we face, those who are just there to talk to at the end of a phone or computer screen, we thank you.
To all the brave heroes of hospitals, our Doctors, Nurses, emergency services, our armed forces, care homes, those who retired from the NHS and other services and come back to volunteer their time to make a difference, we thank you most graciously. even the most vital of services including research labs finding the cures, producing and supplying the vaccines which may change the course of this crisis we face, We thank you
To the schools who face such challenges, even today, the teaching and support staff who place their lives on the line each day, who give their time to teach and support those in need, we thank you.
To the supermarkets, shops, takeaways, and many other businesses who remain open throughout this crisis, providing food, goods, essentials and support, we thank you.
To our charities who provide lifelines to those who need them the most, whether food banks, domestic violence charities, youth support, homeless charities, to all the charities and voluntary services who make difficult lives more bearable, we thank you.
To all parents of school children who cannot attend schools, because you have to make difficult decisions between bringing in a wage and food as well as balancing trying to support your children's education and futures, you face so many challenges and through those hardships, we thank you.
To the local councils who do your very best in challenging and difficult times, from bin men, to the various different council workers, without you, our towns and cities would be in pure chaos, we thank you.
To all those brave young people working in supermarkets, who help get shopping sent to those self isolating and the vulnerable, you give up your time and make such a huge difference to all those who rely on supermarkets, you make a huge and positive difference. For this and all that you do, we thank you.
To the pharmacies who support patients with prescriptions and support, you are there to give patients the support they need in such frightening and challenging times. We thank you.
To our churches, where our vicars, priests and teams who support our congregations, those who go out of their way, each day, whether it's online services, zoom services, prayer meetings, support with the hardest of matters, supporting funerals, etc, we thank you.
To everyone, we thank you so much. Remember that regardless of what you do, how you do it, why you do it, remember that we are eternally grateful to you all. To you all, you are unique, gifted heroes and heroins of this world, no matter where you are, what you do, how you do it, you are all gifts from God. May you be blessed and rewarded for all you do.
May the Lord God give you peace, comfort and blessings from on high, May he guide you all in your paths and show you his love, so that you may trust in him.
Lord, we give you thanks for inspiring and supporting all thos brave, special and unique people who make such a difference throughout this uncertain time. To you Lord, We give you thanks.
AMEN
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It is clear that throughout this crisis, there is much questioning, anger, stress, pain, disruption to lives and businesses and more. The businesses who keep our economy afloat, who have been hit hardest, forced to close, be declared bankrupt, place staff on furlough the most disturbing of events where staff have lost jobs, been made redundant, placed at risk of debt and homelessness, etc. These times are frightening for all, we don't know what's around the corner, not something we can willingly accept. We are forced to trust in our governments to "fix" this crisis, whether we agree and accept or disagree and protest, we face this together.
This year has seen so many events which have hurt us all in many ways. How do we get through this? How do we cope? What can we do? We can ask our Lord God for his help, his guidance and our trust in him and in Jesus' name, that we can try to look to the future with hope and faith.
Today, we pay tribute, not only to all those who have supported those who need that help and continue to do so, from charities, to brave individuals, committed to making a difference. Today we pay tribute to the families, friends and relations who have lost loved ones, friends and those close to them. Such pain resonates throughout our world today, such grief and anger with the loss of lives, a world together in grief, pain, loss and sorrow, we are brought together in unity in this crisis, going through the same pain and tragedy, trying to pick up the pieces, trying to find answers, trying to move forward. That is never easy, never ill be, but if we join together, in faith, through Jesus, With Jesus, In Jesus' name, with our prayers, our meditations, the feelings we all share, may we try to heal the wounds we all share, May Jesus hear our prayers, may he guide us, comfort us, support us and heal us, show himself to us in our time of need. hold us in his arms as he does to those departed from our world.
Today, more than ever, more than any other day, it is important for us to remember the sacrifices made by all those trying to make a positive difference, from Police, our NHS staff, our Armed Forces and so much more, with this, we need to pull together, be united by one goal, one objective, one solution, that we as a nation, as citizens, as children of God, we must do our best to minimise this threat. It is such a saddening feeling, a painful feeling when people ignore what is happening, ignore the rules placed to protect us, that instead of doing what is right, instead, there are people who do as they want, without care or respect for others. such selfish acts which put others at risk, we must and should do everything we can to stop this virus claiming more lives and destroying our world. We must unite throughout our world and stop this in it's tracks. We fear that it's too late, but we must overcome our fear so that we can try and change things for the better.
As our vaccines are rolling out, It's important not to take the fact that these vaccines are being given to those who need them, to us all, in time. It's important to understand that even with the vaccines being given, we must still socially distance, we must still carry on protecting ourselves and the lives of others. It is evident that although these treatments will work, we cannot take such blatant risks thinking that we've received one jab and that'll do, thinking we can get back to normal straight away. That sadly is not the case.
Today we pray for a miracle. We call out "Hosannah" Rescue us! for we as a world, in one voice, are in crisis, we have committed our sins in thought, word and deed, we repent of our sins and are truly sorry, Please, Rescue us.
Time for us to pull together in spirit, emotionally, in faith, in unity.
Hold on in there. Do not give up. Face each day as a new day. Be thankful that each day you face, you can achieve so much. Where you can, put a smile on someone's face, though we can't embrace one another, we can still give care, support and love. Do not give in, even when desperation is so strong, Do not give in, when grief takes hold, Do not give in when hope may be lost, because one day, our prayers will be answered. Believe in Jesus, Believe in the Lord our God. Believe in what you can do to positively change lives around you and stand strong.
All the best to you all.
Lew.