Thought for the Day

09 MAR 26

Baroness Louise Casey was refreshingly frank on this programme the other day. As chair of the independent committee on adult social care, she set out some of the grim realities of the present crisis.
Many families whose frail elderly members have dementia or other complex needs will identify with her description of the battle to get help as ‘horrendous’: for those with no one close it must be worse. The system relies on exploitation of its workforce, she said, with many earning less than the minimum wage, not reimbursed for travel expenses or getting no holiday pay. Cross-party support was essential for fundamental change.
As continuous medical advances mean more of us live longer than previous generations, and often further away from loved ones, it’s not a new problem. That makes it no less of a scandal when some of our most vulnerable are left feeling that they no longer matter. Exhausted families and friends, neighbours, campaigning organisations and community groups of all kinds do what they can – and so do many politicians.
But for them Baroness Casey sounded a note of caution: ‘I’d warn any political party to be a little careful about throwing stones until we actually know what we are doing.’ Which is, of course, to ask the question what have you actually done about it? Do you honestly think you’ve made a difference for good?
Be careful about throwing stones – that immediately took me back to a vivid story in the gospel of John. As Jesus is teaching in the temple in Jerusalem, a woman is set before him. She’s been caught committing adultery – no mention of the man. He’s challenged by religious leaders and legal scholars, trying to trap him, to pronounce on whether she should be stoned to death. There’s a very long pause, and he says: ‘Let him who is without sin among you throw the first stone at her.’
One by one, they all go away, beginning with the oldest…presumably because they’ve been reminded how much they’ve messed up in their long lives, and maybe realising that if they condemned her, they might be exposed as hypocrites.
I don’t think any of this means that we’ve no right ever to utter criticism. Every society needs people who will reveal uncomfortable truths about those who abuse their power, expose mistreatment of the weakest, speak for those allowed no voice of their own. In the interests of truth, verbal stones may sometimes need be thrown, as the Hebrew prophets demonstrated.
Jesus refused to condemn the woman, offering her a new beginning instead. But he didn’t condone the men’s hypocrisy either. He reminds us to reflect on our own actions, before standing in judgment on others.

As a dog lover and an ordained Christian, one of the questions I’ve been asked the most is, “Do dogs have souls?” It’s a question which is often accompanied by grief and loss, but which also expresses a hope which is so vital to cling to, especially in these turbulent times.
It’s a good time of year to be thinking about this, as Crufts, the world’s premier dog show, opened yesterday for its annual event. It might seem trivial to spend four days celebrating all things canine, amidst the backdrop of the volatile situation in the middle east, but perhaps that’s, at least in part, the point. Dogs, with their reputation for simple joy, faithfulness, and love which is unconditionally given, are living proof that there is another way for humans to be, one in which it’s possible to enjoy a flourishing relationship with other creatures, for all that we struggle to model this with one another.
It’s certainly true that humans forge strong, unbreakable bonds with their dogs, and when that bond is broken by death, it can be unexpectedly painful. When my dog died I was given a card which included the poem about Rainbow Bridge, which describes the pets who’ve gone before us, waiting in a utopian afterlife for their owners to die too, so they can be reunited. This is folk eschatology, hopes and yearnings about what happens when we lose those we love. It’s the theology of last things.
In the febrile, dangerous times we’re living in, it’s unsurprising that people might want to imagine a place which might be free from cruelty. A place marked by peace and the harmony of co-existence, like that described in the book of Isaiah. Here we are given a prophetic vision of the end times, one where all creation will be reconciled in a restored world. No predators or prey, the lion lying down with the lamb, the leopard with the goat…and a little boy leading them all. For Christians, this redemption and healing is only possible because Jesus went before us; living, dying, rising again. He is the reason for our hope in the midst of life and death, and a love which lasts beyond it. In a world where the strong still regularly overpower the weak, a world where lions devour lambs, it gives comfort and hope to imagine something radically different.
Martin Luther apparently said to his dog, "Be thou comforted, little dog, Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail.” I don’t know whether or not my dog had a soul, but she was a soul. Sweet, faithful, infuriating at times, and much missed.

Thought for the Day

04 FEB 26