06 March 2024 A Candle in the Window Peter Millar
Words to encourage us in these times.
The sky is red
But Jesus answered, “When the sun is setting, you say, ‘we are going to have fine weather because the sky is red’. And early in the morning you say, ‘It is going to rain because the sky is red and dark’. You can predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times.”
Matthew 16:2-3
Angels
Many years ago my late wife Dorothy bought a small bronze plaque with an angel engraved on it. It had been on a street-market stall in London and during our many moves around the world it disappeared. It re-surfaced (if you can use that term about angels) when we returned to Scotland from India. When I was younger I did not think much about angels, but when an African friend told me that an angel was not always resident in heaven but was that person who appeared just at the right moment to give you a hand up when you are falling down in life, I have appreciated them much more!
Some time back a card arrived in the post. On it were these words: “when the candle is lit the angels gather”. Everywhere people light candles and not just in churches. They appear at roadside shrines set up at a place where a dear one has been killed in an accident, and thousands were lit when Princess Diane died. I like to think that when we light a candle, whatever the circumstances, the angels do gather around. And I also like to think that when they gather they see us as we really are with our good points and our flaws, because surely angels must be wise.
As I look at this simple angel plaque that found its way back to our home I like to imagine, on the days that I’m falling down, somewhere an angel is helping me to get back on my feet – assuring me that all will be well. Peter
We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world:
that understanding may triumph over ignorance,
that generousity triumph over indifference,
that trust triumph over contempt, and
that truth triumph over falsehood. A Zoroastrian prayer
*Blessed is he who is righteous for the sake of righteousness.
This is the shortest and first prayer that is taught to Zoroastrian children
Farewell to a great spirit – Alexei Navalny – an inspiration for our world:
A few days ago the hugely inspirational and courageous Alexei Navalny lay in his open casket in a Moscow church under a bed of roses, carnations and chrysanthemums, his face pale in candle light, surrounded by grieving relatives and supporters. Despite appearances, it was anything but a normal funeral. His mother, Lyudmila had just returned from wresting his body from Russian investigators in Siberia, and many of those closest to the late opposition leader were not there at all. As we know his close loved ones are out of Russia.
When I was living in India one of my friends was the great Father Bede Griffiths. One day a Catholic theologian told me that it would take generations for the Catholic Church to fully understand Father Bede’s vision. When I heard about Navalny’s death I thought the same thing – that it would take generations for Russia and our world to understand his visionary and prophetic life embedded in such great courage. Little wonder that two hundred and fifty thousand people outside Russia watched his funeral and that many thousands of Russians risked their jobs and possible imprisonment in order to be on the streets on the funeral day to honour him. It was the largest public gathering of the opposition since the first days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Later I learned that in the days following the funeral as many as fifty million had watched the events of that sad day – sad not just for Russia but for all of us who cherish freedom and abhor dictators.
Navalny was a singular force in Russian opposition politics; few could withstand the continued pressure and physical pain that he did over more than a decade of leading protests against the Kremlin. And yet he kept his sense of humour to the end, requesting that an orchestra play the final theme from Terminator 2 as his casket was lowered in the ground. In the film the music plays as a robotic Arnold Schwarzenegger is lowered into molten steel. As one of his friends said “the music from this film is very symbolic.” Later, as the hearse bearing his coffin travelled past, crowds behind metal barricades threw red carnations and roses in his path. His supporters have vowed they will continue his great struggle for a different kind of Russia. “You will be proud of us,” wrote his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh. Navalny was a charismatic leader valued by many beyond Russia’s borders. Even on the day before his murder he was smiling from his prison cell, a smile which over the years had brought hope to thousands of Russians who long for change in their country, as we all do. I believe that Navalny’s Christian faith gave him strength for his extraordinary life’s journey – a fact which I hope is included in his future biographies. Every so often great spirits emerge within our societies. Sometimes they’re hidden from our sight and at other times, like Navalny, they become inspirational global figures who live on in our hearts. Peter
