³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Good morning
I was on my daily commute to work when the train came to a long drawn out juddering halt, of the kind that can only mean one thing: a long delay. The passengers sneaked surreptitious looks at each other in the ensuing silence.

Soon a message came over the intercom, that the train had struck a person. I have often been caught up in long delays in these tragic circumstances – anyone who travels by train will have been. But this is the first time I’ve been on the train in question. It was deeply shocking. The train crew were shocked and upset. Clearly the driver could not carry on, and we waited for the emergency services, and another driver before moving forward to the next station to disembark.

That station was beset by the familiar crowd of travellers, frustrated by a delayed journey. But underneath it all was the hollow realisation that someone’s life had ended; someone’s family was going to hear the irrevocable news; and a train driver’s life would never be the same again.
Our roads and railways are among the safest in the world. And yet all of us will have known people who have been affected by the death of someone close to them through accident or suicide.

Each time I am caught up in an incident like this, I put out a call for prayer on the social media. Many of my friends respond, and I know that a network of prayer forms very quickly each time. It’s a kind of emergency service in its own right.
So, let us pray: and bring before God the tragedy of lives diminished, and pray for all those affected by the loss.
Amen