成人快手

Good morning.听 It seems as if the blockade of Yemen has begun to be lifted. Long may it continue. The thought of all those thousands of people, especially children, facing starvation, disease and death is almost unbearable. Children are bearing the brunt of the world鈥檚 distemper in so many places 鈥� they see their loved ones killed in front of their eyes, they take to rickety boats to cross perilous seas, they tramp endlessly and hopelessly in search of asylum even in the shadow of the palace of good King Wenceslas who, hundreds of years ago, spotted a poor young man gathering winter fuel. The plight of children seems especially poignant at Christmas time though their rights and our duty of care for them should never be far from our minds.

I remember once visiting a school in Eritrea that had just emerged from a very long war with neighbouring Ethiopia. The children had been asked to draw pictures on the theme of 鈥湷扇丝焓�.鈥� They were so excited as they showed me their efforts. There were men working in the fields, women gathered round a well, children playing games near their simple and welcoming homes. Idyllic. Yet these children had received virtually the whole of their education underground, literally underground, in caves and cellars, safe from the threat of enemy bombing raids. Their pictures almost always carried dark images of aircraft buzzing around in the sky and even showed bombs being dropped. I was amazed at the way children could cling to this idealised picture of life even during the apocalyptic times they鈥檇 lived through.

Disturb us, dear Lord, into hearing the cry of our children and into building a world fit for them to live in. Amen.
听