Dear All

In the traditional form of the Ten Commandments we read: ‘I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my commandments.’ The thought of the punishment of sin passing down the generations (children suffering for the sins of their parents) is not an easy one. Indeed, within scripture, the prophet Ezekiel goes out of his way to contradict the idea of sin’s consequences being felt by the next generation. And yet…?

The other day I met with some friends on holiday from work in Lebanon. Their stories of the effect of violence across the Middle East impacting upon the lives of ordinary civilians – parents, taxi drivers, couples wishing to marry, families simply wanting to live ‘normal’ lives – shook me. The current violence is taking place at Harvest time, so crops are left unharvested, the land is littered with ordinance, livelihoods are threatened and communities displaced. Everywhere people are uneasy, on edge, not sure what will happen next.  Multiply this suffering and anxiety as you think of Syria, Ukraine and Russia, Sudan and Myanmar.  Then layer on top of this the desperation of refugees or those travelling dangerous routes to find a better life. How on earth might it be possible for the next generation to climb out from under the weight of all this distrust, hatred, anger, trauma and distress? Human beings have ‘plastic brains’ that learn behaviour.  As Rodgers and Hammerstein put it in their musical South Pacific: ‘You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear….’  It seems that sin is teaching an awful lot of lessons at the moment that will be difficult to unlearn.

Except the second half of our verse from Exodus speaks of the overwhelming ocean of love and mercy that God wishes to pour out upon us. Love that endures. Love that transforms and never ends. We are not trapped by either our own mistakes or that of our forebears, for Christ makes possible a new way of living and invites us to learn new habits and new virtues and to make them our own.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control – as this fruit is shown in our lives may it bring hope to the world.

Alec