I recently went to a funeral - when the loss of someone dear must be faced, hard though it is. This lady was well loved - warm, cheerful, devoted to family and faith - and unselfish in the way she worked to help others.
We now have a new government. It faces a cheerless economic outlook but we hope that there will be a new beginning in values and standards among all those elected - with many new faces. We felt let down by some in the last Parliament in positions
of authority. It is so easy to give in to greed and vanity and set yourself above those you are there to serve. That is why it is often amongst the poorest that real generosity of spirit is found.
So a fresh start - a new attitude, a new determination to rethink principles and priorities: perhaps we shall even have a new parliamentary Reform Act, almost 180 years on. We need an end to "Do as I say but not as I do", but this must start with ourselves.
Words from the Bible can help, whether we have faith or not: "to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly" from the prophet Micah can be a starting point for each of us - or the words of the Apostle Paul:
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is excellence and anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard…."
That is how the lady lived whose funeral I attended - and she enriched the lives of all who knew her.
Constance Gilbey, Flanshaw United Reformed Church
Churches Together are at www.wdco.org/site/Churches-Together-in-Wakefield
Pilgrim's Progress is edited by Nick Shields
