He would ring every member of the congregation on the appropriate day to wish them a happy birthday. He continued to do so even after his Evangelical church was sundered by theological disagreement. One day, he rang everyone to announce that he had decided to be baptised, and invited them to the ceremony. Trauma, depression, and anxiety are the background to more than one third of the Psalter, in which darkness and anguish is vented before God. Compassion — etymologically, “suffering with” — proves to be a two-way process.

Source: The Times May 16, 2024 23:17 UTC