Before yesterday I didn’t know Paul Bennet. Unaware of the quiet, effective ministry of a man determined to push the church into the community, and to be himself a sign of love as availability and vulnerability. For reasons yet unknown, he was stabbed to death.
Explanations and recriminations don’t help much – from his wife who held him as he died, to his chidren who mourn his death and the manner of it, to his congregation who clearly loved him, and from the small town of Trecynon in South Wales, to all of us who now hear what happened, the ripples extend outward. Acts of violence do that – their impact is not contained, the consequences ripple out, and the killing of a human being diminishes us all.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Forgive our foolish ways.
Reclothe us in our rightful mind
In purer love thy service find
In deeper reverence praise.
Lord have mercy!
Christ have mercy!
Lord have mercy!
Leave a Reply