Every one matters

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?" Luke 15.4

What happened to Nicola Bulley is both mystifying and heart-breaking. The desperate search continues and those close to Nicola will not rest until they find her - alive or dead. That is what we do for our own nearest and dearest.

Multiply that by the number still missing after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and you gain an idea of the scale of the anguish which has gripped those nations and is evoking such sympathy around the world. One positive aspect of the crisis is how compassion is triumphing over the violence of war and the attrition of sanctions.

So why does it require tragedy to bring out the best in us? Perhaps we should flip the question on its head and turn it into a resolution: to reframe our behaviour among those we know and those we don't, so that we express our love, concern and respect for them - as fellow human beings, made in the image of God.