Today we remember the plight of children everywhere. In the nativity stories from Matthew's Gospel, we learn of the evil that those with power can do to our little ones. King Herod, alerted to the fact that their may be a rival king being born, orders the slaughter of all boys under the age of two around the area of Bethlehem. It is a scene that reminds us of a similar fate for Jewish children at the time of Moses' birth. Both Moses and Jesus would change the course of history, to be liberators for their people, and those with power did everything in their power to try and stop them.
And so to today, how many potential leaders and great liberators are killed at birth through violence, war and poverty? My book coming out in February asks this question; What does it mean to be church in a world where 30,000 children die needlessly of preventable poverty and disease each day? What does it mean to be human while we allow such suffering to go unchallenged?
Let us pledge in this coming new year to protect the holy innocents. Join in the work of the Childrens Society www.childrenssociety.org.uk or Jubilee Action www.jubileeaction.co.uk or Save the Children www.savethechildren.org.uk or support the work of Christian Aid or Oxfam.
Now, I'm off to play with my kids - the most precious things on this earth.
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