If I Could Have But Just One Wish

After church today i found myself in reflective mood. I put on my rose-tinted specs and my mind turned to family - present and past. In the present i am very happy. My brother Gary and i are off to Weymouth for a week to visit our dad and it'll be great. However, i have other brothers too - Mike, Kev and Shaun - and a sister, June. We have all lost touch for various reasons and i haven't a clue how to contact them, or even where three of them are living. I can't help feeling less than whole for this sorry state of affairs and yet i know it is a common theme nowadays.
I love them all very much and yet i wonder how much love i showed to let things get this way.
I often think if i could have one wish i would put the clock back, learn from my mistakes and maintain the status quo within the family. And then i think again. Perhaps if i had two wishes this might be the second of them but surely i have a duty to see the bigger picture?

I do not like the way the world is going. Sodom and Gomorrah are our neighbours and the pale rider is running amok across our towns and cities. Richard Dawkins thinks we Christians are deluded for our belief in God, and indeed would it be any wonder that we were deluded given that a faith in these uncertain times might seem very attractive. Worst-case scenario - harmless delusion - best-case scenario - salvation!

I read in the Telegraph this morning that life-long atheist Terry Pratchett is now certain there is a creator - a God. Of course the cynical will believe that Terry's mind has gone into delusional mode due to his early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and yet i have often found that the staunchest of atheists (and believe me Terry was staunch) are far closer to God than one might imagine. I am mindful of a phrase i heard a couple of years ago from Peter Nodding, a pastor at the Purley Baptist Church. "I remember the day very well when i decided i wanted to be good". You see quite often that is all it takes to spark off a wondrous journey - and after all, isn't this what we would all want regardless of race, colour or creed. I see Christianity as a way of keeping on the right road because without a structure human beings find it impossible to be even remotely good.

I have just penned a simple poem to reflect what i would wish for - it is a huge wish but i know it is already granted to some

If I could have but just one wish
I’d try to make it un-sel-fish
Though humans have propensity
To lie and cheat, I’d guarantee
To close my eyes and clear my mind
And wish for God to save mankind

There are other things I’d want for me
The closeness of a family
To right the wrongs of youth misspent
At least my sins I can repent
If I had never lost my temper
The pain I felt would I remember

To hear my mother’s loving voice
To always make the righteous choice
Perhaps to be a little braver
And not to let my values waver
My trials and tribulations spent
The Holy Spirit Heaven sent

If I could have but just one wish
I’d try to make it un-sel-fish