Скачать или смотреть A falling tower and a fruitless tree: a reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent

It's sad, but true
Perhaps it’s human nature
But it’s often when disaster strikes
that people are most receptive to God
and to each other
The God who calls us to live in harmony
with one another
and with God
is the One to whom we turn
in the most troubling of circumstances
A trigger warning…
The awful story in Luke’s gospel
of the tower at Siloam collapsing
killing eighteen people has dreadful modern-day associations
They were not to blame
It was a tragedy
Like earthquakes destroying tower blocks
No one’s fault
But bombs? Missile strikes?
causing the collapse of buildings, communities, cities?
Where is God in those places?
Where was God at Grenfell
when the fire raged for sixty hours
and seventy-two people died and many others injured?
Each life so precious
Where?
So many at fault
So much injustice
and lives torn apart
But…but
That fig tree that Jesus then spoke of
Fruitless
Barren
In time and with care
and love and patience
was nourished
bore fruit and grew
A parable of God’s grace
and an invitation for us
to bear fruit
to do good
to fight injustice
to love
and create a better world

Words and Music © Darren Garfield 2025
Based on Luke 13: 1-9