Caught In A Moment (part 4): Advent reflection.. one solitary life

The Chinese army rolled into Tiananmen Square to brutally put down a pro-democracy rally. The world watched as one man stepped out in front of the tanks. He tries to persuade his comrades not to obey their orders. He is brushed aside and Tiananmen Square turns into a bloodbath. Despite his defeat the man inspires many to think that just maybe one person can make a difference. The coming Of Christ at Christmas also shows how one persob can make a difference and ibspires us to stand up and do the same.



The anonymous poem ‘One Solitary Life’ reflects on the impact Jesus life had.

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenters shop until He was thirty.

Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He

never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big

city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never

did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends

ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went

through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He

had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave

through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centrepiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the

navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that

ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as

powerfully as has that ONE SOLITARY LIFE!

Like the man facing the tanks at Tiananmen Square it encourages us that we can make a difference for good. As a Christian I believe that Jesus presence with us gives all who believe the strength to do this.