If one member...

When one part of the body is wounded, the whole body feels the pain ~ from the Provincials of Europe's statement of solidarity for Ukraine. 

I am British by birth; but like so many people across the globe I have become Ukrainian in spirit. We are one with you. We are one with you in faith, one with you in prayer, one with you in grief, and one with you in hope. ~ Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark preaching at the Ukrainian Cathedral. 

The other day, as I returned home from the dentist, I noticed sandy splashes on the car and bin tops, and grains of sand within ochre-tinged raindrops. This, I discovered, was due to a dust cloud from the Sahara Desert, blowing in via Spain, where it had turned skies a bright, virulent orange. The Sahara is around 2,000 miles away, across land masses, time zones and seas: and yet there are streams and winds connecting us, and now, little particles of the desert splattered across my windows, and embedded in the brickwork.

I had gone to the dentist because of an injury to my wrist. Yes; that's correct - a small wrist injury has meant trips to the dentist. Last summer I fractured a bone in my left (dominant) wrist: for the next few months I had to rely on my right hand - which had never wielded a toothbrush, fork or comb in its entire life. I thought it had done a good enough job, but when I visited my dentist in November she saw a noticeable difference. There's been some improvement since my left hand returned to duty, though it's still not back to full strength and flexibility. So... I injure my wrist, and my teeth suffer.

Everything - and everyone - is connected. The proverbial butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon, and Europe is deluged by torrential rain. Events in one part of the world can bring down governments, create upheavals and force up prices in another; decisions made here can impact eco-systems thousands of miles away. And Putin's invasion of Ukraine affects us all - at the personal, heart-rent, grieving, hoping, praying level, as well as politically and economically.

When one part of the body is wounded, the whole body feels the pain. St Paul said this first, writing to the Corinthians: If one member suffers, all suffer together with it (1 Cor 12.26)... and then he went on to add: if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.

Soon after my return from the dentist I spotted some welcome news in my Twitter feed: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori had been released, and were coming home! Hallelujah! It was an unremittingly leaden, grey day, the rain falling incessantly for several hours... but with this news, it was as if the sun had burst out and the sky was filled with rainbows! I shared it via WhatsApp with team-mates, who responded with their own delight and relief - as have people across the country.

Collectively, we are one in grief and anguish and anger, suffering with those who suffer... but for a few days, at least, we can rejoice, and feel hope. When one part of the body is restored, we are all restored with it, individually and together.