From the editor’s desk
What is The Salvation Army? The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.
THE social distancing, shielding and imposed isolations introduced to help counter the spread of Covid-19 reminded many people that humans need meaningful contact and interaction with others. As the saying goes, no man (or woman) is an island. And in this week’s War Cry, author Philip Yancey explains the circumstances in which those words were written by John Donne. The 17th-century clergyman was ill at a time when waves of people in London were dying of the plague, and John was fearful that he too had contracted the dreaded and deadly disease. In the end, it transpired that Donne hadn’t, but as he waited to see whether he would die, he wrote about his feelings of misery and fear about the future. Philip Yancey returned to these writings as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, and he discovered that what helped John Donne could also help with the crisis being faced 400 years later. ‘He is honest,’ Philip says. ‘He comes to the conclusion that we’re all going to fear something, so it’s best to fear just one thing – and he decides that he is going to fear God, and by “fear” he really means “trust”.’ Many Christians have drawn strength from trusting in God, even in the darkest of times, including Sarah Clarkson, who speaks to us this week about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sarah describes OCD as a ‘disease of fear’ but says that her Christian faith has helped her. ‘I’ve discovered, in the darkest points of my pain and isolation, that God is with me,’ she tells us. ‘He is at work in creation to create beauty out of difficulty, to give us compassion and to break into our suffering and to restore hope.’ Fear and isolation are never easy to deal ad the War C with. But God offers everyone his presence e re ry v ’ u and his hope to help in even the most difficult of times.
What is the War Cry? The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
WAR CRY Issue No 7581
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Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN
CONTENTS
Tel: 0845 634 0101 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Mal Davies
FEATURES
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Write on Day encourages creativity
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We still love island metaphor Why a 17th-century phrase still applies today
INFO
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‘I was confused, hurt and angry’ Living with OCD
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2 • WAR CRY • 18 June 2022
Dino saw us A return to Jurassic World
Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper
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Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight
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War Cry World
12 Team Talk 13 Now, There’s a Thought! 14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS/AMBLIN ENTERTAINMENT