War Cry 18 September 2021

Bible-based garden blossoms at Chelsea Flower Show

WAR CRY

18 September 2021 50p

Better days ahead?

Couple tries to rebuild their lives after suffering loss in new drama

‘Experiment with Christianity changed me’

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.

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 7543

THIS year, many people’s gardens have not looked as impressive as they did in 2020. Lockdown restrictions last year resulted in more time being spent weeding and cultivating domestic gardens – after all, there was very little else that people could do. Now that the country is back ‘open’ again, lawns and weeds have been allowed to thrive as events beyond our own backyards beckon us out.

One such event encouraging many to put mowing the lawn on hold for another week is the Chelsea Flower Show, which starts on Tuesday (21 September). More than two dozen separate show gardens can be visited this year and among them is the Bible Society’s Psalm 23 Garden.

In this week’s War Cry we speak with the garden’s designer, Sarah Eberle. ‘Psalm 23 is pretty much a parable for life,’ she says as she explains why her garden is based on a song found in the Bible. ‘It’s about the journeys you go through: some are pleasant and some are unpleasant. The destination you reach is one where you are at peace.’

Sarah is right – the psalm includes references to lying down in green pastures as well as walking through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’.

Somebody whose life’s journey has included both pleasant and challenging times is Paul Atherton. In this week’s issue he describes how his experiences of renal failure resulted in him needing a kidney transplant.

‘It was a real test of my faith,’ he says. But, as he looks back on the time that he was ill before receiving his new kidney, he adds: ‘I know that God has helped me. Having faith in him means I am never on my own.’

Being a Christian does not mean that we go through life without facing challenges. But it does mean that we face those challenges with God alongside ad the War C e re us, helping us to flourish whatever our ry v ’ u circumstances may be.

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Tel: 0845 634 0101 Helpline: 020 7367 4888 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 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 Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, on sustainably sourced paper

INFO Your local Salvation Army centre

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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

From the editor’s desk

When yo

What is The Salvation Army?

CONTENTS 8

FEATURES

3

Birdwatching

New film The Starling is released

5

In tune with nature

Garden based on biblical song at

Chelsea Flower Show

8

An act of genuine generosity

How organ donation changes lives

10 Switching karma for Christianity

10

The Hindu man who found Jesus

REGULARS

4

War Cry World

12 Team Talk 13 Keys of the Kingdom

15

14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: KAREN BALLARD/NETFLIX © 2021

COURTESY OF NETFLIX HOPPER STONE/NETFLIX © 2021

Wish upon a starling Bird helps bereaved mother navigate grief Film preview by Emily Bright

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Lilly turns to vet Larry for help

HILE painting their baby daughter’s room, Lilly (Melissa McCarthy) and her husband Jack (Chris O’Dowd) are dreaming about her future and what she could become in The Starling, which will be released on Netflix on Friday (24 September). Flash forward into the future, and Lilly is staring disconsolately at the baby products in the supermarket in which she works.

Tragically, her baby, Katie, has died.

Lilly drives an hour to a mental health institute each week, where Jack has admitted himself after falling into a depression following Katie’s death. As Jack increasingly withdraws from the world, Lilly desperately fights for their marriage.

The counsellor recommends that Lilly visits a former mental health professional, Dr Larry Fine (Kevin Kline), who is now a qualified vet. Bemused by Lilly turning up at his surgery without a pet, he tells her to find help elsewhere.

As a result, Lilly throws herself into gardening to distract from her grief. But

as she does so, she is attacked by a dive-bombing starling, which is protecting its nest. Bruised, she returns sheepishly to Larry to explain the animal’s antics.

They continue to meet with the subtext of discussing the starling, but Larry gradually coaxes Lilly to open up about her grief and the difficulties of her marriage.

As she continues to battle against the attacks of her feathered foe, she also seeks to overcome the biggest challenges of her life. Over time, she develops an affection for the bird, realising that, like her, it is only trying to protect and save its family from harm.

Gradually, she pieces together her life in order to forge her future.

‘Releasing The Starling now feels right,’ says Melissa McCarthy. ‘Not because it deals with tough subjects, but because it shows you that we can come through it, probably not in the way you expected – but that there is a path.’

For all of us, the past year and a half has not gone as expected. Many have

Lilly throws herself into gardening

experienced bereavement, financial pressures or social isolation. It can be difficult to see a way ahead when life feels bleak. While some of us may turn to our hobbies or old habits as sources of comfort, we can still feel a sense of emptiness and sorrow.

One Bible writer called David, whose son died during his lifetime, wrote of how God is his refuge and strength in times of trouble.

David’s life was far from easy. But he knew that by relying on God in his darkest times, he would find a way ahead. He is credited with writing: ‘You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore’ (Psalm 16:11 English Standard Version).

The joy that he was speaking of was not a fleeting sense of happiness, but rather a deeper joy in knowing he was loved by a God who would carry him through, come what may.

If we reach out to God, we too can receive support from him to sustain us through whatever pain we may face.

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Strawberry Field site praised for ‘care and inclusion’ THE visitor centre and training facility at Strawberry Field, the Salvation Army site in Liverpool that inspired the Beatles hit, has been named as a winner of a regional award for the northwest of England by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).

The former children’s home and its grounds, where John Lennon played as a boy, were reopened in 2019 as a complex that offers training to young people who face barriers to employment and as an exhibition telling the story of Strawberry Field, The Salvation Army and the site’s Beatles connection.

Riba praised the development by architects Hoskins for the way in which ‘a narrative about care and inclusion ties together the potentially divergent elements of the brief and embraces the history of the site and its associations with the Beatles’.

Its assessment noted that the development’s ‘openness, connectivity and accessibility for all is evident in the architecture. For young people with disabilities the sense that the centre gives them that “this is for you” is transformative. Training facilities are sheltered but not hidden, with the architecture conveying a real sense of visibility and engagement between trainees and the visiting public.’

Major Kathy Versfeld, mission director at Strawberry Field, says: ‘Transformation

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is what we in The Salvation Army like to think we’re all about, so to hear an expert saying the place is transformative is encouraging. We have seen the transformation. Our young people come in and they are blown away by the idea that there’s this resource for them. It prioritises the way that we support this new generation.

‘And we’ve seen the effect that Strawberry Field has had on visitors who come from the community and farther

afield who agree that it’s a marvellous place to be.’

Strawberry Field is looking at further ways of upgrading its facilities so that they are accessible to everyone. It has recently introduced a tour for people who are visually impaired. To assist people who have a hearing impairment, all video content is now captioned. It also plans to develop tours for people with Alzheimer’s disease and autism.

Quick response to storm disruption THE Salvation Army in the US responded quickly when Hurricane Ida, a category four storm, caused widespread disruption across Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas last month.

Within two days, the church and charity had prepared 140,000 meals and deployed 38 mobile feeding units to support communities that had been hit with high winds, flooded and left without power. Staff and volunteers in each unit were ready to serve food and drinks, distribute essential supplies and offer emotional and spiritual support. Local Salvation Army churches were also on hand to distribute meals and provide additional support to anyone affected by the hurricane.

The meals were prepared at three field kitchens in partnership with Southern Baptist churches, each of which has the capacity to serve more than 15,000 meals a day.

Salvation Army disaster personnel are continuing to collaborate with US federal, state and local emergency management agencies and other partners to evolve response efforts as needed.

Hope blossoms in show garden An ancient biblical song is the inspiration behind an RHS Chelsea Flower Show entry Feature by Emily Bright

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ground on which to plant seeds of faith.

OR many budding enthusiasts, the RHS When Bible Society decided to sponsor its Chelsea Flower Show may bring to mind own RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden, Psalm Monty Don, gardening excellence and the 23 seemed like a natural theme. Due to be famous faces that flock to the event each exhibited at the event in May last year, year. But one thing visitors may not which was cancelled due to Covid-19, expect is to see a garden inspired by the garden can now be seen at this a passage of Scripture. year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show Sponsored by Bible Society, the from 21 to 26 September.

Psalm 23 Garden is exactly that.

Hazel Southam, the garden’s The context of the Psalm is that project manager, explains that the it likens God to a shepherd who psalm was chosen because it’s a leads his people through green ‘beautiful text’ that many people pastures and still waters, providing are familiar with. rest and peace for the soul. The ‘But when you’re familiar with passage goes on to say that even something, sometimes you can stop when we all walk through the ‘valley Haz seeing it,’ she explains to me. of the shadow of death’, such as el Southam ‘And we thought it would be great to bereavement, sickness or pain, there bring it to people in a fresh way. It speaks about is no need to fear, because God is with us.

God being with us in all of life, the ups and downs.

Psalm 23 is perhaps one of the most well-known It’s become particularly pertinent for us now, in the passages of the Bible and is often read out at pandemic.’ funerals and weddings. For global organisation Bible Garden designer Sarah Eberle, who has won a Society, which aims to make the Bible available, accessible and understandable in different contexts across the world, the verses provide common Turn to page 6 f 18 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 5

Sarah Eberle

From page 5 number of gold medals at RHS shows, echoes Hazel’s sentiment that the Psalm 23 Garden, which she designed, holds a greater significance a year on.

‘It’s even more relevant after the lockdowns and pandemic,’ she says.

‘People have found the need to get back into nature and there’s been an increased popularity in gardening.’

An RHS report released this year highlighted that 3 million more people began gardening last year, making a total of 30 million gardeners in the UK. Hazel understands why numbers have soared.

‘Gardening is great for you physically, mentally and emotionally,’ she says.

‘As a keen gardener myself, I would also suggest it’s great for you spiritually, because it takes you beyond yourself into things you can’t control.’

After the events of the past year and a half, those working on the Psalm 23 Garden are no strangers to dealing with things beyond their control. But, after three years of planning, the garden will finally have its moment in the sun.

The plot picks up on the visual elements of the psalm, with green pastures and water features to signify the still waters.

Granite boulders – inspired by Sarah’s experience of growing up in Dartmoor – are surrounded by ericas, ferns and wild roses and are framed by four trees.

There will also be dark crevasses and shady places to represent the valley of the shadow of death.

Sarah sums up what the Bible verses mean to her.

‘Psalm 23 is pretty much a parable for life,’ she says. ‘It’s about the journeys you go through: some are pleasant and some are unpleasant. The destination you reach is one where you are at peace.

‘The garden is really about restoration, nurturing and safety. It is like an auspicious place you find while out on a walk, such as where sunlight dapples through a tree canopy, where you can rest and just be.’

Hazel also hopes that visitors to the garden will experience the ‘sense of restoration’ spoken about in the psalm.

She hopes that it will help people to relate to the Bible in a way they understand, and in a way that they’re comfortable with. She adds that the garden is a way that visitors can see the context of the ancient text ‘tangibly, so that they can absorb it slowly, reflect on it and enjoy it’.

In her own life, Hazel has often reflected on the psalm, and found it to be an encouragement.

‘When I don’t know how to pray for somebody, I now pray those verses. I remind myself that they are true for people I love and care about, even if I can’t see the answers to immediate problems or situations they might be in.’

The Psalm 23 Garden is about restoration

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The Rev Sakakini enjoys time in a Psalm 23-inspired community garden Just as the words of the psalm have resonated with people throughout the generations, the garden it inspired is designed to have a legacy that lasts beyond the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The garden will be donated to the Winchester Hospice in Hampshire, where it will bring joy to staff, patients, their families and their friends for many years to come.

In addition, Bible Society hopes that the idea of a Psalm 23 community garden will take root across the UK too, and it plans to give people the tools and inspiration to create their own.

Hazel says: ‘We would really love to see,

Keith Gillings looks after the community garden at St Mary’s Church

in the fullness of time, community gardens around the country inspired by Psalm 23.

‘We will be launching resources at the show that will enable people to do that, drawing on four key elements from Sarah’s garden, which are water, meadow grass, a tree and somewhere to sit.’

Hazel has first-hand experience of the benefits of community gardening.

‘We have a project in the church that I attend,’ she says.

‘It’s been fantastic in drawing people together: those who attend church and those who don’t. Everybody has become one in that place and cares about it, and people have built up relationships through caring about the environment, nature and each other.’

The benefits are manifold.

‘Community gardening brings people together,’ Hazel continues. ‘It breaks down barriers, builds up community and overcomes loneliness. You can create a shared space together where everybody can enjoy themselves and relax. It gives people a means to experience the psalm through getting their hands dirty.’

One such garden inspired by the Bible Society’s initiative is outside of St Mary’s Church in Tadley, near Basingstoke. Its Psalm 23 community garden, created during lockdown last year, has flourished.

Filled with wild flowers, cherry trees and

logs, it has become a focal point for the community.

The Rev Gill Sakakini, the minister at St Mary’s, said on Bible Society’s website that ‘lockdown felt like a cruel blow to our plans’ but continued: ‘It’s given the garden a deeper meaning for the public,’ adding that her ‘hope is that the garden will be a real place where people can connect with the natural world, a place that roots them, a place where they can step outside their normal life and find what God has to offer’.

As my interview with Hazel draws to a close, she expresses her wish that there will be more such gardens springing up around the UK. She says: ‘I hope that in five or ten years’ time in schools, in community gardens, in former wasteland, and in church grounds, there are people who’ve created their own Psalm 23 garden. That could be our legacy.’

Community gardening brings people together

18 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 7

Kidney transplant Ahead of Organ Donation Week, which starts on Monday (20 September), PAUL ATHERTON is thankful for the gift he received from a young donor Interview by Claire Brine

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LIBRARY PICTURE POSED BY MODELS

Paul Atherton

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T 5 am on Friday 8 December 2017, Paul Atherton from Bolton in Lancashire received a phone call that changed his life.

‘It was a nurse from the Manchester Royal Infirmary, telling me that I could be having a kidney transplant later that day,’ says Paul, who first discovered he had renal failure in 2009. ‘An organ had become available and I was asked to be the back-up patient, just in case the person intended for the transplant was found to have an infection and couldn’t have surgery. The nurse told me that I’d hear later that morning if I was needed in hospital.’

By the afternoon, Paul was in the operating theatre, ready to receive his new kidney. The procedure took nine hours.

‘At one point, my oxygen levels dropped so low that the doctors thought they’d lost me,’ he says. ‘But I pulled through and by midnight, my wife, Phillipa, was able to come and see me. I spent the next ten days in intensive care.’

Paul was discharged from hospital just before Christmas.

Though he was still sore from the surgery, he was pleased to feel his strength returning. For years, renal

failure had left him feeling drained.

‘When I was 30, I had a medical assessment, which revealed that I had an abnormality in my kidneys,’ Paul recalls.

‘They were functioning at 70 per cent, so I was told that I’d have to start going for check-ups every six months. Back then, I felt perfectly fine. I had a young family and travelled all over the UK in my job as a joiner.

‘Then one day, during my routine checkup, the doctor told me that my kidney function had dropped to 20 per cent. I was completely taken aback.’

Paul was told that once his kidney function fell to 15 per cent, he’d be ‘going live’ on the donor register, waiting for a suitable kidney match to be found. Doctors also informed him that the average waiting

transformed my life time for a kidney transplant was five to seven years. Although Paul tried to stay positive about the situation, he began to question his Christian faith.

‘I got quite worked up, thinking about what might happen to me if I couldn’t get a transplant,’ he says. ‘It was a real test of my faith. Some Sunday mornings, I said: “God, I can’t go to church when you’re doing this to me.”

But something, deep down, kept me hanging on. My family and friends at The Salvation Army in Preston were so supportive. They kept me going.’

By the end of November 2017, Paul’s kidney function had dropped to 7 per cent.

He was no longer fit to work, having left his job the previous year. Dialysis treatment was scheduled to start after Christmas.

Then came the phone call, offering him a kidney transplant. The sense of relief was huge.

‘After the operation, I felt as though someone had plugged me into an electric charger and my energy was coming back,’

he says. ‘I could take my boys to the park again. I began to feel more like my old self.

I also trained for a new job, becoming a teaching assistant in a secondary school for children with special needs.

‘I wanted to write to my donor’s family to thank them for saving my life. I’d been told that my donor was a 21-year-old female – but that was all I knew. So I asked the hospital if I could make contact.’

For the next three years, Paul kept in touch with his donor’s family by sending letters via the hospital.

The family replied – but rules regarding confidentiality were strict, meaning both parties were limited in information they could share. In December 2020, they were finally allowed to exchange personal contact details.

‘Earlier this year I spoke to Karen – the donor’s mum – on the phone for the first time,’ says Paul. ‘She told me that my donor wasn’t a 21-year-old female, but her 18-year-old son, called Ben. The hospital had given me different information to

It was a real test of my faith

protect Ben’s anonymity.

‘Karen explained that Ben had signed his organ donor card on his 18th birthday because he always wanted to help other people. Sadly, shortly after his birthday, he collapsed at home and slipped into a diabetic coma. He didn’t even know he had diabetes. Days later, he died. Although it was a huge shock, Karen knew she had to honour Ben’s wishes and donate his organs.’

It’s an act of generosity Paul will never forget.

‘Ben saved my life – literally,’ says Paul.

‘If he hadn’t signed his donor card, who knows where I’d be now? I can’t thank him enough.’

Although Paul has many unanswered questions about his own life and Ben’s death, he explains that through all the confusion, his faith in God has remained.

On the most difficult days, it gives him strength.

‘I know that God has helped me,’ he says. ‘Having faith in him means I am never on my own, because there is always someone to talk to.’

Paul and his wife, Phillipa

18 September 2021 • WAR CRY• 9

‘I did a six-month experiment with Christianity’ CHRIS GOSWAMI was brought up as a Hindu, and believed in the principles of karma, but after some friends at university invited him to church, his worldview was challenged Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku Chris Goswami

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HEN Chris was 13 years old, he was arrested for shoplifting. He didn’t need to do it, he says, but he enjoyed the ‘thrill of taking something from the shop and not knowing if you’ve been seen until you open the door’.

Years earlier, aged seven, Chris had begun committing arson with a friend from his working-class neighbourhood in Blackburn – the worst incident involved the pair creeping underneath a butcher’s van to light a fire.

It all came to an end when Chris got caught.

‘It was like hitting a brick wall,’ he tells me. ‘It wasn’t necessarily because I now

Chris with his brother and parents in the Sixties

10 • WAR CRY • 18 September 2021

thought it was wrong. I had known it was wrong, but the reason I stopped on that day was because I saw the damage I’d done to my mother – she was on the floor, weeping almost uncontrollably.’

But what happened to Chris that day fitted in with his worldview: it was right that he was caught and punished.

He had been brought up as a Hindu by his parents who had moved to the UK from India before he was born.

‘I’d been taught that if you work hard, you’ll do well. If you’re good, good will come to you. And if you’re bad, bad will come to you – which was what happened to me in the police station.’

A few years later, however, that idea was challenged.

‘I went to university and got to know some Christians. I thought they were nice people.

They would take me

along to events, trying to convert me, and I remember finding so many holes in their arguments. They struggled, but one thing they did not struggle with was just being great friends.

That’s probably what witnessed to me more than anything.’

Chris explains how one of the biggest hurdles for him to overcome was a concept that Christians call grace – the belief that Jesus took the punishment for all the wrong things people do when he was executed on a cross.

‘It’s profoundly unfair,’ he says.

‘Whatever view of the cross you take, it’s unreasonable. It went right against the grain of my belief at that point. The fact that somebody paid the price for things I’ve done wrong was completely unacceptable. I wanted to be responsible for the things I do wrong.’

One day, Chris shared these thoughts with a student minister who agreed with him.

‘You’re probably right,’ he said to Chris.

‘It’s really unfair and unreasonable, but Jesus has already done it and he did it

I’d been taught that if you’re bad, bad will come to you

Chris in India with his wife and daughters

because he loves you. It’s up to you what you do with that.’

After hearing those words, Chris decided that he would start a six-month experiment with Christianity by attending church and occasionally reading the Bible and praying.

However, his life didn’t change very much until he was baptised.

‘Within a few days of that, I felt an urge to go out and experience life.

‘Looking back, I see it as an awakening

by God. I’d been at university for four years, and was due to study for another two years for my PhD. But I started applying abroad, to various African countries, to take a year out. Then I found an advertisement in a newspaper for a job as a lecturer in India.’

Chris got the position. On arriving, he found himself in a small rural town with limited electricity and no running water and in a college that was still under construction.

‘I felt like I’d made a huge mistake,’ he says. ‘I made friends with some of the other lecturers, and the students were great, but I felt a desperate loneliness in those first weeks. And the only thing that stopped me going back home was my pride.

‘I soon realised that my friends at home were Christians and that I found company and peace in the church. So I thought: I need to find a church.

‘There was no church nearby. There were Hindu and Jain temples coming out

of your ears. I recognised some of the Hindu gods, but that didn’t give me any comfort.’

Finally, Chris was put in touch with a church that was 30 miles away from his town.

‘They were so accommodating. They told me that whenever I came, I should stay for the day. I learnt a lot about Scripture and I suddenly had a voracious appetite for the Bible. I would read for one or two hours in the morning. It was a real transformation from when I’d read the Bible for 10 seconds!

‘It was a wonderful year. I grew up, came to know who God was, and felt his presence.’

Today, Chris is a part-time church minister. He still thinks that grace is ‘profoundly unfair’. He says, ‘I understand sometimes why people say it’s too good to be true. But I think the part of the equation I was missing when I was looking at the cross and thinking it was unfair was that my response should have been gratitude and to want to give to others what God has given to me.’

l Chris writes about faith on his award-winning blog 7minutes.net

18 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 11

Prayerlink The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their ­circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon­don SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

j

Becoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

‘ talk’ Team talk TEAM TALK What is love?

Claire Brine gives her take on an article catching the attention of War Cry reporters

‘PARENTS do everyone a disservice if they pretend children are a free gift to the world,’ wrote Caitlin Moran in The Times. As the author and mother reflected on her own experiences of parenting, I found myself nodding along when she made the point that, yes, raising children can be joyful, but it can also be hugely ‘costly’.

Being a mum, Caitlin explained, should be about love. And to express a mother’s love often ‘requires time and pain’.

She wrote: ‘Love will require putting your life on hold while you sit with sadness, fear and heartbreak – along with homework and shoe-tying and bath times – week after week, year after year. Loving a child is the big, immovable fact of your life – everything else comes after, including yourself… You are never anywhere but “available”.’

While there are sacrifices to be made in expressing such love, Caitlin concluded that ‘the best kind of love, the kind of love we humans love the most, is the idea of a love that lasts for ever’.

Reading Caitlin’s words strikes a chord with me. I, too, am a mum – and I try to show my daughter love every time I feed her, wipe away her tears and bounce with her on the trampoline. Love is also what I receive from my own mum, to this day, every time she listens to me and teaches me how to be a better parent.

But Caitlin’s description of the hardiness of love also reminds me of a passage found in 1 Corinthians 13 in the Bible. It’s not about a mother’s love, particularly, but paints a picture of the love of God. It says: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’

Not everyone has received earthly love from their parents and many people in the world still yearn to find a ‘love that lasts for ever’ (as Caitlin puts it). But whatever their experiences, thousands of people have found everlasting love in a relationship with God. The fact that he is never anywhere but available means his is the best kind of love out there.

There are sacrifices in love

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

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Basic reading about Christianity Information about The Salvation Army

Looking for help?

Contact details of a Salvation Army minister Name Address Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

Or email your details and request to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk 12 • WAR CRY • 18 September 2021

Q

QUICK QUIZ 1

What is the square root of 49?

2

3

Which Countryfile TV presenter recently published a memoir entitled The Right Sort of Girl?

A 4

5

6

Who had a No 1 hit in 1985 with the song ‘Saving All My Love for You’?

Clarendon, Mayfair and Sierra are names of photo filters used on which social media platform?

What doll did American businesswoman Ruth Handler create in 1959?

Actor Bradley Walsh presents which British game show?

ANSWERS

1. Seven. 2. Anita Rani. 3. Whitney Houston.

4. Instagram. 5. Barbie. 6. The Chase.

keys of the kingdom UNLOCK THE WHOLE MYSTERY Delve deeper into Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven in the latest release from Shield Books, as featured in the occasional War Cry series.

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In this occasional series, Nigel Bovey unlocks the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus speaks to his disciples about in Matthew’s Gospel

Growth potential I

N his teachings, Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that grows into a tree so big that birds can perch in the branches (Matthew 13:31 and 32). Bible commentators have long debated the identity of the particular genus that fits the characteristics mentioned by Jesus.

Throughout the New Testament, the English ‘mustard seed’ is a translation of the Greek sinapi. Although sinapsis arvensis and sinapsis alba are the respective botanical names for wild and white mustard, neither grows to tree height. The genus that does is black mustard, which can grow up to eight feet tall.

In one sense, the mustard type is unimportant. The spiritual truth Jesus conveys is not dependent on the brand of mustard. On the other hand, the credibility of Jesus’ spiritual point does depend upon the accuracy of his everyday facts. (Today, it is known that some orchid seeds are – at less than 1mm – smaller than those of mustard. This, though, need not negate his reference to ‘the smallest of all your seeds’ as that would have been the commonly held view of the people at the time.)

Unlike with the parable of the sower (see Matthew 13:1–23), Jesus does not explain what he means. Rather, he leaves his listeners to work out why the Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed.

Perhaps he has two mustard characteristics in mind – speed and scale.

Mustard grows quickly and since the time of Jesus, as people have committed themselves to him, the Kingdom of Heaven has grown from a handful of disciples to billions of believers worldwide.

A mustard seed is small. There is a big difference in scale between a speck of a seed and a tree large enough to accommodate wildlife.

The other time Jesus mentions a mustard seed, he also does so to emphasise scale: ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move’ (Matthew 17:20 New International Version).

Those who invest their life in the Kingdom of Heaven will gain disproportionally more than they give.

He has two mustard characteristics in mind

18 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

PUZZLES Quick CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Little (5) 4. Eros (5) 8. Exclamation of disgust (3) 9. Basis for calculation (5) 10. Thrown (5) 11. Prohibit (3) 12. Main artery (5) 13. Article of dress (7) 16. Flask (6) 19. Wily (6) 23. Staying power (7) 26. Wither (5) 28. Guided (3) 29. Facial hair (5) 30. Entrance room (5) 31. Reverence (3) 32. Blended (5) 33. Same again (5)

DOWN 2. Shrine (5) 3. Lower back pain (7) 4. Alter (6) 5. Puzzling problem (5) 6. Drench (5) 7. Combat (5) 9. Companion of Snow White (5)

14. Encountered (3) 15. Snare (3) 17. Allow (3) 18. Jewel (3) 20. Burdened (7) 21. Void (5)

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

2

3 4

1 8 1 3 2 1 9 6 5 3 2 1 5 6 9 5 2 4 7 8 2 7 7 6 4 5 6

WORDSEARCH

22. Story song (6) 23. Sword (5) 24. Scare (5) 25. Forefinger (5) 27. Elliptical path (5)

2 8 5 7 1 3 6 9 4 6 9 3 4 5 2 1 8 7 Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find 1 albums 7 these 4 1No 9 8 6in the 3 1970s 5 2 1 9 8 6E U L 7 2B Z 3T 5 W D H O D 4 I U O Y R O F I J E L Q Y S E 3 2 L 7 F P O R T R A 1 4 5 8 I 6 T 9 M M A C H I N E H E A D E U A Z N E 5 6 8 3 2 9 4 7 1 D Q A B V Z S K G Q R T H R Y J Q N Z X L G P T F R P Z A Q E W A A Z Y 8 5 2 6 9 1 7 4 3 N C A R I B O U B K L W R V D Q K T 9 7 6 2 3 4 5 1 8 Y N D W Z N F J H Q L A E A E S Q E H N D Q A Q E K P 1 3 4 Z 5E K W G H Q S H 7 8 9 2 6

M O HONEYC B Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

F V I Y Z N I B L R L V U A T M D T W D N J O V K V K Z L C O Q E Z R N P L S Q U H L W M Q I G Y U B O Z O S S A P T S U M S G N I H T L L A G O H N V A O U F X O E S S L L E K O G G E U I E Q X Z Q S E I C T T X F T P G B A R C I N J V N W X A I C D B R M D H I R K H R A V P H H T D K N V J R U O U A A K K A L M T B D B V C D Q H F U H N L E V V L W E S C

1. Hair over forehead 2. Stick of coloured wax 3. Out of sight 4. Short oar 5. Afternoon nap 6. Simultaneous action

ANSWERS 2 6 7 4 3 5 8 9 1

8 9 4 1 2 6 5 7 3

5 3 1 9 7 8 2 6 4

7 4 9 8 1 3 6 2 5

1 5 8 6 4 2 9 3 7

3 2 6 7 5 9 1 4 8

6 1 3 2 8 4 7 5 9

5 8 2 7 6

9 8 5 3 6 7 4 1 2

4 7 2 5 9 1 3 8 6 6

4 7

HONEYCOMB 1. Fringe. 2. Crayon. 3. Hidden. 4. Paddle. 5. Siesta. 6. Unison.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Small. 4. Cupid. 8. Ugh. 9. Datum. 10. Slung.

11. Ban. 12. Aorta. 13. Garment. 16. Flagon. 19. Astute.

23. Stamina. 26. Droop. 28. Led. 29. Beard. 30. Lobby. 31. Awe. 32. Mixed. 33. Ditto.

DOWN: 2. Altar. 3. Lumbago. 4. Change. 5. Poser. 6. Douse.

7. Fight. 9. Dwarf. 14. Met. 15. Net. 17. Let. 18. Gem. 20. Saddled.

21. Empty. 22. Ballad. 23. Sabre. 24. Alarm. 25. Index. 27. Orbit.

14 • WAR CRY • 18 September 2021

SUDOKU

ALADDIN SANE ALL THINGS MUST PASS ARRIVAL BLUE FOR YOU CARIBOU FOG ON THE TYNE HARVEST HORIZON

IMAGINE LET IT BE MACHINE HEAD PARALLEL LINES ROLLIN’ SELF PORTRAIT THAT’LL BE THE DAY WISH YOU WERE HERE

Vegetable chow mein Ingredients 200g packet dry egg noodles 3tsp rapeseed oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 red pepper, sliced 125g shiitake mushrooms, sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed Chilli flakes (optional) 100g baby corn, halved 3 spring onions, sliced in 2cm pieces 1tsp Chinese five-spice powder 90g baby pak choi, separate leaves leaving heart intact

Method Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain in a colander and rinse in cold water, then set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the onion and red pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes (if using).

Stir-fry for another minute. Add the baby corn, spring onions, five-spice powder and pak choi and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes.

Mix in the tomato and noodles and stir well for 1-2 minutes until the noodles are hot. Add in the beansprouts and soy sauce, mix well and cook for another minute before serving.

SERVES

1 fresh tomato, finely chopped

4

120g beansprouts 2tsp reduced-salt soy sauce

Salad niçoise Ingredients 250g new potatoes, cut into large chunks 100g fine beans, cooked 1 egg, quartered 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges 9 pitted black olives 3 anchovy fillets, halved lengthways 1 lemon, grated rind and juice 2tsp olive oil 150g fresh tuna Freshly ground black pepper

Method Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes until just tender, then refresh in cold water to cool.

In a bowl, toss together the potatoes, beans, egg, tomatoes, olives and anchovy fillets. Drizzle over the lemon rind and juice, stir and set aside for 10 minutes.

Heat a frying or griddle pan until hot, rub the oil over the tuna and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Allow to cool for a few minutes, then cut into thick slices.

Arrange the salad from the bowl onto a platter, season and top with the tuna.

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the Diabetes UK website diabetes.org.uk

SERVES

3

18 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

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