News

“I have bad news and good news. Which do you want to hear first?” This is a premise of some jokes and also of some serious diagnoses. No one wants to hear bad news, while we all love good news. Prophets of God and Jesus Christ Himself delivered both bad news and good news.

A much-beloved Protestant hymn asserts, “This Is My Father’s World.” The song has a beautiful melody, and the sentiment is tempting. Yet, the reality of the matter—as so pointedly shown by the many sudden and destructive events caused by natural disasters—is that our world today is not our Father’s world.

Seeing a tattered American flag displayed on the home next door after a windstorm, my aged father-in-law—a Colonel retired from the United States Air Force—set out to offer his neighbor a replacement for the damaged flag. I accompanied him as we met the neighbor, a short, portly man with white hair and a big smile. He had not realized that his flag was in tatters, and he graciously accepted the new flag as it was offered.

“She is a small woman with a globally familiar face, a hundred carat smile … a thousand year history at her back… She is wry and knowing, but she feels a calling… She has been shrewd, kind and wise.”

As news of “Maggie” Thatcher’s death hit the headlines, tributes began pouring in from around the UK and right across the world—from friends and foes alike. For, like her or loathe her, you could never ignore her—her leadership, her iron will and indomitable spirit, her total conviction and self-belief, and the remarkable impact that she made on her country and upon the world stage that she dominated. Hers is a truly remarkable legacy that will be discussed and debated for months and years to come. It will take books to do justice to all she accomplished.