Readings:
Deuteronomy 34. 1-12; Psalm 90. 1-6, 13-17; 1 Thessalonians 2.1-8; Matthew 22. 34-46

Collect:
Merciful God, teach us to be faithful in change and uncertainty,
that trusting in your word and obeying your will
we may enter the unfailing joy of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Reflection:
On the 21 October 1966, the people of a small Welsh mining community, Aberfan, were waking for a new day. Adults setting out for work, children packing their things and going to school. It was a normal day, just like any other. At 9.15, the children were in class and registers were being taken.

Then, suddenly, a roar from the hills, as one of the coal tips collapsed, and the school and the houses around it were smothered in black coal, sludge, mud and water. The response of the town was immediate. the people of the town ran to the school and began scrabbling at the heaps of coal waste mud and water with whatever they had, garden tools, bare hands, to try and reach the children beneath.

144 people lost their lives, 116 of which were children.

In the devastating loss of Aberfan, and the subsequent failure of justice that was suffered by the community from this manmade disaster, with failures at all levels to support the traumatised people, is deeply shocking and has left a deep scar on our national life. It also gives us troubling questions. Yesterday, during our discipleship course, we questioned where was God at Aberfan, and indeed its aftermath. It can be very hard to see God in the midst of such profound tragedy. But God of course was there.

God was in the bravery of the teachers who tried to shield the children from the slurry as it crushed the school with no thought for their own safety.

God was in the courage of the towns people who ran to save those who had been swamped by the sludge and the coal from the tip.

God was in the compassion of those who came to the town to support the people of Aberfan in their tragedy.

God was in the generosity who gave to the disaster fund for the families.

God was in the determination and dedication of those who fought injustice after injustice that was delivered to the people of Aberfan, and who still do.

The words of Psalm 90 in our readings this week are deeply profound and poignant to the 60th anniversary of this devastating tragedy. It is a psalm, which is, unusually, attributed to Moses, that great biblical figure who amongst many things, was known for his pleadings to God for mercy for the Israelite people. And here we have a Psalm where Moses is asking God to show his graciousness and his mercy. In the funeral service, during the committal, we say ‘that our days are like the grass, we flourish like a flower in the field; when the wind goes over it, it is gone, and it’s place will know it no more’ directly taken from the psalm, but then there is the message of hope come, ‘the merciful goodness of the lord endures for ever and ever’.

And we know that God’s mercy is real, and enduring. It is shown in the life of Jesus, who frees the people from the manipulations of the complexities of the law which the religious leaders used to exploit and to affirm their social position and power. Cutting through with those two simple commandments, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. And to love our neighbours as ourselves.

At Aberfan, it was in the disobedience to the law that Jesus taught, in not loving, not showing mercy compassion and care to our neighbour by those in power that the tragedy was caused. But it was in the obedience to Jesus, in loving our neighbours as ourselves, in those who stepped forward to shielded and rescued without a thought for their own protection, who gave their time skills, money and love to support that extraordinary community is where the light, love and mercy of God was shown to those who needed it the most, in their most desperate hour.

Revd Kath Long