DEAR Lord, so far today I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, lost my temper, been nasty, greedy, overbearing, selfish or obnoxious.

I’m really glad I’ve accomplished all these things on my own. But in a few minutes I’m going to have to get out of bed - and from that point on I’m going to need all the help I can get from you. Amen.

Some days, when the news is a string of one desperate situation after another, I wonder if things can ever be different in the world. One of the things that attracts me to Jesus of Nazareth is his inspiring vision of a changed world. The ‘kingdom of God’ was the phrase that he used to describe it.

It was as good; it was like finding a hoard of treasure in a field. He taught his followers to pray for it and to live it out because the way this kingdom would come was through people seeking his help and being changed. Remarkably, that is what happened, and it still does. There is hope.

About 900 years ago a monk wrote: ‘When I was a young man I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and so I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realise the only thing I can change is myself.

‘Suddenly I realise that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could have changed the world.’

  • Richard Snow, Kirkby Lonsdale