Martin Tidy

ISAIAH 42:3

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not put out”

As a rare churchgoer, with a faith clinging on by its fingertips in the face of the scale of human suffering and what science increasingly tells us about how we and the universe are made, this verse remains a profound encouragement to me. It tells me that God, as demonstrated in the Spirit-filled life and example of his Servant, shows infinite mercy towards those whose spirit has been left bruised and smouldering by life’s twists and turns. The image of Jesus sustaining in being things which would be regarded as next to useless and only worth discarding by the standards of our society particularly speaks to me at this time of unemployment in my own life, when I have been labelled “redundant”. The picture conjured up in this verse, that of God’s grace towards the vulnerable, is for me the heart of the Gospel. Grace being the undeserved favour of God not earned by anything we can do. Remembering that is a constant struggle, particularly when my faith seems so fragile and impotent. But, as Saint Bono of Dublin himself wrote, “Blessing’s not just for the ones who kneel...luckily”.

The quote above is taken from the song "City of Blinding Lights" and can be viewed by clicking on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd01FObU3Q4 the line comes right at the end of the song.