human spirit...

LAST week I went to a special service in Manchester Cathedral to celebrate the rebuilding of the heart of the city after the IRA bomb of 1996. It was a wonderful occasion.

The work of the emergency services were praised for the effective evacuation of the city and for work in the immediate aftermath.

It was also celebration of the work of those who pulled together so well to rebuild what was destroyed. Architects, designers, contractors, private enterprise, public services -- all were essential for the new building.

Most people agree that the new city centre of Manchester is now far more impressive than it has ever been. In a sense, out of the tragedy of the bomb has come something more splendid. As so often happens, it is in adversity that people pull together best, and it is in tragic circumstances that the human spirit rises to greater heights.

We know this in our personal lives. Sometimes we have to face very difficult times. But it is often in having to face hard things that we grow spiritually and find greater resources than we ever knew we had.

But, as I was thinking about this during the service in the cathedral, I also had to admit that this is not always the case.

Sometimes when we face difficulties, we go under. Instead of rising above our problems, we sink under the strain. The tragedy of life is that, sometimes, we do not rise from the ashes.

This is why I have great compassion for those who are not able to find the strength to go on in adversity. It seems to me that it was people such as this that Jesus had in mind when he spoke of the poor in spirit.

Some human beings have great spiritual resources that they can draw on in a crisis. Some do not have such spiritual strength. What we need to remember is that those who are poor in spirit have a special place in the affection of God.

Our natural tendency is to praise those who rise above adversity, but to despise those who fail. But Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Michael Williams

Vicar of Bolton Parish Church.