Impact0218

People Around You
YOUR NEIGHBOUR NEEDS
couldn’t as individuals. When we pool
our strength and share the work and
responsibility, we can welcome many
people, even those in deep distress, and
perhaps help them fi nd self-confi dence
and inner healing.”
Or to put it another way to quote John
Donne – ‘no man is an island’ – we all
need each other even if we choose not
recognise it.
Some people withdraw from society but
others fi nd themselves isolated through
no fault of their own. It is to those people
that our thoughts must turn. Often they
are the weakest and least self-suffi cient
in our society and as such need our
loving attention. It is true that how we
treat the vulnerable in our society is a
refl ection of the health of our society as
a whole. If as a society we treat those
who are especially vulnerable – the very
young, the elderly, those living on the
margins and those who are struggling
with life – with love and care then we will
have a better society in which to live.
There was a time when mothers were
the kingpin of the community. They
knew whose husband had been made
redundant and who would welcome a
food parcel. They knew who had been in
hospital and who would value a hot meal
being taken round. They would know
when a marriage had broken down and
who needed a listening ear.
We all need each other at times,
however society changes and some of
the benefi ts of community are lost – but
this also creates other opportunities if we
choose to seek them out. There may well
be people who are living near us who
have no one to turn to and need a good
neighbour – is that you?
Steve Winks
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Offi ce: Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
Page 21
email: offi ce@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org