Day 12: L is for Love
After an unimaginably difficult week for families directly affected by those injured or tragically killed in the Manchester bomb attack, it has been a time of consideration and contemplation for us all, as we all think about those we love, the places we call home, and why it is that bad things happen.
Here in Northumberland, from Lynemouth to Lowick and across the county, people come together in any number of gatherings to support and encourage each other. I spent the morning with amazing mums of autistic children, learning from each other how best to love and protect their unique charges through childhood's complex maze of assumptions and preconceptions. Their resilience under pressure reminds me of those who fight for us.
As I continue to support military families with the unique challenges of service life, and with a spring in my step that the Prime Minister has listened to my campaigning efforts to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant by committing to that, and to my call for a Veterans Board, I am constantly in awe of those whose love of country extends to choosing a life of service and commitment to defend us all. Their jobs can be exciting and boring, just like everyone else's, but their contract is unique because they agree to put their lives on the line for us all.
I rarely quote scripture, but the words of John ring in my ears as I consider the human quality of love, that
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends".
And so, as I knock on doors across the patch for the last ten days of this election campaign, I am struck every time that each house or flat is a home, for a family - some big, some small - or for an elderly person living alone whose family may be far or near. But each and every one is sustained by those closest to them through ties of marriage or time, from shared experiences both good and bad, which build bonds which can never be broken by those wishing evil upon us. Love will always win out.
If you have any issues you would like to discuss please don't hesitate to contact me anytime on 01665 478188 or trevelyanoffice@gmail.com