Virus fears and airline collapse test travellers.

I have planned to be in Hereford this weekend to tell my story at Hope City Church but things are trying to get in my way. Firstly, the airline I booked with has gone bust - FlyBE. After 40 years of trading they have finally given up leaving thousands stranded and, saddest of all, throwing 2,000 people out of work. Thankfully, Guernsey has its own airline, Aurigny, and they have flights to Manchester so I can change to that route. BUT - then comes the dreaded train journey!

For someone like me who has a depressed immune system, no pancreas, no spleen etc, respiratory viruses are particularly dangerous. I might end up like the traveller in my photo! 😂 But seriously, there is a lot of fear around this Corona virus and it's that fear that really concerns me. There are many reasons to take reasonable precautions - and I will - but ultimately we need to deal with this inordinate fear.

Over the two decades of my serious ill health I have had to face fear head-on. Sometimes that has been literally the fear of imminent death, like being told that the procedure I was about to undergo had a one-in-three risk of life-threatening complications. There's an amazing bible verse that says that Jesus, through death, delivers those who all the lifetime were subject to the fear of death. The New Testament is full of 'don't be afraid's - some say 366, one for each day of the year and a spare for leap years like this one.

The writer of many of the Psalms said this, 'When I am afraid I will trust in you Lord' (Psalm 56:3). Not 'if' but 'when'. I will be a bit afraid this weekend as I travel, but I choose to trust in God and lean my future heavily upon his hands. And keep washing mine!