Letters, contributions and comments sent in from Times’ readers this week.

Trevor Ellis, Chalkhill Road, Wembley, writes:

Police brutality, social injustice and political instability, exacerbated by Covid-19, are three subject matters that concern many people across the world.

George Floyd’s death was but one of many tragic deaths that took place in America at the hands of the police.

In our country, since 2010, 163 people died in police custody in England and Wales, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Complaints about social injustice across the board range from protests about alleged rigged political elections in Belarus, to the resignation of the Lebanese prime minister and cabinet, after the tragic event that claimed over 200 lives and left up to 300,000 homeless.

The rapid spread of Covid-19 across the world has had a devastating effect and not just in terms of deaths.

Many people in the UK feel increasingly anxious, as the government appears to be losing the battle to defeat this deadly virus.

Times like these put immense pressure onto the shoulders of the people that are elected to serve the best interests of the nations.

History has shown that humans have the ability to be resourceful during times of great trouble.

However, history has also taught us that there are limits to what humans are able to do when faced with minor and serious problems.

My GP has prescribed a number of creams and lotions to help ease the distress and frustration caused by my four-decade-long skin allergy, but so far, relief is yet to come.

In just over three and a half months time, our troubled country will eat, drink, and exchange presents in the name of one unique man.

That man’s name is Jesus, and though I know that belief in him as the universal saviour is divided, I also know that doubt, narrowmindedness and atheism concerning Jesus doesn’t mean he was mythical.

After all, if he is a myth, doesn’t that make the observing of Christmas and Easter pointless and futile?

According to the book from which we became acquainted with Jesus, he resurrected the dead, healed the sick, fed the hungry, taught the ignorant, courageously stood up for the downtrodden in the face of great hostility and even died to ensure that the sin that has claimed the lives of everyone since Adam and Eve will be permanently removed and replaced by life everlasting with no pain, injustice or confusion.

Jesus taught the people of his day to pray for God’s kingdom because that is what will deliver the relief from the distress that surrounds us.

I can’t think of a better thing to do than that, while we try to live by the second greatest commandment that is to love our neighbour as we would love ourselves.

After all, we are all from one stock and depend on each other for our daily bread don’t we? Bread sustains us, but spiritual bread gives us the hope that we all long for from our leaders but they are limited in what they can do, but God and Jesus aren’t.

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