大象传媒

(submitted on behalf of a friend of mine, Marion Meathrel, who wished to offer her experience of love and hope in the midst of the destruction of war)

During the last war I was in the basement of a neighbour鈥檚 house, which had been reinforced as an air raid shelter. It was night and the raid was bad. Suddenly the men who had been keeping watch at the entrance came running down the steps and without a word we knew what to expect. Just before dust and debris hid us from each other I saw the most perfect farewell pass between a middle-aged husband and wife. They were at either end of the shelter, but what passed between them was so beautiful, I have never forgotten it.

A lifetime of togetherness passed between them and although the look said 鈥淔arewell鈥�, it was alive with the certainty of eternity. They made no movement toward each other 鈥� their love and understanding was beyond touch, sense and time.

In a few seconds I had witnessed a reality that no bombs could destroy. Love is indestructible and lives on even in the midst of war and all the horror it brings. God is love and His heart must ache to see His children behaving so stupidly, but because we choose to kill or hurt each other, He doesn鈥檛 leave us without any compassion.

His presence was there in the shelter with us that night. I saw it reflected in two pairs of eyes and felt it in a love that had reached the highest level of human understanding.

That farewell became a reality a few months later when the husband was killed by falling shrapnel.

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