We think we’re invincible. We expect to bounce when we fall, and live to a ripe old age. Advertisements promoting health products promise us the earth – and we believe them!

It comes as a shock when things work out differently. In the space of six weeks I have lost two colleagues - Paul, aged 50, and Chris, aged 55. Paul was a brilliant teacher and an enthusiastic leader of children’s work in many different churches. Chris was Vicar of a parish in Epping and known to many as a BBC Radio Essex presenter. Their deaths were totally unexpected. They were fully committed to their respective work. They are both mourned by grieving families and multitudes of friends.

I have just listened to the news: 5 died in M4 crash; man died in hotel blaze; 80 killed in plane crash at Phuket Airport. The incidents are common features of news bulletins, but for the families caught up in them they are painful, crippling and shocking.

In October/November each year the thoughts of many turn to remembrance. The scars of war are borne in many hearts, and the act of remembering carries its own pain. Pain often shared in the context of public worship and private prayer.

There is so much of life that is a mystery. So many questions, and (seemingly) so few answers. God, who has shown us something of your love and purposes for this life and for eternity, help us to live with our questions in the context of the answers we do know.

David Ainge