desolation – Thought for the Week

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Ricky Valance has died at the age of 84. In 1960, he had one big hit, the song “Tell Laura I love her.” He was the first Welshman to have a Number One hit song. The song was controversial because it told the story of Tommy, a teenager who was desperately in love with a girl called Laura. Tommy entered a stock car race so he could use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring. His car crashed and Tommy was fatally injured. As he lay dying, he said, “Tell Laura I love her … my love for her will never die.” The BBC banned it, which only increased the sales, reaching more than a million copies and topping the charts. Ricky never had another hit song.

Ricky was born David Spencer, the eldest of 7 children, and grew up in Ynysddu, in the Gwent Valleys, where he was the lead soprano in St Theodore’s Church. His father worked in the mines and when he was 15 Ricky, too, went to work in a mine. When he was 17, he joined the RAF serving as a leading aircraftsman in Tripoli during the Suez crisis. After his one hit song Ricky sang in clubs and on cruise ships. He also experienced a number of crises.

By the 1990s he was clinically depressed and suffered a nervous breakdown. He said, “I experienced fear, loneliness and desolation in a way that I wouldn’t wish on any other person.” During this time Ricky visited his local golf club and played with Brian, whom he’d never met before. Brian encouraged Ricky to rediscover his Christian faith. Ricky went to Brian’s church and attended an Alpha course, a programme designed to introduce people to the Christian faith. Ricky said, “It was following that course that I asked Jesus to take full control of my life.”

After becoming a Christian Ricky said, “I’ve started to understand myself more and found that I don’t need to be so hard on myself. If God forgives me for the things I do, then I need to be able to do the same. And I guess it’s made me see others in a different light too. I don’t understand why so many Christians don’t tell others the Good News about what Jesus did for us all on the Cross.” In his last years Ricky suffered from dementia. He is now at peace in heaven with his Saviour, who loved him and died that he might have eternal life.

The plight of the 12 boys from a Thai football team and their coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand has moved the hearts of people around the world. The Wild Boars team and their coach had cycled to the caves after a training session. They were reported missing by one of their mothers on 23 June and were not found until 2 July. The cave complex is 6 miles long and heavy rain has flooded the caves making it extremely difficult to reach them. The rescue operation has begun, and 4 boys have, with the help of expert divers, reached safety, but it is a race against time because further monsoon rains are forecast.

The rescue operation, involving many people from many countries, is very complex and dangerous for both the rescuers and the boys and their coach. One diver, Saman Kunan, a former Thai navy seal, has already died from lack of air. All the divers who enter the caves know they are putting their lives at risk, but they are committed to doing everything they can in order to save the boys and their coach.

In a world of strife and conflict this rescue is an outstanding example of human courage, love and sacrifice. The rescuers don’t know the boys and their coach, they are strangers, but they are fellow human beings and their lives are precious. The rescue team are willing to use their skills, and risk their lives, in order to bring those trapped in the cave to safety. Many people around the world are praying they will be successful.

The message of the Bible is about the greatest rescue in history. Out of his great love, God sent his only Son, Jesus, into the world to be the Saviour by dying on the cross for our sins. Knowing Jesus as our Saviour brings great joy to our hearts. One hymn wonderfully expresses how every Christian feels about Jesus, their Saviour. “He held the highest place above, adored by all the sons of flame, yet such his self-denying love, he laid aside his crown and came to seek the lost, and, at the cost of heavenly rank and earthly fame, he sought me – Blessed be his Name! Then dawned at last that day of dread when, desolate but undismayed, with wearied frame and thorn-crowned head he, now forsaken and betrayed, went up for me to Calvary, and dying there in grief and shame he saved me – Blessed be his Name!”