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| http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20657114 |
‘It was a prank . . . we couldn’t foresee what would happen’. These are
the words of the Australian DJs interviewed after their call to a London
Hospital resulted in the suicide of a nurse. Shortly after the announcement of
the fact that the Duchess of Cambridge was expecting a child, she was taken
into hospital in London suffering from acute sickness brought on by the
pregnancy. Whilst the Duchess was in the care of the hospital the two DJs were
involved in making a telephone call to that hospital, posing as members of the
Royal family. For whatever reason, the call was not identified as ‘a prank’ and
was directed through to the suite where the Duchess was staying. The nurse who
then answered and provided information to the callers did not realize that the call
was a hoax. Later, she was so upset by the discovery of the hoax that she
committed suicide.
Something that was conceived and carried out as ‘a laugh’ went horribly
wrong. Something that should never have got as far as it did would seem to have
contributed to the death of an experienced and dedicated nurse. Like our
readers, we would offer sympathy to those who have been badly affected by this
tragic turn of events.
I suppose we can all look back to events in our lives when ‘if only’ we
had known how things would turn out we would never had set out on the pathway
that we did. ‘If only’ can be the most tragic words it is possible to utter. We
didn’t realize. We hadn’t anticipated. We didn’t think.
However, the Bible has left important facts on record. We might not
have read those facts. We might be ignorant of what it states, but the warning
is there. God says, ‘the soul that sinneth it shall die’. We cannot say ‘if
only I had known’. God has told us of the consequences of our mistakes, our
sins. If we continue on that chosen pathway of life we will be separated from
God forever – spiritual death! But the remarkable thing about God is that He is
willing to forgive, and to deal with the problem of our sin. ‘God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’.
Through faith in Christ and His death on the cross we can be forgiven and
brought into peace with God. What about you? Don’t be one who will forever
regret, ‘if only . . .’
