I WAS invited to talk about my faith at a secondary school

in Taunton last week.

I began by asking the 180 children in their early teens how

many of them actually believed in the existence of God, a

spirit, a creator, a force – anything.

Not a single one raised their hand.

For these teenagers, life was here and now.

A few years ago, this answer used to shock me.

Today, it's often the answer I hear. And it truly saddens

me.

At the St Paul's Carnival at the weekend, I was in a shop

late on Saturday night.

One particular individual came in only slightly worse for

wear (unlike many others who only wished they could handle

their drink as well).

During the course of our conversation, he confessed to me

that he'd better go home soon as he had an important commitment

the next morning.

His story echoed that of many others I saw that day – people

of many different faiths and backgrounds upon whom alcohol had

taken its toll, including a handful of Muslims, too.

From an Islamic perspective, if God had wanted us to be

angels, God would have made us angels.

Instead, God has given us a free will to choose or to

refuse.

As a direct consequence, God says: “When (not if) you fall,

turn to Me and I will forgive you.

“If you come to Me a hand's-span, I will come to you an

arm's length.

“If you come to Me walking, I will come to you at speed.

“If you come to me with a mountain of sin, I will come to

you with oceans of mercy.

“Just turn to Me.”

So, making mistakes is not the issue.

People have always done things they shouldn't. It's just a

part of human nature.

What saddens me is that when we make mistakes, what happens

when there is no expectation of mercy?

If you look at the example we're setting our young people

today, there is little wonder that everything is about the here

and now.

Advertising shows us the things we “need” to have.

We then “need” to work as hard as we can to earn as much as

we can to spend as much as we can.

And if we can't afford to, then we “need” to borrow as much

as we can to spend as much as we can.

And then, we “need” to work even longer to earn as much as

we can to pay back as much as we can so we're left with enough

to spend as much as we can.

It's a downward spiral. It's truly a consumer society.

In fulfilling all those “needs”, there's precious little –

if any – time to reflect, to think about the reason why we're

here.

Is it really just for nothing?

Are we just born to live and then die?

Next time you look at the heavens, think about this simple

fact.

Just in an area the size of a grain of sand of the vast

night sky, there are 3,000 galaxies like our own Milky Way.

Each galaxy has between a billion and 100 billion stars like

our own sun.

Is this really just by pure chance? Is this really all for

nothing?