'Thank God I'm vulnerable'

To remove our vulnerability would be to remove our humanity – a Baptist minister's reflection after the London terror attack

To my children, you are vulnerable,

You are vulnerable to knives, vans driven at speed and bombs
You are vulnerable to the horrific choices of others.
You are vulnerable to becoming suspicious of different people.
You are vulnerable to falsely blaming one religion.
You are vulnerable to thinking that only westerners are victims of terrorist attacks.
You are vulnerable to thinking that the darkness is more powerful than the light
You are vulnerable to thinking that life must be lived looking over your shoulder.

You are vulnerable and as your dad I am gutted that I can’t take away all these vulnerabilities,
I am gutted I am also susceptible to the same vulnerabilities you are.


But,
We are vulnerable because we live in an open and free society,
We are vulnerable because we believe all people should be able to freely choose their faith,
We are vulnerable because we are willing to admit we don’t have all the answers,
We are vulnerable because we respect democracy,
We are vulnerable because we choose to value creativity,
We are vulnerable because education is open to all.
We are vulnerable because we protect the rights of all (Male, female, gay or straight)
We are vulnerable because we don’t believe in retaliation on a massive scale.
We are vulnerable because that’s what Jesus Modelled.

So as your dad let’s be vulnerable together,
to remove our vulnerability would be to remove our humanity.

Thank God I’m vulnerable. 

Image | Liane Metzler | Unsplash

Rich Shorter is a church minster in Harold Hill, London and Parenting Coach. He runs a Facebook group for dads learning to be better fathers