26th August 2026

In the BBC TV series Saving Lives at Sea, we see the volunteer lifeboat crews going out in all weathers, risking their lives to save those who, for whatever reason, are in peril on the sea. They are prepared to take on the worst storms, at any hour of day or night, and they are not bothered about who the people are who need rescuing; or whether, as in some cases, it’s their own fault. Nor do they ask whether some people are more deserving to be saved than others. Some people say they shouldn’t be trying to save asylum seekers or even refugees. When interviewed, the volunteers themselves simply say, “We’re here to save lives in danger, whoever they are, wherever they’re from.” That to me reflects the saving love of Jesus. It makes me very thankful – and indeed proud to be British.

The sea often does seem to have that effect, even in war. The fact-based film The Cruel Sea tells the story of a World War II corvette in the Battle of the Atlantic. After many months of combat and loss the ship at last sinks a German U-boat, to much joyful acclaim on deck. But the sea around the ship is then littered with German crewmen desperate for rescue. A naval rating reaches down to a German sailor: “It’s ok mate. I’ve got you. You’re ok now.”

That’s one human being to another. A parable for a world today, where we’re all in peril on the same sea, on the same planet. The biggest global danger we face is the loss of our humanity.

Keith Clements