Recent days in the UK have been something of a rough and hectic ride that has had a strong sense of utter confusion and hour by hour crisis management.

 The Conservative party, ‘in office but not in power’, as Norman Lamont famously said in the House in June 1993, is now going through the process of electing a new leader and, in effect offering the country an un-elected Prime Minister. The rudder is broken and we drift in uncharted waters. Whatever the outcome, a General Election must come soon.

 But then the Labour opposition, just when a strong and positive opposition voice is called for, is busy navel-gazing and currently offers fragmented views that take us nowhere. An unseemly spectacle of personal disagreements does little to offer an alternative way home.

 UKIP have no leader, no post-Brexit plans and hopefully, no future.

 What a mess.

The question we all must now address is the post-referendum repair of Humpty Dumpty who has fallen off his wall in a big way.

 The last few days have shown cracks in the egg shell of our society, cracks that have been broken open in a raw and troubling manner.

Speaking in the House of Lords last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury mentioned the spreading of 'poison and hatred' following the referendum vote for Brexit. Justin Welby warned that the result had created 'cracks in the thin crust of the politeness and tolerance of our society'.

He said such problems could not be solved by 'pulling up the drawbridge' and urged peers to tackle the inequality that lay at the root of 'widening unfairness' in society

As Christians we have to be positive in our contribution to the healing of peoples that must now be undertaken. Our treatment of our fellow citizens, whatever their national background or religious belief, has to have the surety of the hand clasp of welcome, the warmth of compassion and understanding. Our example can do much to contribute to the repair of our shaken society.

 Care must be taken in the language we use when referring to those whose opinion differs from ours. Harsh words and rigid standpoints ensure that healing is delayed and mutual understanding further obstructed.

 Within the core belief of our Christian faith is a deep appreciation of forgiveness, a recognition that mistakes are made, offence is taken and damage done. But that is not the end of the story. The outstretched hand that we offer each other and to the good Lord we adore, is reciprocated and the chance to re-make, renew a relationship is real. That must now be built into the fabric of our national rebuilding rather than the image of an upset child who takes his football home because he won’t share with other children.

Maybe in view of a recent football match in France that is not such a secure analogy, but that tale can wait awhile…

 The strength of a boat and its handling is not measured by its response to a calm sea and light winds. Rather, we look to its performance in rough waters and storms, for that is where we are now.

 The Church has been there many times over the centuries and currently is there again, riding high seas and experiencing debate and an exchange of views that has been, at times, both heated and forceful. We would do well to reflect on those words “Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. – Where charity and love are, God is there”.

 Now last week, on top of already turbulent waters the report of the Chilcot Enquiry into the Iraq war was published. Seven years in the writing, published in twelve volumes, it is four times the length of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. And what does it tell us?

 Given its length, it will be the subject of discussion and debate for a long while yet. What is already clear is, that like the Referendum vote, there was no follow-up plan as to what would follow the invasion of Iraq .

 It would seem that this is the basic message that comes through loud and clear. There is a need to look beyond an immediate course of action, often taken in haste, to the consequent aftermath and how it might be managed

 Now is the time to show our trust and faith in the Gospel values we proclaim.

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