Some years ago I was lucky enough to play CS Lewis in William Nicholson’s marvellous play, “Shadowlands”. A devout Christian, Lewis often mused about God’s love and his seeming lack of intervention when natural disasters occur. “If God loves us so much then why does he allow us to suffer so much?”. If you were to give it serious thought then I guess you would start to scratch your head in confusion also.

I lost my brother, aged 18, to cancer. A brain tumour. I was 21 at the time and a believer, as were my parents. My brother’s death caused my family to have a crisis of faith.

6 people were killed in Glasgow just before Christmas. Innocent people, grandparents, parents and children going about their Christmas business with joy and hope. Wondering if the sweater they’d just bought for Auntie Nora would fit? They would never know.

CS Lewis tried to explain this belief by theorising that “we are like blocks of stone out of which The Sculptor carves the form of Men. The blows of His chisel, which hurt us so much, are what make us perfect”. I’m just trying to square that with the relatives of the Galsgow 6. Would that poor woman who saw her parents and daughter mown down consider her own character strengthened by her tragic loss? I didn’t when I lost my brother. The only thing it taught me was to cherish his memory and to live for the day.

A Salutary Lesson.

A client was in a relationship with a chap, let’s call him Geoff, who had 2 teenage girls. My client has one girl in her early teens. They had been seeing each other for about 7 years. Both had their own houses and spent time with each other, alternating houses.

The client was single and Geoff was divorced having been through a fairly acrimonious relationship with his ex. My client and Geoff are both In their late 40’s.

Geoff was tragically killed in a freak accident at work. He did not have a Will.

My client, as Geoff’s partner, has no legal rights to his estate whatsoever and his girls, who are now of age are his next of kin, are being manipulated by their mother…….who has now moved into Geoff’s house with the girls!

To quote my client “if Geoff knew what was going on he would be so angry!” Geoff should have made a Will!

Just a note to all my clients (and prospective ones!) that my website at http://www.elevenxi.com will be undergoing a refurb in the next two weeks. Should you need to contact me then you can do so on 07887 823973 or at malcolm@elevenxi.com.