To whom can you offer real sacrificial care?

David McNeil’s obituary made me cry. I am not ashamed to admit it. Some of my friends perhaps think I shed a tear a little too easily, but this time around I can assure you it was fully justified.

My tears were not those of sadness, nor of joy, but being profoundly moved at the life this man had been called to live as a result of the circumstances he found himself in.

He was not, as far as I can see, a believer. Nor was his wife, whom we shall meet in a moment. But in the so-called common – yet still supernatural – grace of God, this man lived a life of dedication, service and compassion that should challenge every believer, and certainly challenged me.