There is a lot of suffering in the world. There are serious problems in your nation, and in your own community. People are hurting, and people need help.

Where is God in all this pain? Doesn't God understand? Doesn't God care?

The fact is, God did come down here and do something about human suffering. What he did was exactly what humanity needed most, and is indeed the real solution to human suffering. He did it in the most unlikely and unexpected way. He didn't do it with armies or advanced weaponry. He didn't do it with special words of wisdom or hopeful new philosophies.

He did it by becoming one of us. He did it by being born in humble circumstances to a virgin in an occupied nation. He did it by finding out firsthand what it means to be taken advantage of, to be ridiculed, to be discriminated against, to be lied about, to be hated, to be mistreated and to be murdered.

He experienced sufferings just as we do- as one of us. He knows the feeling of being betrayed, of being spat on, of being deserted in his time of need. He knows what it is to be alone. He knows our pain. He does understand, and he does care.

God became one of us to save us from ourselves. We are sinners. Sin hurts. It hurts the sinner, and it hurts those around him or her. Most of all, it separates us from God, the God who made us and loves us.

But there is a solution. God provided that solution for us by sending His son to become God in the flesh- to live and die for us so that our slavery to sin can end. `Come to me,' Jesus Christ, God in the flesh bids us, `all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'

Recent crime figures in the UK have emphasised how fast the threat of crime is increasing- violent crime rose by 4pc in 1990 to 182,000 cases.

Such violence is not restricted to the streets- it can also be seen on the screen (cinema, television and electronic games). As the German Tribune reports: `Social and police experts list too much television and too many horror videos, an increasing xenophobia (fear of strangers)..anxiety about the future, less cash in the family, too much pressure to do well and just pleasure at being brutal.'

As parents we must lessen any of these factors we can. Consider violent entertainment, for example.

`Instead of people discharging energies by seeing violence in movies and TV, the overwhelming number of studies indicate they are motivated to become hurtful, whether it is violently hurtful or non-violently', said Dr Roderic Gorney, at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Violence in entertainment is certainly not the only cause of aggression, but it does send a strong message to the viewer.

`I think the violence makes (children) more likely to think violence is the solution to problems and makes them more frightened of the outside world', said Peggy Charren, president of Action for Children's TV. `Parents who let their kids watch violent programmes have to make sure that they help them understand that that's not the way to solve problems.'

Peggy Charren suggests three guidelines which she believes would improve the situation. First of all, parents should talk to their children about the programmes they watch. Secondly, parents should watch TV with their children when possible. Thirdly, when the child is young they should choose the programmes for them and later on make programme choices with them.

Neil Postman, a professor of Media Studies says that parents should `make an effort to restrict the child's access to various forms of media.

`Or to put it the other way, to restrict the media's access to the children.'