From the Minister

Ruth

                                                                

February 

Dear Friends,

I’m writing this at the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and as Donald Trump prepares for his inauguration ceremony and I find myself reflecting on building walls and building bridges.  Trump, as the incoming president, has vowed to continue building the wall at the Mexican border in the interest of national security.  However, I find myself thinking of other walls and the painful and dangerous divisions caused – walls such as the one around areas of the West Bank, the ‘peace walls’ in Belfast and of course the Berlin Wall.  Walls can protect and ensure peace, but it is often at the price of dividing communities, restricting freedom and putting one side or another at a disadvantage.

Building bridges, on the other hand, brings together people who have previously been divided and enables movement, engagement and greater freedom.  The Humber and Severn bridges both provide direct links, which avoid lengthy detours and the Mostar bridge in Bosnia-Herzegovina unites two parts of the town of Mostar.  Bridges bring people together.

In his life, Jesus built bridges, often reaching out to those who were rejected and ignored by society and bringing them into a place where they were recognised and valued.  We can probably all think of stories where Jesus actions allowed individuals to be affirmed and recognised; Zaccheus, the Samaritan woman, Mary Magdalene to name but a few!

In the week of prayer, we seek to build bridges within the Christian community through worshipping and praying together, but we also reflect on how we as Christians can build bridges where society is fractured today.  We were reminded most powerfully of this in one act of worship where the speaker described the philosophy of ‘ubuntu’ – a Zulu word describing the interconnectedness of people.  ‘Ubuntu’ is often translated as ‘I am because we are’ – a reminder that we work best when building bridges!

How can we be bridge builders in our own communities?  First of all, we can pray for good relationships, for healing where there is conflict and for greater understanding.  Secondly, we can listen to others and really hear their stories.  Thirdly and most importantly, we can seek to affirm others in our speech; praising and encouraging and avoiding negative comments and gossip.  Let’s seek to build as many bridges as we can.

God bless.

 

Ruth.