Bread and Roses

Today at church we had a Mothering Sunday/Mothers day service. I was thrilled to be able to speak and share some of my thoughts. So here is the written version - hope you enjoy.

Mothering Sunday was originally a time when people returned to the church, in which they were baptised or where they attended services when they were children. In time, it became customary for young people who were working as servants in large houses, to be given a holiday on Mothering Sunday. They could also use this day to visit their own mothers.

Mothers Day, which is what we now call this day was first officially celebrated in the USA in 1914. Ana Jarvis had promoted the idea to celebrate what we all love about our mothers, after the death of her own beloved mother.

She soon soured on the commercial interests associated with the day and wanted Mother’s Day “to be a day of sentiment, not profit.”

Beginning around 1920, she urged people to stop buying flowers and other gifts for their mothers, and she turned against her former commercial supporters. She referred to the florists, greeting card manufacturers and the confectionery industry as “charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and truest movements and celebrations.”

I can agree with her sentiment and feel the original reason for this day is much more appropriate. For me there is a sense of relocation in the original reason for this event. A returning to your roots and your family.

As much as I love being given cards and gifts, the pressure felt by women on this day who are both childless or unmarried I think is very hard.

This is especially true in a church context when juggling the service to not make these ladies feel 'left out', in anyway. So for us it's Mothering Sunday, a chance to celebrate all the females in our church. A chance for all of us to relocate ourselves especially as we journey through the season of Lent.

A chance to remind ourselves that God also showed him/herself to be seen as mother as can be read in several verses, here is an example.

Jesus: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37

It's also a day that those who are fasting can have a well deserved day off.

The gift we gave out this year was put together by Sue, a lovely lady in our church, who just loves to bless others. I was absolutely thrilled when she showed me. The colours she chose to use on it were green, white and purple, those of the Suffragettes flag from the 'Women's Social and Political Union', led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Sue knows about my passion for female equality and had decided because of its closeness to, 'International Women's day', (celebrated annually on March 8th) to use these colours.

 

This date became especially meaningful to me 4 years ago when my first grandchild a granddaughter was born on March 8th. As a mother of 4 daughters I have always been interested in the feminist movement but for some reason this actual day had not been on my radar.

It has been observed since the early 1900's, which was a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world. In 1908 Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change and in 1910 Clara Zetkin from Germany tabled the idea of an International Women's Day.

She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands.

In 1911 the first of these days saw more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.

I then looked at the history of the suffragettes and was fascinated to find that there had been a very active group here in West Yorkshire.

The Suffragettes has a whole had become more militant in their activities in 1912, following the rejection of a bill that would have given women limited rights to the vote, originally supported by then Prime Minister Asquith.

The Bradford suffragettes in 1913 had dug up the 2nd and 12th green at Bradford Moor Golf Club, replacing the flags with the purple, green and white flag. And then in June 1913 reservoirs at Chellow Dene, near Bradford, turned a rich shade of purple after being discoloured by local wool dyes.

These symbolic actions were a part of a whole campaign to keep up the pressure on the government to give women the vote, and also for greater equality.

This years slogan for IWD is, 'pledge for parity'.

Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement. And we do have much to celebrate today. But progress towards gender parity has slowed in many places.

"The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn't close entirely until 2133."

Clare Boothe Luce (March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American author, politician, and a US Ambassador, she said; “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.”

Now with my age the thought that the predicted date for equality is well beyond my life span and possibly even that of my granddaughter there really is still 'much to be done'.

That the above quote is sadly still true in some circles is also cause for the work to continue of raising the awareness and need for greater equality for women. I for one am extremely grateful for all the women who have gone before and paid the price for the equalities we have so far achieved.

A few weeks after the first IWD on March the 25th in New York the tragic 'Triangle Fire' took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States and in 1911 saw the women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign begin

We sang a song in our service that is in no way a church hymn, although its narrative I feel is truly Christian, it is called Bread and Roses.

This was for 'Fair wages and dignified conditions'.

These thoughts were put into words and then to song.

"As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"

 

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!"

Today we have female astronauts and prime ministers, girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. There are more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, impressive role models in every aspect of life.

And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

We have wonderful role models like - Malala Yousafzai a young woman born on July 1997. Whilst on her way home from school, men who objected to the education of females shot her in the head and almost killed her.

She had known this was a possibility the resistance was great but still she continued to stand up for her beliefs.

Malala survived this horrendous attack and now works towards education for all girls in her country while also serving as a symbol of perseverance and determination for women across the globe, making her an extremely courageous young woman.

Sometimes the work that requires doing can seem overwhelming and we can wonder what if we are playing our part. I am a true believer that we can make a difference and that together we can see change.

The campaign for Bread and Roses has become a powerful thought in my life.

We all need and this includes both women and men, fair conditions and dignity.

Jesus treated those that he met apprpriate to their needs. Those that life had treated unfairly or were thought to be untouchable he had only compassion and healing to bring.

These three stories highlight this perfectly.

The Samaritan women at the well, story told in John 4, the Woman caught in adultery found in John 8. And the Woman who had problems with bleeding, her story is in Luke 8. Take time to read these passages again, even if you feel you know these stories.

Rob Bell, Christian author and speaker wrote in his brilliant book, 'Sex God', a story about 'lipstick' being delivered to Bergen Belsen, concentration camp shortly after it had been liberated.

Here is an excerpt

I also help regularly in a food bank, it's a place where those who attend have to let go of their dignity to come and receive the food both them and their family need.

In my mind the link between dignity and fair wages is shown in these two situations. Did they need food at Bergen Belsen? Absolutely they were starving. But for these women a piece of lipstick restored their dignity, their personhood. We cannot change the lack of dignity felt by those attending the food bank, (please note all are treated with dignity by volunteers) but we can work to see change in our political systems, that at this moment are driving up the use of food banks for thousands in our country. It is shaming when you consider the wealth of this nation.

I asked us to think about ways, that could be seen as of 'sheer unadulterated brilliance', in the same way the lipstick turned out to be.

Can we find ways to give the equivalent of the 'red lipstick' to those we meet.

As I said to our small group a thought that has become my mantra,

'We can make a difference on our own but together we can do so much more'.

The Suffragettes found that and saw votes for women become reality and also many other changes that brought freedom to the lives of women.

We have the words that Jesus spoke in the temple in Luke's gospel

" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”Luke 4:18-19

These things are to be available for all.

Good news, liberty, sight to blind eyes, freedom from oppression and salvation to all.

May we be those who along with our brothers and sisters work together to meet the needs of those we come alongside and to help to bring dignity to those who we meet who have been treated unfairly.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Bread and Roses - Mothering Sunday

Today at church we had a Mothering Sunday/Mothers day service. I was thrilled to be able to speak and share some of my thoughts. So here is the written version - hope you enjoy.

Mothering Sunday was originally a time when people returned to the church, in which they were baptised or where they attended services when they were children. In time, it became customary for young people who were working as servants in large houses, to be given a holiday on Mothering Sunday. They could also use this day to visit their own mothers.

Mothers Day, which is what we now call this day was first officially celebrated in the USA in 1914. Ana Jarvis had promoted the idea to celebrate what we all love about our mothers, after the death of her own beloved mother.

She soon soured on the commercial interests associated with the day and wanted Mother’s Day “to be a day of sentiment, not profit.”

Beginning around 1920, she urged people to stop buying flowers and other gifts for their mothers, and she turned against her former commercial supporters. She referred to the florists, greeting card manufacturers and the confectionery industry as “charlatans, bandits, pirates, racketeers, kidnappers and termites that would undermine with their greed one of the finest, noblest and truest movements and celebrations.”

As much as I love being given cards and gifts, the pressure felt by women on this day who are both childless or unmarried I think is very hard.I can agree with her sentiment and feel the original reason for this day is much more appropriate. For me there is a sense of relocation in the original reason for this event. A returning to your roots and your family.

This is especially true in a church context when juggling the service to not make these ladies feel 'left out', in anyway. So for us it's Mothering Sunday, a chance to celebrate all the females in our church. A chance for all of us to relocate ourselves especially as we journey through the season of Lent.

It's also a day that those who are fasting can have a well deserved day off.

The gift we gave out this year was put together by Sue, a lovely lady in our church, who just loves to bless others. I was absolutely thrilled when she showed me. The colours she chose to use on it were green, white and purple, those of the Suffragettes flag from the 'Women's Social and Political Union', led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Sue knows about my passion for female equality and had decided because of its closeness to, 'International Women's day', (celebrated annually on March 8th) to use these colours.

This date became especially meaningful to me 4 years ago when my first grandchild a granddaughter was born. As a mother of 4 daughters I have always been interested in the feminist movement but for some reason this actual day had not been on my radar.

It has been observed since the early 1900's, which was a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world. In 1908 Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change and in 1910 Clara Zetkin from Germany tabled the idea of an International Women's Day.

She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands.

In 1911 the first of these days saw more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.

I then looked at the history of the suffragettes and was fascinated to find that there had been a very active group here in West Yorkshire.

The Suffragettes has a whole had become more militant in their activities in 1912, following the rejection of a bill that would have given women limited rights to the vote, originally supported by then Prime Minister Asquith.

The Bradford suffragettes in 1913 had dug up the 2nd and 12th green at Bradford Moor Golf Club, replacing the flags with the purple, green and white flag. And then in June 1913 reservoirs at Chellow Dene, near Bradford, turned a rich shade of purple after being discoloured by local wool dyes.

These symbolic actions were a part of a whole campaign to keep up the pressure on the government to give women the vote, and also for greater equality.

This years slogan for IWD is, 'pledge for parity'.

Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement. And we do have much to celebrate today. But progress towards gender parity has slowed in many places.

"The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn't close entirely until 2133."

Clare Boothe Luce (March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American author, politician, and a US Ambassador, she said; “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.”

Now with my age the thought that the predicted date for equality is well beyond my life span and possibly even that of my granddaughter there really is still 'much to be done'. That the above quote is sadly still true in some circles also cause for the continued work of raising the awareness and need for greater equality for women. I for one am extremely grateful for all the women who have gone before and paid the price for the equalities we have so far achieved.

We sang a song in our service that is in no way a church hymn, although its narrative I feel is truly Christian, it is called Bread and Roses.

A few weeks after the first IWD on March the 25th in New York the tragic 'Triangle Fire' took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States and in 1911 saw the women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign begin.

This was for 'Fair wages and dignified conditions'.

These thoughts were put into words and then to song.

"As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"

 

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!"

Today we have female astronauts and prime ministers, girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. There are more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, impressive role models in every aspect of life.

And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

We have wonderful role models like - Malala Yousafzai a young woman born on July 1997. Whilst on her way home from school, men who objected to the education of females shot her in the head and almost killed her. She had known this was a possibility because of the resistance she was up against but still continued to stand up for her beliefs.

Malala survived this horrendous attack and now works towards education for all girls in her country while also serving as a symbol of perseverance and determination for women across the globe, making her an extremely courageous young woman.

Sometimes the work that requires doing can seem overwhelming and we can wonder what if we are playing our part. I am a true believer that we can make a difference and that together we can see change.

The campaign for Bread and Roses has become a powerful thought in my life.

We all need and this includes both women and men, fair conditions and dignity.

I am so grateful that my faith as a Christian with the example that Jesus left, is that these things were essential to his ministry too.

Samaritan women at the well.- John 4Jesus treated everyone that he met with great compassion, fairness and gave them their dignity. These three stories highlight this perfectly.

The Woman caught in adultery - John 8

And the Woman who had problems with bleeding. Luke 8

Rob Bell, Christian author and speaker wrote in his brilliant book Sex God a story about 'lipstick' being delivered to Bergen Belsen, concentration camp shortly after it had been liberated. Here's is an excerpt.

 

 

I also help regularly in a food bank, it's a place where those who attend have to let go of their dignity to come and receive the food both them and their family need.

In my mind the link between dignity and fair wages is shown in these two situations.

Did they need food at Bergen Belsen? Absolutely they were starving. But for these women a piece of lipstick restored their dignity, their personhood.

We cannot change the lack of dignity felt by those attending the food bank (please note all are treated with dignity by volunteers) but we can work to see change in our political systems that at this moment are driving up the use of food banks for thousands in our country. It is shaming when you consider the wealth of this nation.

I asked us to think about ways that may be an action of 'sheer unadulterated brilliance', in the same way the lipstick turned out to be. Can we find ways to give the equivalent of the 'red lipstick' to those we meet.

As I said to our small group a thought that has become my mantra,

'We can make a difference on our own but together we can do so much more'.

The Suffragettes found that and saw votes for women become reality.

We have the words that Jesus spoke in the temple in Luke's gospel

" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”

(Luke 4:18-19)

Good news, liberty, sight to blind eyes, freedom from oppression and salvation to all.

May we be those who with our brothers and sisters work together to meet the needs of those we come alongside and bring dignity to those who have been treated unfairly.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Blessed are the peacemakers

 

On Remembrance Sunday this year, I spoke from this verse in,

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

I asked the group a question: What does being a peacemaker look like?

Is it, Not taking sides? Remaining silent ? Or having a quiet personality

I grew up in a loving close knit extended family, the youngest cousin for a number of years. Having an older sister and brother by several years meant my being spoiled was inevitable; and I was.

I have clear memories of my own of my demanding nature, and when I met with neighbours from my very young days, they would inform me about my ability to scream very loud if I did not get my own way - oh the shame.

In my defence our household was somewhat filled with fiery personalities, my dad and older sister had many an argument on a Sunday afternoon post the Sunday lunch pub outing. Sadly I shared theirs and not my mum and brothers calmer natures.

My oldest and youngest daughters have inherited this fiery disposition and once relayed to me a time on a youth holiday when they were both arguing.

A friend then came along and used the phrase; 'calm down'. They both instantly had a common enemy and they quickly unleashed their fury her. They obviously both feel very sad that this occurred but as they said - red rag to a bull moment!

Remembrance Sunday is celebrated both in the United States and the Commonwealth, it is to commemorate the contribution of both military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts and it is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th.

The wearing of the poppy was an idea conceived by Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I.

I read the poem , "In Flanders Fields" written during the First World War by a Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Sadly this poem speaks of the premature death of those fighting, often these are very young men at the prime of their lives.

The torch is passed on to those who will continue to fight the enemy. Their deaths are to not be in vein and must be vindicated by winning the war.

The reality is the opposing side are equally driven by the belief that their side is right, they too are fighting on the 'right side'.

The First World War was supposed to be the ; 'The war to end all wars' this statement was attributed to USA president Woodrow Wilson, but was quickly met with cynicism, journalist Walter Lippmann wrote in Newsweek in 1967, "the delusion is that whatever war we are fighting is the war to end war", whilst in his Silent Majority speech Richard Nixon said, "I do not tell you that the war in Vietnam is the war to end wars"

Mary Scully a Human rights activist from the USA

Recently said

"Constant war is an inner compulsion, the driving force of neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism. But for tens of thousands of people, war is not carnage & devastation--it's good business.

An international arms fair held recently in Saudi Arabia had 100,000 arms dealers, military & government officials from around the world. according to one research institute, arms sales of the top 100 arms dealers & military services at the 2013 totalled $402 billion.

According to Paramount Group (a South African consortium of military manufacturers), military spending among Middle Eastern regimes grew to $120.6 billion in 2014. This year, 1,200 companies from 56 countries displayed their military wares. Arms dealers don't worry about things like weapons "falling into the wrong hands." Business is business; war is business.

The US can no longer claim ISIS is armed by weaponry captured from the Iraqi Army in 2014. Conflict Armament Research, an NGO that tracks movement of military weaponry internationally, concluded last year that ISIS is armed by US & Chinese munitions (including small arms & heavy equipment like Humvees). They found 20 percent of ISIS munitions were manufactured in the USA.

I was saddened when I looked at the UK and our record on arms buying. Out of the 50 most populated countries in our world we are 22 with 64 million people. The top 5 are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.

But these were the statistics that saddened me, we are ranked fifth in the world for arm sales. We spend 62 billion, a £1,000 per head of population. Why on earth as a small nation are we spending so much on arms? The top 4 nations are USA who spend 581 billion, China, 129 billion, Saudi, spends 81 billion and Russia, 70 billion.

It's worth noting about Saudi Arabia who are the 46th populated nation and who are spending a fortune on these weapons. It is also a nation with a terrible human rights record. Yet at this moment they are both ours and USA's strange 'bedfellows'.

Peace groups and organisations from across the UK; including, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, War on Want, Stop The War Coalition challenged the $1.75 trillion spent annually on the military and on war.

In his message to the Vienna Conference on Nuclear Weapons in December 2015, Pope Francis said: "The security of our own future depends on guaranteeing the peaceful security of others, for if peace, security and stability are not established globally, they will not be enjoyed at all. Individually and collectively, we are responsible for the present and future wellbeing of our brothers and sisters."

Explaining why campaigners are opposed to high military spending, they say: "We are always being told that high military spending is necessary to maintain peace, create jobs and combat terrorism. This myth is promoted by governments and by multinational arms companies who benefit from the global arms trade politically and economically.

"Military spending prevents the money from being used to tackle much greater challenges; such as relieving poverty, improving health and protecting the environment."

Rene Girard a Stamford professor who died recently was interested in the causes of conflict and violence and the role of imitation in human behaviour, this is known as 'mimetic theory.' Our desires, he wrote, are not our own; we want what others want. How true, we only need to watch a child playing with other children, their desire for the same toy is far more about having 'it' than the actual worth of the toy itself. I know this only too well when I am refereeing between my three young grandchildren.

These duplicated desires can then lead to rivalry and ultimately end with violence (Thankfully not with the grandchildren) and Girard proposed that human conflict was not caused by our differences, but rather by our sameness. Individuals and societies offload blame and culpability onto an outsider, a scapegoat, who on receiving the blame can then be eliminated or done away with, and this is done with the hope that unity will be restored.

We can see this blame game being played out vividly with the current and ongoing refugee crisis. This crisis has come from wars created by the western governments and they were, 'over there', but now this migration has brought thousands right to our doorstep both here and across Europe.

Refugees are often scapegoated in our media and press as, 'Coming over here to steal our lives and our jobs.'

The poor in our society are demonised and despised for being 'on benefits' and we have television programmes that show only a single story and not that of the majority who are struggling to make ends meet and life work.

Joan Halifax a Buddhist nun gave a really interesting TED talk, in it she speaks about compassion and her work on death row with the inmates.

She found that, 'the seeds of their own compassion that had never been watered'. Her view is that compassion is actually an inherent human quality and is there within every human being. The conditions for compassion though have to be activated and to be aroused, by particular conditions.

All our own life stories and our own journeys can ignite this within us to varying degrees.

Sadly compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. These emotions are the ones heightened by the media in the way they tell the story of the poor or the refugee.

"I know it's sad, but our country is already full up".

"Why do they all have phones"?

"Why is it all young men"?

We can see these questions and thoughts remove us from having to have true compassion for the plight of those worse off than ourselves.

Our world is sadly paralysed by fear and in that paralysis, we of course lose our capacity for compassion.The very word terror is on all our news feeds and can leave each of us terrified especially after the recent and terrible bombings in Tunisia, Beirut and Paris.

Theologian, Walter Bruegmann, writes in his book, 'Prophetic imagination'

That Empires are never built on compassion, but live by numbness. That Empires in their militarism expect numbness about the human cost of war. That Corporate economics expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation.

He speaks of Jesus, in his solidarity with the marginalised, 'he is moved to compassion'.

I believe as a Christian that Jesus came to penetrate this numbness by his compassion and by his compassion takes the first step, making visible the abnormality that had become business as usual, the nothing to see here, mindset that dulls our senses to the craziness of war and conflict.

The Greek word for compassion in the New Testament is 'splagchnoisomai' and it means: TO LET ONES INNARDS (feelings) EMBRACE THE FEELINGS OR SITUATION OF ANOTHER.

Can either numb us or activate us to do something

Peacemakers are called to be compassionate people

We can either retreat or advance

Empires are never built on compassion - The Kingdom of God is built on compassion

Empires live by numbness - The Kingdom of God mobilises our immunity

Empires embrace war and conflict - we as the children of God living in his kingdom

Let's imagine what this could be if we turned swords into ploughshares

Micah 4:2-3 NIV- the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. …

Peacemaker - is not about remaining silent, sometimes we have to have the loudest voices to raise awareness of injustice

Not about being quiet- sometimes those with the quietest personalities are working hard to see change for others in our world

And it certainly not about 'not taking sides' we read in

Luke 4:17-19 NIV

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor .”

I sit here waiting for the vote in parliament that will inevitably take us again into war. Take us to a place of bombing innocents, the collateral damage of many more lives decided in this vote is an acceptable price to pay.

I am encouraged that so many have stood opposed to war, so many have demonstrated, signed petitions, wrote to their MP's.

So many have acted like peacemakers and I say well done for trying.

There is much more to do we cannot give up, the job of peacemaker, sadly is never done.

Posted with Blogsy

Blessed are the peacemakers

 

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 

I asked the group a question: What does being a peacemaker look like?

Is it, Not taking sides? Remaining silent ? Or having a quiet personality

I grew up in a loving close knit extended family, the youngest cousin for a number of years. Having an older sister and brother by several years meant my being spoiled was inevitable; and I was.

I have clear memories of my own of my demanding nature, and when I met with neighbours from my very young days, they would inform me about my ability to scream very loud if I did not get my own way - oh the shame.

In my defence our household was somewhat filled with fiery personalities, my dad and older sister had many an argument on a Sunday afternoon post the Sunday lunch pub outing. Sadly I shared theirs and not my mum and brothers calmer natures.

My oldest and youngest daughters have inherited this fiery disposition and once relayed to me a time on a youth holiday when they were both arguing.

A friend then came along and used the phrase; 'calm down'. They both instantly had a common enemy and they quickly unleashed their fury her. They obviously both feel very sad that this occurred but as they said - red rag to a bull moment!

Remembrance Sunday is celebrated both in the United States and the Commonwealth, it is to commemorate the contribution of both military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts and it is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th.

The wearing of the poppy was an idea conceived by Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in World War I.

I read the poem , "In Flanders Fields" written during the First World War by a Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sadly this poem speaks of the premature death of those fighting, often these are very young men at the prime of their lives.

The torch is passed on to those who will continue to fight the enemy. Their deaths are to not be in vein and must be vindicated by winning the war.

The reality is the opposing side are equally driven by the belief that their side is right, they too are fighting on the 'right side'.

The First World War was supposed to be the ; 'The war to end all wars' this statement was attributed to USA president Woodrow Wilson, but was quickly met with cynicism, journalist Walter Lippmann wrote in Newsweek in 1967, "the delusion is that whatever war we are fighting is the war to end war", whilst in his Silent Majority speech Richard Nixon said, "I do not tell you that the war in Vietnam is the war to end wars"

 

Mary Scully a Human rights activist from the USA

Recently said

"Constant war is an inner compulsion, the driving force of neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism. But for tens of thousands of people, war is not carnage & devastation--it's good business.

 

An international arms fair held recently in Saudi Arabia had 100,000 arms dealers, military & government officials from around the world. according to one research institute, arms sales of the top 100 arms dealers & military services at the 2013 totalled $402 billion.

According to Paramount Group (a South African consortium of military manufacturers), military spending among Middle Eastern regimes grew to $120.6 billion in 2014. This year, 1,200 companies from 56 countries displayed their military wares. Arms dealers don't worry about things like weapons "falling into the wrong hands." Business is business; war is business.

The US can no longer claim ISIS is armed by weaponry captured from the Iraqi Army in 2014. Conflict Armament Research, an NGO that tracks movement of military weaponry internationally, concluded last year that ISIS is armed by US & Chinese munitions (including small arms & heavy equipment like Humvees). They found 20 percent of ISIS munitions were manufactured in the USA.

I was saddened when I looked at the UK and our record on arms buying. Out of the 50 most populated countries in our world we are 22 with 64 million people. The top 5 are China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil.

But these were the statistics that saddened me, we are ranked fifth in the world for arm sales. We spend 62 billion, a £1,000 per head of population. Why on earth as a small nation are we spending so much on arms? The top 4 nations are USA who spend 581 billion, China, 129 billion, Saudi, spends 81 billion and Russia, 70 billion.

It's worth noting about Saudi Arabia who are the 46th populated nation and who are spending a fortune on these weapons. It is also a nation with a terrible human rights record. Yet at this moment they are both ours and USA's strange 'bedfellows'.

Peace groups and organisations from across the UK; including, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Pax Christi, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, War on Want, Stop The War Coalition challenged the $1.75 trillion spent annually on the military and on war.

In his message to the Vienna Conference on Nuclear Weapons in December 2015, Pope Francis said: "The security of our own future depends on guaranteeing the peaceful security of others, for if peace, security and stability are not established globally, they will not be enjoyed at all. Individually and collectively, we are responsible for the present and future wellbeing of our brothers and sisters."

Explaining why campaigners are opposed to high military spending, they say: "We are always being told that high military spending is necessary to maintain peace, create jobs and combat terrorism. This myth is promoted by governments and by multinational arms companies who benefit from the global arms trade politically and economically.

"Military spending prevents the money from being used to tackle much greater challenges; such as relieving poverty, improving health and protecting the environment."

Rene Girard a Stamford professor who died recently was interested in the causes of conflict and violence and the role of imitation in human behaviour, this is known as 'mimetic theory.' Our desires, he wrote, are not our own; we want what others want. How true, we only need to watch a child playing with other children, their desire for the same toy is far more about having 'it' than the actual worth of the toy itself. I know this only too well when I am refereeing between my three young grandchildren.

These duplicated desires can then lead to rivalry and ultimately end with violence (Thankfully not with the grandchildren) and Girard proposed that human conflict was not caused by our differences, but rather by our sameness. Individuals and societies offload blame and culpability onto an outsider, a scapegoat, who on receiving the blame can then be eliminated or done away with, and this is done with the hope that unity will be restored.

We can see this blame game being played out vividly with the current and ongoing refugee crisis. This crisis has come from wars created by the western governments and they were, 'over there', but now this migration has brought thousands right to our doorstep both here and across Europe.

Refugees are often scapegoated in our media and press as, 'Coming over here to steal our lives and our jobs.'

The poor in our society are demonised and despised for being 'on benefits' and we have television programmes that show only a single story and not that of the majority who are struggling to make ends meet and life work.

Joan Halifax a Buddhist nun gave a really interesting TED talk, in it she speaks about compassion and her work on death row with the inmates.

She found that, 'the seeds of their own compassion that had never been watered'. Her view is that compassion is actually an inherent human quality and is there within every human being. The conditions for compassion though have to be activated and to be aroused, by particular conditions.

All our own life stories and our own journeys can ignite this within us to varying degrees.

Sadly compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. These emotions are the ones heightened by the media in the way they tell the story of the poor or the refugee.

"I know it's sad, but our country is already full up".

"Why do they all have phones"?

"Why is it all young men"?

We can see these questions and thoughts remove us from having to have true compassion for the plight of those worse off than ourselves.

Our world is sadly paralysed by fear and in that paralysis, we of course lose our capacity for compassion.The very word terror is on all our news feeds and can leave each of us terrified especially after the recent and terrible bombings in Tunisia, Beirut and Paris.

Theologian, Walter Bruegmann, writes in his book, 'Prophetic imagination'

That Empires are never built on compassion, but live by numbness. That Empires in their militarism expect numbness about the human cost of war. That Corporate economics expect blindness to the cost in terms of poverty and exploitation.

He speaks of Jesus, in his solidarity with the marginalised, 'he is moved to compassion'.

I believe as a Christian that Jesus came to penetrate this numbness by his compassion and by his compassion takes the first step, making visible the abnormality that had become business as usual, the nothing to see here, mindset that dulls our senses to the craziness of war and conflict.

The Greek word for compassion in the New Testament is 'splagchnoisomai' and it means: TO LET ONES INNARDS (feelings) EMBRACE THE FEELINGS OR SITUATION OF ANOTHER.

Can either numb us or activate us to do something

Peacemakers are called to be compassionate people

We can either retreat or advance

Empires are never built on compassion - The Kingdom of God is built on compassion

Empires live by numbness - The Kingdom of God mobilises our immunity

Empires embrace war and conflict - we as the children of God living in his kingdom

Let's imagine what this could be if we turned swords into ploughshares

Micah 4:2-3 NIV- the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. …

Peacemaker - is not about remaining silent, sometimes we have to have the loudest voices to raise awareness of injustice

 

Not about being quiet- sometimes those with the quietest personalities are working hard to see change for others in our world

 

And it certainly not about 'not taking sides' we read in

Luke 4:17-19 NIV

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor .”

I sit here waiting for the vote in parliament that will inevitably take us again into war. Take us to a place of bombing innocents, the collateral damage of many more lives decided in this vote is an acceptable price to pay.

I am encouraged that so many have stood opposed to war, so many have demonstrated, signed petitions, wrote to their MP's.

So many have acted like peacemakers and I say well done for trying.

There is much more to do we cannot give up, the job of peacemaker, sadly is never done.

 

 

 

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My birthday blog

21 August my birthday. Today is that day again. My 55th birthday, even writing this seems unbelievable, although I am grateful for everyone of these. In my day job as a nurse I often hear my patients at work telling me 'don't get old, it's no fun'. My come back is always 'it's better than the alternative'.

I am grateful for this birthday; being treated to presents, cards and hugs, all of which I gladly accept.

I have been happy to spend this with my lovely Alan and my 95 year old dad.

What a blessing this is; having parents who had you at 40 makes you fearful when growing up that you will not have them around into your older age.

My memories of my earlier birthdays were spent with my extended family on our annual holiday which occurred during 'wakes week'. This was the time that towns in the North all had their collective time off work. Our family destinations included Wales, Norfolk, but my main and best memories are those we spent in Newquay, Cornwall.

To be surrounded by your family on your very special day, to be centre of attention for that day was definitely something. Being the youngest of 3 with a much older sister and brother (making me already very spoiled) was why birthdays and their memories are to be treasured.

So here I sit after a lovely day spent with some of my lovely family, looking back on my life with all its ups and downs with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Social networking has brought family and friends back into my world and I love connecting and sharing stories, having 'happy birthday from family and friends near and far is just lovely.

I know that for some these relationships can be dismissed and disparaged as not real, for me I hold to the view that connection is always the best thing.

So thank you everyone who has noticed it's my birthday: thank you for taking time to help me celebrate and write your greeting. I truly appreciate them all. We are thankfully all different: we share some things or nothing in common but in this space we learn about one another and embrace new thoughts. I for one feel enhanced with my connections and I pray as each of you have birthdays or highs and lows we can find time to connect, celebrate, commiserate and share.

Love Bev x

21/8/2015

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

When governments don't act people must

"When governments don't act people must"

Recently I attended a meeting on a very warm summers evening with a group of people packed into a small upper room of a local cafe.

We were all gathered to hear James Godfrey and Sharyn Lock speak about the latest Freedom Flotilla 111 and its mission to sail into Gaza port.

The last flotilla in 2010 had seen the deaths of 10 peace activists.

Sharyn had participated in the last flotilla to be able to land safely in Gaza in 2008. The latest news on the flotilla as we were meeting was that the lead boat the Marianne of Gothenberg had been boarded in international waters and at that point they had no official word on the crew.

 

James spoke about the occupation of Gaza, as he said in one evening the history of this area is complex and should be looked at further; sadly there is much to read from the 67 years of conflict.
This information is from the 'International committee for breaking the siege of Gaza'.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 70% of whom are refugees, have lived under a draconian siege imposed by Israel since 2007. The Israeli authorities unilaterally control the entry and exit of goods and people by land, sea and air, with the exception of the civilian Rafah Crossing with Egypt. Some basic humanitarian goods are allowed to enter into the Strip, but never enough, while other necessary goods are entirely forbidden. People also cannot exit and enter Gaza freely, not even for commercial and humanitarian purposes. All of these restrictions are why many, including UN officials, have referred to Gaza as an "open air prison".

Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has also launched three protracted military assaults on Gaza: in 2008/2009, 2012 and 2014. Each of these attacks has worsened Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of homes, schools and office buildings destroyed.
There has been several freedom flotillas since the occupation, Sharyn an independent midwife from Gaza was on the 2008 Florilla that managed to land in Gaza to a rapturous welcome:
"You could see smiles on their faces like flowers blooming".
This breaking of the siege brought long hoped for joy, even if it was to be short-lived.
In 2006 in a democratic election and much to the disdain of the Israeli government saw Hamas win to become the leading party. For Israel they saw this group as a terrorist organisation. And because of this they then instigated the blockade with an almost total lock down on this small enclave.
Today the average age in Gaza is 18 after 3 conflicts 2008, 2011 and the latest in 2014 where over 2,000 were killed.

After 9 years of this blockade the majority of the people were aged 9 when Hamas were given power to rule Gaza; the continued collective punishment is against thousands who it would seem are not responsible for the fury unleashed upon them on a regular basis by Israel.
Some information on the situation
100,000 people in Gaza are displaced
The border is controlled by Israel at the Rafah crossing into Gaza where they limit and control the food, power, communication and water, plus all goods for building.

Only 5% of the promise aid of 5.4 billion has been given to Gaza to date

Sadly after last conflict there are now:

Unexploded bombs

Chemicals in water meaning much of the water is unfit for human consumption.

57% of people are food insecure.

There is a major problem with untreated sewage.

Unemployment at 43% of the population.

Power outages in Gaza with limits to electricity of 12 hrs a day or less.

12 trucks only per day let into Gaza with aid

The fishermen of Gaza should have at least 6 nautical-miles (NM) to fish, this is often limited to 3NM. For the fishermen sadly the fish nearer to shore are smaller and not as mature, their catch is not as profitable and certainly not as good for the consumer. They are often targeted and shot at by the Israeli troops who patrol this area. Even more tragic is that these same fishermen have even lost their lives.

The history of each of the freedom flotillas has been fraught with sabotage of the ships and equipment, people being followed and harassed.

In 2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings.
In 2014 the Gaza Ark a change of direction, this was the idea to build a boat in Gaza. They used local experts to work on the 24 metre fishing boat, refurbishing and filling it with locally sourced products to export out of Gaza.
This idea led to a lot of hope in Gaza and there was even a products list on the Gaza ark website.
The end of April 2014 saw the first test run which showed a problem with the propellor. The team got back to work with a view to sail in September 2014. Sadly on the 11th of July the boat was bombed by Israel. The only other place that was directly hit was the memorial to the Marvi Marmara and the 10 people who had lost their lives.
The team did not make a fuss because sadly lives were obviously more important, the accountant working on this project lost his brother during the conflict. And many others were deeply affected. The significance of these two bombings do continue to raise questions; was this a deliberate action by Israel?
The latest Freedom flotilla 111 had 47 sailors from 17 countries participating. The lead ship, the Marianne of Gothenburg, had been stopped in international waters that day and at the time of the talk the team still had no official news on where and how the crew were. The news was only reporting the official storyline given by Israel.
Sadly the crew of the Marianne were arrested and taken to Givon Prison in Israel. There was no loss of lives but tasers were used on the crew when Israel boarded the ship. The other ships in the flotilla returned home.

The ongoing way to help the Palestinian people peacefully will continue with those who work for the freedom flotilla continuing to find ways to break the siege. Plus the Boycott Divest and Sanctions group which is also a way to make big business think before trading with Israel. This certainly worked in South Africa to bring an end to the terrible system of apartheid.

A year after the last conflict raising awareness of the Palestinians and their plight continues.

I for one am thankful for these groups doing courageous acts to do this very thing.

The journey to see a free Palestine continues.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Freedom Flotilla 111 2015 'Journey to Gaza'

"When governments don't act people must"

Recently I attended a meeting on a very warm summers evening with a group of people packed into a small upper room of a local cafe.

We were all gathered to hear James Godfrey and Sharyn Lock speak about the latest Freedom Flotilla 111 and its mission to sail into Gaza port.

Sharyn had participated in the last flotilla to be able to land safely in Gaza in 2008. The latest news on the flotilla as we were meeting was that the lead boat the Marianne of Gothenberg had been boarded in international waters and at that point they had no official word on the crew.

James spoke about the occupation of Gaza, as he said in one evening the history of this area is complex and should be looked at further; sadly there is much to read from the 67 years of conflict.

This information is from the 'International committee for breaking the siege of Gaza'.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 70% of whom are refugees, have lived under a draconian siege imposed by Israel since 2007. The Israeli authorities unilaterally control the entry and exit of goods and people by land, sea and air, with the exception of the civilian Rafah Crossing with Egypt (which is under control of Egypt). Some basic humanitarian goods are allowed to enter into the Strip, but never enough, while other necessary goods are entirely forbidden. People also cannot exit and enter Gaza freely, not even for commercial and humanitarian purposes. All of these restrictions are why many, including UN officials, have referred to Gaza as an "open air prison".

Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has also launched three protracted military assaults on Gaza: in 2008/2009, 2012 and 2014. Each of these attacks has worsened Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation, with tens of thousands of homes, schools and office buildings destroyed.

There has been several freedom flotillas since the occupation, Sharyn an independent midwife from Gaza was on the 2008 Florilla that managed to land in Gaza to a rapturous welcome:
"You could see smiles on their faces like flowers blooming".
This breaking of the siege brought long hoped for joy, even if it was to be short-lived.

In 2006 in a democratic election and much to the disdain of the Israeli government saw Hamas win to become the leading party. For Israel they saw this group as a terrorist organisation. And because of this they then instigated the blockade with an almost total lock down on this small enclave.
Today the average age in Gaza is 18 after 3 conflicts 2008, 2011 and the latest in 2014 where over 2,000 were killed.

After 9 years of this blockade the majority of the people were aged 9 when Hamas were given power to rule Gaza; the continued collective punishment is against thousands who it would seem are not responsible for the fury unleashed upon them on a regular basis by Israel.

Some information on the situation

100,000 people in Gaza are displaced
The border is controlled by Israel at the Rafah crossing into Gaza where they limit and control the food, power, communication and water, plus all goods for building.
Only 5% of the promise aid of 5.4 billion has been given to Gaza to date
In 2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings. Sadly after last conflict there are now: Unexploded bombs: Chemicals in water meaning much of the water is unfit for human consumption: 57% of people are food insecure: There is a major problem with untreated sewage: Unemployment at 43% of the population: Power outages in Gaza with limits to electricity of 12 hrs a day or less: 12 trucks only per day let into Gaza with aid.

The fishermen of Gaza should have at least 6 nautical-miles (NM) to fish, this is often limited to 3NM. For the fishermen sadly the fish nearer to shore are smaller and not as mature, their catch is not as profitable and certainly not as good for the consumer. They are often targeted and shot at by the Israeli troops who patrol this area. Even more tragic is that these same fishermen have even lost their lives.

The history of each of the freedom flotillas has been fraught with sabotage of the ships and equipment, people being followed and harassed.

2010 the ship known as the Mavi Marmara set sail to Gaza as lead boat in the freedom flotilla. This voyage was met with tragedy when 10 peace activist were killed by the Israeli forces. Even though this was a crew who offered - Non violent resistance, this was sadly not reciprocated. To this day no one has been held accountable for these killings.

In 2014 the Gaza Ark saw a change of direction, this was the idea to renovate a boat in Gaza. They used local experts to work on the 24 metre fishing boat, refurbishing and filling it with locally sourced products to export out of Gaza.

This idea gave hope to many working on the project and the products available to sell were listed on their very own Gaza ark website. The end of April 2014 saw the first test run which showed a problem with the propellor. The team got back to work with a view to sail in September 2014. Sadly on the 11th of July the boat was bombed by Israel during the onslaught known as 'Operation protective edge'. The only other place that was directly hit was the memorial to the Marvi Marmara and the 10 people who had lost their lives.

The team felt this was obviously significant but they did not make a fuss because sadly lives were obviously more important. The accountant from Gaza working on this project had a brother killed during the conflict; And many others were deeply affected. The significance of these two bombings does continue to raise questions; was this a deliberate action by Israel?

The latest Freedom flotilla 111 had 47 sailors from 17 countries participating. The lead ship, the Marianne of Gothenburg, had been stopped in international waters that day and at the time of the talk the team still had no official news on where and how the crew were. The news was only reporting the official storyline given by Israel.

Sadly the crew of the Marianne were arrested and taken to Givon Prison in Israel. There was no loss of lives but tasers were used on the crew when Israel boarded the ship. The other ships in the flotilla returned home.

The ongoing way to help the Palestinian people peacefully will continue with those who work for the freedom flotilla continuing to find ways to break the siege. Plus the Boycott Divest and Sanctions group which is also a way to make big business think before trading with Israel. This certainly worked in South Africa to bring an end to the terrible system of apartheid.

A year after the last conflict raising awareness of the Palestinians and their plight continues.

I for one am thankful for these groups doing courageous acts to do this very thing.
The journey to see a free Palestine continues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy