Dear Friends
As I write we still have no decision as to when, how, or even whether, we will leave the European Union. Perhaps by the time you read this the situation will be clearer – though I’m not convinced about that. It is a time of great uncertainty as far-reaching decisions are to be made that will affect the prosperity and stability of the country for years to come. The uncertainty has already had an adverse effect on our economy, with the inevitable knock-on effects for the poorest and most marginalised. More than that, we know that our country is deeply divided: rich and poor, north and south, rural and urban to name but a few of the fault lines. Facing the challenges ahead will be even more difficult given the divisions that have widened over the past months.
Faced with challenge and uncertainty we so often respond in “fight or flight” mode: we become aggressive, physically or verbally, or we seek to run away by burying our heads in the sand and hoping the problem will just go away. Neither of these responses are helpful in our current situation. Divisions simply become wider, positions more entrenched.
I want to suggest that, as people of faith, we make a conscious decision not to allow the fear that is permeating our society to envelop and trap us, and that we act deliberately to reach out to those who are different from ourselves, to those who may be suffering the most in these difficult times, to those least able to face the challenges. We know that our security comes not from a stable political environment, although it clearly helps, but is actually rooted in God’s overwhelming love for us. We can afford to be kind, generous and welcoming. Let us seek to be people who know the love of God and reflect it out to the world around us and to be beacons of light in these difficult times.
With every blessing,
Janet