FROM THE BOUNDARY – Encounters – Part 3
I’ve written about meetings with strangers. At root, it’s been a prayer to live life compassionately and creatively, transfiguring all the negative things in us and our world. It’s been about living life urgently, to the full. It’s also been to remark the reality that mystery never leaves us alone, and that there’s a world within us of which, for far too long, we’ve been unaware. Encounters with strangers touch the threshold to that world.
Christmas Eve. I watched the midnight service from Croydon Minster on TV. Remember, our Sir Wilfred Wood was bishop there? The racial mix of the congregation was like a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Just wonderful. Then, on Christmas Day, I went with my grandsons to St Augustine’s RC Church in Milton Keynes. Snap. India, Africa, the Americas, Europe – the world was there. And I was part of it, with the babe, his Mum and Dad, the magi, the shepherds, the animals and countless millions down the Christian centuries – all Jesus’ rainbow children. Tears filled my eyes, and I understood now the significance of my ‘mission’ rosary acquired from the John Bradburne Society just days before: green beads for Africa, red for the Americas, yellow for Asia, blue for the South Pacific islands, white for Europe. I shall never forget my visit to St Augustine’s. How could I? Through marriage and academe, in my way I’ve crossed continents, and entwined colours, and would, fearlessly, raise the standard for oneness anywhere. It’s been, perhaps, the most fulfilling aspect of my life. I think you’ll understand. One world. One humanity. God forbid that Brexit and the election of Boris Trump will damage the fabric of things. We’d better be vigilant.
Remember the Romanian beggars? Well, in a nearby town in Wales there’s a shop called ‘Cariad’, which means ‘darling’, ‘my love’. It’s operated as a charity in support of needful young people in Romania and, given the lovely ethnic artefacts sold there, for me it’s very much a place of pilgrimage. At my visit over Christmas I met Malcolm, a friend of the owner. He told me this lovely story. Years ago, he found an uprooted sapling tree in the middle of a field. Rather than have it shrivel and die, he took it home and replanted it on a river bank on his land. Some years later, he tripped and would have fallen into the swollen river had he not clutched onto this same tree. As he pulled himself up, he heard a voice: “You saved me. Now it’s my turn.” I bought a book on the Celtic concept of ‘soul friends’ and got Malcolm to sign it.
On Boxing Day, I strolled to the shops in Central Milton Keynes. I found a lovely Sri Lankan shop which was a smaller version of our ‘Gifts and Things’. I met the owner, Rasanga, a Buddhist, and bought a tall, milky-white ceramic Buddha in meditation position. I carried him back on the train to Wales and then, the following week, found smaller, milky-white, ceramic ‘sacred heart’ busts of Jesus and Mary in an antique shop. Of course they came home. I placed them at the feet of my new Buddha on the piano and all seated on a lovely cloth, with the effigy of Jesus, which was blessed at the anointing stone of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. A ceramic ‘lotus’ candle holder stands before them. You might find this odd – Buddha, Jesus and Mary all together and all given equal prominence. But think. Central to Buddhism is the idea that love lies at the heart of each of us. We just have to wake up. Buddhism does that. Love is central to Christian belief too. Jesus calls us out to the garden, with fire and sword. So in Buddha we have ‘love in contemplation’, in Jesus ‘love in action’ – a but simplistic, yes, but still meaningful I think. We can sit under the Bodhi tree and contemplate. And sure, we can follow Jesus into the garden and plant seeds. The Spirit Within, the love of our hearts, won’t let us sit for too long. Sure, it may not always be comfortable out there. It can get pretty hot. But then our faith doesn’t promise us comfort, does it? Following the Way of our Master might just make us heroes. Right? OK then, let’s become gardeners. Let’s add our voices and love to the world. There’s so much to do, so many things WE can do, even if it means no more than connecting with a stranger. Our love will ever be our guide. It might be working with the homeless or other volunteer work; or joining a climate change group; or taking up an honourable political cause. For me, it’s been giving my support, as academic lawyer and priest, to the LGBTQ cause, for which I will ever stand on the bridge. Oh, we can’t change it all. But we can plant seeds and show the world our footsteps in the earth to prove we’ve been there. Call it ‘living in the grace of God’.
Go safely, then – until the next time.
Blessing, from the boundary: “When your eyes freeze behind the grey window…may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight” (John O’Donohue).