October meeting

Our October meeting supported the intent for all UK Unitarian congregations to hold a service for peace on or near the 3rd Sunday in October, as an interfaith service.

We also noted that the "Hunger for Justice" campaign led by Christian Aid is being marked on the third weekend in October this year.  UK Unitarians sponsor Christian Aid as our strategic partner for delivery of aid towards justice.

 

 

 

Peace and justice were seen as being inextricable, peace not even being possible unless first there is justice.  We had a reading from the old Chinese tradition of Taoism, suggesting that personal and disciplined acts of peace within each life are necessary for peace to become a reality for nations.  We had a reading from the Jesus tradition where Jesus said that before you can have peace you must have justice, and that justice hurts, and breaks both things and assumptions, and stirs things up.  How working for peace will break relationships that we might not want broken, and how it will cost us personally if we get serious in our search for peace.  There is nothing easy about it and we are in danger of turning away from the task.

Our prayers were taken from the Pagan, Anglican, Hindu and Jewish traditions.  And we heard a vivid poem about how the clearing up really gets done after a war – and after the media circus has left town.  We heard and joined in with some wonderful pre-recorded hymns sung by the Unitarian Music Society, and discussed the deeply thoughtful lyrics.

We lit candles for our own concerns about peace.  We meditated on our own confusion about how our own actions can really make a difference, and what we can do if we want peace but the person we are dealing with just doesn’t want peace but revels in discord and power struggles.

Of course, we found no simple answers; but we each went away feeling the time together had been precious.