Snapshot of a timeline
I was all prepared to write a blog called Trains, Ferries and Automobiles, about travel delays and disruptions. For anyone interested the issues were a broken-down train outside York requiring a diversion via Leeds, the Shields Ferry services being temporarily cancelled due to damage caused by Storm Chandra, and a police incident on the Orwell Bridge which left me stuck in a traffic jam for about an hour.
In the grand scheme of things these are such minor inconveniences.
Because just look at the bigger picture. What is happening in the world? A quick scroll on your phone will give you the basics. You can dig deeper or look away. Sometimes the capacity for a deep dive in is just not there, but imagine living in these war-torn countries – there but by the grace of God and all that!
Only now things seem more real and less abstract. I spoke to two people at the weekend who have friends or relatives in Doha and Dubai. The bombs just got a lot closer, maybe too close for comfort.
It’s Monday morning as I put the finishing touches to this blog post. I’ve just hung out my washing, the sky is the perfect shade of blue, there is birdsong and children’s laughter in the air – long may it last - but now is not the time to be complacent when I live in a county with a high number of US military bases.
As I scrolled yesterday morning, I came across a comment that said “there are zero Christlike ways to celebrate the death of our enemies. Or anyone’s enemies.”
Below was a vitriolic headline saying the US had pulled off “the assassination of the century.” Wow doesn’t that sound great – but is it really?
What happens in the power vacuum and doesn’t this just embolden the aggressors to keep pushing their advantage? Maybe they are already untouchable. They would like to think so. Hey look at me – no don’t look at that (we haven’t forgotten the Epstein Files… oh and what about the West Bank?).
Going back to the first post I saw – should we celebrate anyone’s death? I know there are people in this world I’d like to see gone, but it isn’t Christlike to wish someone dead. Jesus told us repeatedly to love one another and that includes our enemies.
While some people are only now experiencing the “inconvenience” of what has been going on for decades, for others this fear is part of their daily existence.
I am currently reading Who Will Tell My Story? A Gaza Diary. I’ve not got far, bearing in mind the current round of atrocities in Gaza started on 7th October 2023 I’m up to 22nd, just two weeks later. The diarist has already had to move three times to find safety. There are shortages of food and bottled water.
There is also lots of kindness as people share the little they have.
It’s a harrowing but important read. We need to know the truth about what is happening. Scrolling is fine, but check your sources. Find the eyewitnesses with lived experience.
Everyone has an opinion and I am aware that I don’t know everything that is going on, the subtlety, the nuance, one would hope there is great diplomacy happening behind the scenes to negotiate peace.
The world is a mess, and from where I am sitting most of that seems to be caused by the rich and powerful who long to divide us with their unwinnable war games.
How can we make things right? As a Christian I believe we can pray, even when things feel hopeless and you seem to be shouting at nothing.
To that end at our kid’s club on Friday we covered a globe in colourful stickers, each one a prayer for peace. some stickers were placed indiscriminately, others in countries they had heard of. Maybe it’s just a tiny sticking plaster on a world that seems fractured beyond repair, but it’s a start and something positive.
