OSCA
An ancient expression , proclaimed over the children of Israel
SHALOM , SALAAM , BLESSING
Tim Dixon was in Australia last year for the Richard Johnson Memorial Lecture : Crossing the Great Divide , building bridges in an age of tribalism . An Australian-born and London-based economist , he said ‘ the forces that we ’ ve always assumed hold us together as societies – which are shared experiences , shared community , shared values , etc . – those forces are all weakening ’.
Dixon was a personal friend of Jo Cox , and her husband . Jo Cox was the UK Labour MP who was killed by a far-right extremist in her own constituency in 2016 . In the aftermath of this , Dixon founded More in Common , described on LinkedIn as ‘ an international initiative to build communities and societies that are stronger , more united and more resilient to the increasing threats of polarisation and social division ’.
More in Common has research and development teams in four of the larger liberal democracies , the UK , the USA , Germany and France . It appears that stories are a key element in binding people together . ‘ Stories and narratives can unite or divide us , and we believe in the power of stories of a “ bigger us ” to counter the appeal of efforts to divide societies into “ us-versus-them ”’.
While in lockdown I ’ ve been reading a little more than usual . I read Alan Gratz ’ s book Refugee . Wow ! What a page-turner . OK , so it ’ s for ‘ young adults ’, but aren ’ t some of the best stories ? Gratz has combined three action-packed and emotion-laden stories of young people and their families , set decades apart , but finally interrelated .
I ’ d like all teenagers and their parents to read it . Why ? It is precisely the power of story to create empathy . Especially if the story is earthed in reality . Gratz ’ s book is deeply earthed in real stories . In short and dramatic chapters he creates massive empathy for the three children that are the key players ; Josef , Isabel and Mahmoud . Refugee generates empathy across age , race and religious divides .
I ’ ve also read Apeirogon by Collum McCann . It is based on the real friendship of two men , Bassam and Rami , whose daughters were killed in the Middle East . It is , says Alex Pearson in The Guardian ( 24 February 2020 ), a ‘ novel that buoys the heart ’. He describes the friendship of Bassam and Rami as ‘ a thing of great and sustaining beauty ’.
Could it really be , as McCann suggests , ‘ the solution to the conflict lies in something as simple and easy as friendship , as the acknowledgement of a shared experience , as love ’? McCann ’ s book ‘ could have been maudlin , tawdry , exploitative , trite … Instead , it ’ s a masterpiece , a novel that will change the world , and you don ’ t hear that very often ’ ( Pearson ).
This year , after preaching through Jesus ’ Sermon on the Mount , I continued through the four other blocks of Jesus ’ teaching in Matthew . Matthew presents Jesus ’ ‘ five books ’ as a kind of new Torah . ‘ Love the Lord your God and love your neighbour as yourself ’. It ’ s that simple , and that difficult .
One of the phenomena to emerge during the current pandemic is known as The Blessing . This is an expression of the ancient blessing that Aaron was told to proclaim over the children of Israel . It ’ s found in the Bible in the Book of Numbers ( 6:24-26 ).
It is currently being shared by Christian groups in many languages all over the world on social media . The genesis of the current singing is Steven Furtick ’ s Elevation Church , and was written and sung by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes .
In a Zoom meeting on 30 July , Whitehorse clergy previewed a Whitehorse version of the Blessing . I screened it on our live streamed service on Sunday 2 August . Think globally , act locally .
The Lord bless you and keep you . Shalom , Salaam , Blessing .
GRAHAM BRADBEER – OSCA CHAPLAIN
66 Great Scot Issue 160 – September 2020