Peace Garden @ Muslim Burial Ground #Woking

The Peace Garden at the restored Muslim Burial Ground at Woodham Common, Woking as featured on BBC recently.  Read a description here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-35209441 


This is the BBC documentary, featuring my good friend Zafar Iqbal, who is works for Woking Council.
 

It is a more extended version there (c 1 hour)  is also a shorter version here  (c 20 mins) 


You can watch also Woking Borough Councils short film about the site  
If you look carefully you can see a bloke sitting on the bench in the opening sequence - which is me!)

 It seems really important in our day to recognise the contribution Muslim troops made in WW1 in the defence of Britain. It offers a very different narrative to so much of the polarisation that we hear today.

 

O that my eyes were a fountain of tears.....

Gaza may be small   – something like 50km by 10 km – its c  360Km2 about the size of the Isle of Wight !   But being small and living cheek by jowl is no excuse for Hamas (alegedly) using human shields or firing rockets from hospitals or schools – although there are a lot of myths about this and I’m not sure I believe the propaganda …

And I suppose its a matter of perspective – resistance fighters in WW2 are seen as heroes – and ‘collaborators’ as traitors.  But it really does depend which side you’re on....

And peace is the only side to be on in the Israel-Gaza conflict. 

It’s not black and white. There are no goodies and baddies.  But I have enormous sympathy for the citizens of Gaza who were being strangled by the blockade, before the rockets and the bombings. And for Israelis and their desire to live in safety, but…….  

a friend of mine Tanas Al Qassis  A Palestinian Christian who works for CMS wrote some wise words:

'If I were part of the Israeli government, I would invest in the Palestinian economy, make people flourish, be sure they have enough food, medicine and schools. This way, I will ensure that Israel will be safe.'

I have been watching far too many images from Gaza and Iraq  and am lost in the horror of what is going on …. 

All I / we can do is pray (and silence is so much better than words) and somehow hold on to hope …

a friend of mine posted the following quote:  “The world is a messy place. Particularly in the context of the digital age where the noise of data can feels tsunami-like. Your job …. is to translate the noise of living into sounds that people can hear. De-cluttered writing is the art of bringing the noise level down”.  Ravi Koli

I have turned to song as a way of translating the noise into sound that people can hear…..  And this one does it for me ….Sinead O’Connor – If You Had A Vineyard   from the album Theology  – ’

'O that my eyes were a fountain of tears that I might weep for my poor people’

Eyeless in Gaza

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Banksy-gaza.jpg Painting of Hope in the Gaza Strip Barrier Wall On June 2002 in the Occupied territories a concrete barrier walls were being erected.

I have read Malanie Phillip's  Times article about not getting the real truth about Gaza  and still think the Israeli response is disproportionate ....

I am no supporter of Hamas and their tactics, but Israeli bombing of Gaza is inhumane  - the casuality figures speak from themselves.  I think the same about Hirohima and Nagasaki (which we remember this weekend) and also allied 'smart' bombing in Afghanistan.  

The 'Muddle East' is very complicated and evades any attempts to make it clear distinctions between goodies and baddies. And once the dogs of war are released everything gets even messier. But the killing of so many civilians is not a proper response.  

In all of this dreadful conflict, I have found Colin Chapman’s article below most helpful….  Trying to make sense of Gaz   It's on the Fulcrum website   http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/trying-to-make-sense-of-gaza/  Just one quotation from the article:

If some Palestinians have not been supporters of Hamas and blamed it for the escalation of the fighting in the last two weeks, the ferocity of Israeli attacks on Gaza has probably had the effect of rallying widespread support for Hamas and its demands. One of the lessons of the Northern Ireland peace process was that there was no significant breakthrough until all parties – including those regarded as being extreme – were brought into the political process. …

Also BBC today had an article on life in Gaza  (Here is a more up to date trip from May 2014  of Mosaic conference)  It brought back memories ....

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I visited there as part of a delegation  (Feb 2002) when I was Regional Director for CMS and have seen the situation first hand (I know it was many years back) but it helps to identify and imagine what people are going through. Re-reading the report of the visit,  I realise, of course, nothing ever changes ....  The endless cycle of violence keeps repeating itself. 

 The reference to Samson as possibly the first suicide 'bomber (below) made me think of the play I'd studied at school: 'Eyeless in Gaza' (hence the title of this blog)   O that we would have eyes to see ..... and know how to pray  ...

‘Pray not for the Jew or Muslim or Christian, Israeli or Palestinian or Arab; pray rather for ourselves, that we might not separate them in our minds but instead join them in our prayers.’

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Report:  Across the lines (CMS, Feb 2002) DAY 8   Gaza   Suhaila Tarazi, Al Ahli Hospital, Gaza City

“Today began ominously. There had been several Israelis killed over the last few days, and Israel was in the mood for retaliation.

We went down to Gaza this morning, passed through the Eretz checkpoint where you choose either to be a VIP, diplomat, or international organisation/tourist. Palestinians are filtered off to enter what looks like a cross between a long tunnel and cattle grid, but of course there weren't any Palestinians today. Gaza has been closed for a long time. Most of its citizens are effectively prisioners. Over 100,000 Palestinian people used to work in Israel. Now they can't, and unemployment is at 60%.

The oppression of a people is nowhere more tangible than by taking the dusty road across Israel down to this strip of land - a mere 25 miles (along the coast), by 5 miles. Disconnected from the heartlands of Judea and Samaria (modern day West Bank), Gaza contains over 1 million people. Blown about by desert sand, Gaza City is more akin to Egypt or Pakistan than any town in Israel or even the West Bank….”

Katharine Maycock

“We made our way to the Al Ahli Hospital, founded by CMS in the 19^th century and now run by the Anglican diocese: the only Christian hospital in Gaza where 3000 Christians live alongside 1 million Moslems! The hospital is quite simply a beacon of light in a desperately dark place.

We met the hospital administrator, Suhaila Tarazi. Suhaila is a saint. She is smart, vivacious, friendly and generous in her explanation of middle-eastern politics and the sufferings of the Gazans. She spoke about the desperation of the current situation and how desperate people do desperate things! She spoke of the desperation of Samson when he killed himself as well as his Philistine captors. Was he the first suicide bomber? The hospital feels poor and run down. There were memorials on the wall commemorating Welsh and Scottish soldiers who fell at the battle of Gaza in 1917. Gaza has seen too many battles.

We made our way to the chapel for a eucharist. The service there was simple but moving. The first sound of shelling left me unmoved: surely a sonic boom or the local quarry? But then more consistent sounds and this time it did seem like bombs. In fact it was Israeli F16 bombers. They were bombing a PLO prison in the centre of Gaza city, only about half a kilometer from where we were!! We shared the peace to the sound of war: a moment we will never forget. After the service we went up on the roof of the building to see the smoke pouring from the site: a bit scary and a bit unreal! Then comes the post-mortem. Where? When ? Why? How many? Is it safe to move yet? Just another day in Gaza! My God its crazy!”

Rev Daniel Burton

“Everyday, life is full of blood. Every day there is a new victim.”  Suhaila Tarazi, the Palestinian Director of Al Ahli hospital told us. “We are all children of Abraham – we are all brothers, but because of politics, ‘blood’ brothers.”

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Reflections on Mr Bean's Nativity

MR BEAN & THE NATIVITY

This is a scene from Mr Bean's Merry Christmas video when he interacts with a Nativity Set in a department store - it is full of deep theological meaning !  Do watch it and enjoy.....  It is full of exotic imagery and wild imagination........ just like the book of Revelation!

I particularly like the appearance of the 'Dragon' in the form of a Dinosaur. And a 'war in heaven' that is fought over the Nativity scene, represented by the appearance of Tanks and a Dalek,  before the child and holy family are whisked off by an angel / helicopter to a place of safety. Well more likely to have been a 'Wilderness' in Egypt than a comfortable palace/ doll's house.  

There is even an earlier hint when the Dalek attacks the vulnerable lamb and exits laughing, thinking it has won, which clearly is a reference to the cross and 'the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world'  and Satan's apparent victory at Calvary!

Whilst this is all very 'tongue-in-cheek' the Revelation account is a parallel story to the 'normal' nativity scene and show another dimension to the narrative.  Worth thinking about


DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

The picture is from a blog for "nativity scene with dragon," which points out the extra Biblical Nativity Narrative which is not normally read out in Carol services! It seems more appropriate for a Dungeons & Dragons style fantasy game.
'The Birth of Christ was designed to overcome doom and gloom, and the dragon belongs in the Christmas story.'

  1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,  6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back..... (Rev. 12:1-7) 

WAR & PEACE

I received an email which quoted an extract from a Christmas news letter by a Christian worker in Afghanistan: 

"This Christmas, we pray for places of ongoing conflict in the Muslim world, like Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan... Even as we are grieved with the senseless deaths of young children in Connecticut, we also wept over 10 young girls in Eastern Afghanistan who were senselessly killed when a landmine exploded while they were gathering firewood. Across the border in Pakistan suicide attackers killed more people on the same day and vaccination workers were senselessly killed for doing a polio eradication campaign...
The one who wages war on earth, the Great Dragon of Rev. 12 is also part of the Christmas story—although not usually a part of the nativity scene (!)—he is clearly seen in the murderous fury of Herod and his soldiers. In Rev 12, this Dragon is thrown from heaven, that ancient serpent who seeks to destroy the Child and make war on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Rev 12: 17)... But his time IS short, and we know how it ends:
"Salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down..." (Rev 12: 10)
In a strange way the "peace on earth" announced by angels at Jesus' birth is mingled with the wrath of the Great Dragon. But our salvation is near and our eternal home is secure. Emmanuel is with us."

Christmas is seen as a time of Peace, but all peace must be fought for, it carries a price.... a laying down of life, a sacrifice.  Hopefully not literally for most of us, but at least involving a struggle, an effort.  ' Indeed we are encouraged to 'strive together for peace' (Heb 12:14)   

So may you strive for and experience that same Peace the Angels proclaimed to the Shepherds (and there are is a lot of emphasis on sheep in Mr Bean's Nativity): 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:13-14  

Thanks, Mr Bean for making it all so clear.......

O Little Town of Bethlehem

I came across this video made by a church in New Zealand of the Christmas Story told by Palestinians in the 'Land of the Holy One'. It has a real sense of authenticity about it and we will be using it in the International Carol Service at Christchurch, Woking on Sat 22nd Dec 2012

Published on 16 Dec 2012

The story of the birth of Jesus told by the people of Bethlehem. Made by St Paul's Church, Auckland, New Zealand. Anyone is welcome to show this film publicly, but not change it in any way, nor publish it, nor make money out of it.

St Paul's Auckland  by St Paul's Arts & Media (SPAM)

 

 

sacred:space - Community Art in Dangerous Places

IN our last sacred:space (Sat 31st March), we had a visit from Frederica from CMS who spoke about 'Community Art in Dangerous Places'. She described short term placements, through CMS, with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,  along the Wall that divides Israel-Palestine, in disputed Kashmir India; and in the slums of Islamabad Pakistan. The art is a product of her interaction with the Community, and reflects their interests, using locally available materials.

Some of Frederica's Art from her time in Pakistan

She is hoping to go to Kabul, Afghanistan in May to help with a Women's Peace Garden (visa permitting) - anyone interested in supporting her in this let me know, and I will point you in the right direction.

It was a fascinating evening and she even got us as a group to paint individual traingles which were all put together to form a patterned cross.

picture of the cross we created,  which was then used as a centre piece for out Good Friday Meditation.

Our journey to smile: Afghan Youth Peace volunteers

I was sent a link to a fascinating project in Afghanistan 'Our journey to smial: Afgan Peace volunteers. 2 video links are below:

Afghan lady & girl stand with vigil youth to give greetings of peace

The technical difficulties in uploading this video was worth it ; just to hear Nazuko and Parwin’s ordinary Afghan voices of peace raised along with a slowly growing heart-storm of love!

Watch an Afghan lady & girl stand with peace youth volunteers in greetings to the U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry, who urged for no troop surge.

Zekerullah, “Eikenberry Sir & your wife, do you have time to be with us at the Bamiyan Peace Park?”

Nazuko : “We wish for peace. Love is how we’ll ask for peace.”

The love in Zekerullah's journey to peace

Watch 13 year old Zekerullah explain why ‘there’s no justice or truth in Afg today’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgCXy60yy2U

Zekerullah, a 13 year Afghan youth peace volunteer who is taking part in the peace vigils at Bamiyan Peace Park, is learning to walk that 2nd mile for love.

Love speaks the truth with gentleness, calling corruption corruption, not a budding democracy.

Love will not nurture greed in Afghan robes or international suits.

Love walks 2 hours in the mud to earn a decent penny though it is aware that, by economic design, money and power are not with those who walk.

Love deliberately asks ‘Does Zekerullah deserve a decent livelihood as much as I do?’

Love waits eagerly for peace and justice, even if, by ‘fateful neglect’, it is un-noticed and un-rewarded.

Love knows that killing in whatever name, even in the name of ‘Overseas Contingency Operations’, is killing. Killing removes life and love; we are not able to justify to Zekerullah that killing is a civil response for our ‘contingencies’.

Love recognizes that war is not peace, whatever its prize.

Love empathizes with soldiers and victims who suffer post-traumatic stress, knowing that it is an ORDER of human conscience that can guide Mankind to wholeness, pleading ‘Enough. Please stop!’

You can follow more on the website or Twitter or via their Facebook group

journeytosmile

Youth Peace Volunteers on Facebook

Wild horses couldn't keep me away !

Hamid Karzai's inauguration in Kabul was attended by 40 foreign dignitaries and a large crowd of Afghan Nationals. The city itself was quiet. a public holiday was declared. I watched some of the ceremony itself on Afghan TV. Nothing untoward has happened so far.

The BBC reported on the day. I also read some of the comments on the BBC discussion: Can this be a new beginning? So many were negative and written by people I can only presume have not got a clue about how things are here in Kabul. So I made the following contribution to the debate:

I am from UK but currently visiting Kabul. So far the Afghans I have spoken to seem pleased with the inauguration. One said that all the wild animals had been running wild in the zoo. Now most have been put back in cages. It takes time for any system of government to develop. Karzai is in between the rock and a hard place. Western preconceptions of what democracy should look like in a place like Afghanistan and militant commanders ready to run wild again. Give the man (and country) a chance.

There is a dignity about people here in Afghanistan and I discern a real desire to build the nation and restore normality (whatever that means). Karzai's Govt must make this work. The alternatives are unimaginable.

But even if the wild animals are loose again, the humanitarian work and Nation building needs to continue.

Wild horses couldn't keep me away from this place!

11:11:11 Remembrance

REMEMBRANCE

At 11am on 11th of November we have a tradition to remember all those who have fallen in Armed conflict, since world war one (The Original Armistace day was 11o'clock on 11th Nov 1918) The tradition is marked by 2 minutes of silence and it is an opportunity to remember those who have died (in every conflict: Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan to name but a few) and pray for those who grieve their loss and also to pray for peace in the world today.

The following is some of the material I used in services of remembrance

WDYTYA - who do you think you are?

Many of us have been into family history, so now Armistace Day is when I remember 2 great uncles, both killed in Ypres – Pvt 8936 Albert Edward Toms of the 2nd Suffolk Rgt was KIA in Ypres in Feb 1915, 4 days before his 18th birthday, one of 54,896 listed on the Menin Gate and Cpl 5021 Ernest Gibbons of the 1st Royal Irish Rifles, KIA 1st Oct 1918 (after fighting most of the war) He was 'buried' in Dadizeele, near Ypres.

Harry Patch the last fighting Tommy died this year so there were no more WW1 veterans taking part in remembrance services around the country. 'The old boys are leaving' A YouTube video commemorates his life to the requiem music from Band of Brothers.

WAR POEMS

Poetry can capture some of the conflicts and contradictions of War and can speak in very personal ways. The 2 poems I have chosen are written in 1915 and 2009

'In Flanders Fields' Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow 


Between the crosses row on row, 


That mark our place; and in the sky


The larks, still bravely singing, fly


Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago 


We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,


Loved and were loved, and now we lie 
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 


To you from failing hands we throw 


The torch; be yours to hold it high. 


If ye break faith with us who die 


We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders fields.

HELMUND A poem by John Hawkhead

Author's introduction This poem concerns the current operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. My intention was to draw parallels between military operations using the poppy, which is grown extensively for opium and ironically is also the symbol we use for Remembrance Day.

Helmand



Night on the cold plain,


invisible sands lift,


peripheral shadows stir,



space between light and dark


shrouding secrets;


old trades draped grey.



Here too poppies fall,


petals blown on broken ground,


seeds scattered on stone



and this bright bloom,


newly cropped,
leaves pale remains,



fresh lines cut;


the old sickle wind


sharp as yesterday.



THE RED and THE WHITE

The red poppy speaks powerfully of Flanders and has become the symbol of Remembrance, whilst the white poppy brings us up to date to the opium fields of Afghanistan and has also become a symbol of Peace.

We used paper red and white poppies as prayers

Red Poppy – write the name of someone who has died who is known personallly ( or to an 'unknown Soldier') or the name of a conflict.

White poppy - write a prayer for World Peace - or a place or person needing 'peace'

We then placed the poppies in a bowl or on a table at the foot of the cross (to the music of Benedictus sung by Hayley Westenra)

PLAYING FOR CHANGE

Playing For Change as a group of musicians from around the world who have come together (vitually) to promote Peace. It seemed very appropriate to play their video War/No more trouble during the service

War has eroded religious faith for many but it was out of the context of a WW2 concentration camp, that this powerful expression of faith in the face of adversity was written by a Jew:

‘I believe in the sun even when it is not shining

I believe in love even when I cannot feel it

I believe in God even when he is silent….'