I don’t know about many of you but with all the things that have happened in our world in this month of June 2016 my head and my heart have been all over the place. I have experienced pain,sadness, and anger at the death of our young and beautiful people in Orlando, and wept over the death of Jo Cox. I have struggled with making a decision around leaving or staying in the European Union and at one stage was not sure if I would vote but knew how important it was for me to contribute to the life of our world so I did.
In the midst of it all I had numerous questions. Why is this happening? Why so much violence displayed because of difference? Where is love and compassion for our neighbour? Everywhere I looked things were changing. At present here in the UK many would say its not just change but chaos as there is uncertainty about the future.
Chaos literally means a time of moving from disorder to order. It can be a creative time in which the goodness of humanity will and can shine through. We saw this as communities gathered to remember the people of Orlando, to remember the life of Jo Cox. As I pondered this reality I recalled the work and life of Harvey Milk who fought consistently for the rights of all those without a voice showing the goodness of humanity. He was known for saying ‘You gotta give them HOPE’, and for standing up for the rights of gay and lesbian people. The night he died 40,000 people, men and women, old and young, gay and straight kept vigil outside city hall in San Francisco. Why? - because they wanted change, they wanted to show love, compassion and support for a man who wanted equality of all.
These gatherings we have seen in Orlando and the UK are our sign of HOPE. In the midst of despair we are united and stand beside each other against violence to reach out to our brothers and sisters. We want the violence and the hatred to stop so we stand together throughout our world to break down barriers, reduce violence and intolerance and to promote human rights and, as Cardinal Juan Fresnos of Chile said, ‘Whoever stands up for human rights stands up for the rights of God’.
God bless,
Lorraine
In the midst of it all I had numerous questions. Why is this happening? Why so much violence displayed because of difference? Where is love and compassion for our neighbour? Everywhere I looked things were changing. At present here in the UK many would say its not just change but chaos as there is uncertainty about the future.
Chaos literally means a time of moving from disorder to order. It can be a creative time in which the goodness of humanity will and can shine through. We saw this as communities gathered to remember the people of Orlando, to remember the life of Jo Cox. As I pondered this reality I recalled the work and life of Harvey Milk who fought consistently for the rights of all those without a voice showing the goodness of humanity. He was known for saying ‘You gotta give them HOPE’, and for standing up for the rights of gay and lesbian people. The night he died 40,000 people, men and women, old and young, gay and straight kept vigil outside city hall in San Francisco. Why? - because they wanted change, they wanted to show love, compassion and support for a man who wanted equality of all.
These gatherings we have seen in Orlando and the UK are our sign of HOPE. In the midst of despair we are united and stand beside each other against violence to reach out to our brothers and sisters. We want the violence and the hatred to stop so we stand together throughout our world to break down barriers, reduce violence and intolerance and to promote human rights and, as Cardinal Juan Fresnos of Chile said, ‘Whoever stands up for human rights stands up for the rights of God’.
God bless,
Lorraine
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