BBC Radio 4 20170819

Good Morning

One of the consequences of the recent series of attacks on innocent civilians in many European cities is the emergence of a basic pattern of response: a period of bewilderment is followed, surprisingly quickly, by remarkable resilience.

Bewilderment was obvious in Barcelona yesterday as the King of Spain joined in the minute’s silence at Midday followed by a spontaneous and long applause. Overnight images of children clutching their parents; people fleeing from one street to another in search of safety and the poignant picture of a young man hunched on the pavement, head in hands, being comforted: all of these were image-based modern day parables, begging answers to impossible questions.

For many, as some families of victims of the Manchester Arena attack have been explaining this week following news that the venue is to re-open , such unimaginable, life-changing events leave many scars which only time might help to heal, well after the headlines have faded.

But the growing resilience of peace-loving, faithful people, such as we have already seen in London, Manchester, Paris, Nice and Berlin was also already in evidence in Barcelona yesterday.

For we should not forget one thing. The indiscriminate nature of this kind of evil against people of many nationalities and faiths brings out the resilient neighbourliness which, time and again in many cities in recent months, has pierced the pain of bewilderment.

In the Gospels, Jesus explains more than once – it is by the respect and love that we show for a neighbour – whoever they are – that the love of God is seen. Nothing is more important than this. It is the nub of the Christian message.

A Headteacher friend of mine gave me Richard Rohr’s recently published book “The Divine Dance” to read over the summer. I was actually reading it when first pictures of the Barcelona attack began to unfold. Rohr suggests that if we want to survive in an “always and forever uncertain world” we need to try to find a way of applying grace, love, mercy and forgiveness.

Time and again, such a pattern of bewilderment being transformed, is found in the Book of Psalms (where I often look for wisdom). The Psalms talk of a strongly-held conviction that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life – like a set of signposts – that we can use to help us look more confidently to the future……. , particularly in times such as these.