Monday 28 May 2018

Seeking the welfare of city



The pictures both come from a walk at Hardcastle Craggs on a Day Off last Thursday (a first discovery for us); the smell of the wild garlic was just one of the many pleasures.  There is a sense of direction here.  

Meanwhile, twenty-five years ago, I well remember the way Bishop Bill Ind used to refer to Jeremiah 29.7 ('seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for its welfare to you will find your welfare') as a key text for the concern of the diocesan training team (of which I was then part under him) for issues of justice and peace.  

So I was particularly struck yesterday evening, as a choir from the German Lutheran Christuskirche in London came to sing at Bradford Cathedral, when one of those who spoke also referenced it.  She was Faraha Mussanzi, who manages the Millside Community Centre in central Bradford.  

Her father was a peace activist who had to flee the Congo seventeen years ago - and she followed into exile as a refugee aged ten.  It was the text she said had eventually enabled her to see a calling for what she now does.  

And the choir sang five poem settings by Orlando Gough; new to me, and very welcome discoveries.

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