A member of one of our congregations was embraced so
enthusiastically during the exchange of the Peace at a recent Sunday service
that she had a rib broken. She suffers
from osteoporosis (literally ‘bone porousness’, medically ‘reduction in bone
density’) and apparently the snap was audible.
A recent tripping accident at this church got into its
‘accident book’ and thus on to the agenda of its District Church Council for a
‘lessons learnt review’ which has resulted in the marking of a dangerous edge
and the provision of a torch by the south door so that those entering in the
dark have light by which to find their way to where the light switches are
located. All simply following good
practice guidelines. So I ought to make sure we don’t allow the implications of
this incident to slip and follow a similar procedure again.
I’m not sure where that will take us as it means engaging
with an odd situation the Church of England has found itself in – a habit
embedded over perhaps forty years of treating the exchange of the Peace as an
assertion of human fellowship (often represented by a determination to greet
everyone present and to engage some of them in extensive conversation) rather
than a symbolic passing of the touch of the peace coming from God.
What I do feel (much later in the year than usual) is a
Christmas sermon coming on. The Prince
of Peace did not embrace our fragility with force but comes almost imperceptibly
alongside it. It is the ‘wise’ men who blunder
in thinking they’ve discovered an alternative seat of power and human strength thus
unknowingly provoking the slaughter of the innocent and flight into Egypt.
Perhaps it is having joined the members of the local Hope
for Justice group for their Christmas meal last night – six people from five
Anglican, Catholic and Methodist churches and from the Harbour Place Day Centre
who have raised significant money for projects tackling human trafficking and
modern slavery and quietly engage those able to keep this a priority in local
policing.
Perhaps it is being reminded that Harbour Place’s Mission Statement
says it ‘aims to serve those who may be considered vulnerable or socially
excluded within the community through actions which promote positive choices in
people’s lives’ which is probably as good a greeting of Peace as one could get
and certainly one which doesn’t propose hugging so tightly that damage might be
done.
The ship on the rough sea is on the Churchwardens’ staves in
St Nicolas’ (and reflect St Nicolas’ role among the patron saints of seafarers and
perhaps of those being trafficked).
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