Don't be scared of me

This weekend was #pray24brum, Birmingham's celebration of the week of prayer for Christian Unity, with the theme "Do Good, Seek Justice." 

At the prayer breakfast that began the second day I was one of several people asked to speak for one minute, reflecting on the theme, about my vision for the city / country / world in 2023. 

I didn't write a script, so I don't have a record of exactly what I said, and it probably wasn't entirely coherent anyway; but this is the recent encounter I reflected on and the dream it inspired ...

A couple of weeks ago I was leaving and locking up at the end of a Stories group session in the city centre. It was early evening but, being December, pitch dark. I happened to glance across at a guy who was sat on the steps nearby. As I looked across he said "don't worry, you don't need to be scared of me"

As it happens, having spent many years living in the city centre, encountering all kinds of people, I wasn't in fact, scared. I didn't glance across in fear. But I was struck by how he felt he had to engage with me. That his assumption was that my assumption would be that he was someone to be nervous of.  

It saddened me that he probably lives much of his life assuming other people are afraid or suspicious of him. And it saddened me even more that he is probably right. That many of those who glance in his direction, and let's face it, many of those exiting our church buildings, would indeed be afraid.

As a positive aside, the fact that he opened a conversation, (which I confess, I probably wouldn't have done), meant we had a brief chat that would probably otherwise not have happened, I learned a little about his life, and I now know how much he likes chocolate milk.

So back to that dream or vision of justice for the coming year ...

There's a quote that says "justice is what love looks like in public". So that implies that seeking justice is about seeking to love.

Very often, I think the opposite of love is not hatred, but fear. The bible reminds us constantly to "not be afraid". If it is there so frequently, I don't think that's because it is something easy or automatic; on the contrary, I think it is because to not be afraid is a radical act which requires choice and commitment. 

But I also think if it is there so frequently it is something that we are called to. If we are to love, if we are to seek justice then we must find ways to be less afraid. Less afraid of each other, less afraid of the world. And we must find ways to communicate that lack of fear, so that those we encounter don't assume we are afraid of them and then maybe in turn may be a little less afraid of us, too. 

So my dream, my vision, my prayer for each of us and all of us: as individuals, as communities, as a world is that we step out with a little less fear of each other and allow that to inspire the ways we live together. Love and justice will follow where our fearlessness leads.