There are times when it is necessary to collect up all of your horses and drive a chariot through life. Unfortunately right now one of my horses is seriously distracted grazing somewhere he probably shouldn't be, another refuses to leave the stable saying he has a headache, and one other thinks he belongs to a circus so should be trotting round in circles making everyone laugh. Perhaps there are people about who can be so incredibly organised, doing everything at the right time and with sufficient confidence to make an impression. Instead at that crucial moment .when what's really required is some form of leadership, just one bit of horse power (with occasional writers' block) is trying to do its best. .
This year Reading Interfaith Group had focused upon doing a minimum of two events aimed primarily for its membership, some activities in co operation with other groups besides take responsibility with the Reading Faith Forum, for a Friendship Walk. So far we have held an event on Relationships and Religion, which was (though I say it myself!) probably one of our best, although not really with a large enough audience of supporters to do the quality of our speakers justice.
These days everyone seems to be so busy. For every moment of our time there nearly always seems to be a choice in which we have to chose our priorities. Out there all sorts of wonderful committed people are doing incredible things for their families, friends, neighbours, communities and even trying to support the whole planet in the way they live their lives. Through all these differing concerns somehow our group needs to get a message across about the importance of working for peace. It may seem this process begins by making a stand, stating an opinion, confronting the opposition, waving a placard, or even creating an environment to include only those who respect your opinions or think like you.
To me peace begins with a tiny unpredictable step forwards. Perhaps that moment is a little frightening. We may need to break through our own barriers of self defense first before even being able to see, let alone appreciate our neighbour. How do we make those small hesitant steps a priority? Right now I am wondering how many collective steps does it take from the community of Reading to make a Friendship Walk?
Over the past few weeks we have been so well supported by the faith communities of Reading. This willingness to help and welcome an unpredictable number of visitors into their various places of worship has allowed us to finalise out route considerably earlier than in previous years. In a much shorter route this year, on September 12th the Friendship Walk will be dropping in to South Street Mosque, Christ Church and finishing at Reading Hindu Temple. So far plans for a great afternoon out peace-making about Reading are looking good................... ! Do please keep logging in to our web site so I can tell you more about them later.
