I know I am not alone in struggling not to be overwhelmed at times by all the negativity in so many words and acts, a sense of despair about the state of the world from Brexit to Trump, via massacres and other man-made disasters.
So let me share three shared encounters in recent days that reminded me that our spirits can be lifted if we allow other less binary, less visceral and conflictive human narratives to give us direction and a sense of common purpose.
The first was a silent and dignified ‘United in Grief’ vigil, with candles and flowers, on the steps of St Martin’s in the Fields for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka which for a short while brought a brief interlude to the hectic pace of office workers and tourists , drawing some of them to the gathering , in solidarity and shared remembrance and respect, as well as hope. Light in the darkness.
The second was the words I heard from a Catholic parish priest on Sunday, commending to his congregation the example of humanity in the meeting Pope Francis had with the gay comedian Stephen K. Amos shown on the recent BBC Pilgrimage series .
Amos told the Pope : “ Being non-religious, I was looking for answers and faith. But as a gay man, I don’t feel accepted.”
Francis replied: “Giving more importance to the adjective [gay] rather than the noun [man], this is not good. We are all human beings and have dignity. It does not matter who you are, or how you live your life – you do not lose your dignity. “There are people that prefer to select or discard people because of the adjective. These people don’t have a human heart.”
He added: “For those of you who are believers, pray for me. For those of you who do not believe, could you wish me a good journey, so I do not let anyone down.”
The third encounter was earlier today when I caught up with my Buddhist monk friend Reverend Gyoro Nagase while walking in Battersea Park.
It is Gyoro who has lovingly tendered the Park’s magnificent Peace Pagoda since it was inaugurated 1984. He belongs to the Japanese Buddhist movement Nipponzan Myohoji founded by the Venerable Nichidatsu Fuji, affectionately called ‘Guruji’ by his close friend Mahatma Ghandi.
Guruji stated that ‘Civilization is not to kill human beings, not to destroy things, nor make war; civilization is to hold mutual affection and to respect one another’. Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he pledged to build pagodas worldwide as shrines to peace.
My friendship with Guruji’s disciple Gyoro led to a memorable experience when three years ago we shared chants, and incense for my daughter’s safe journey to and from Japan . He had welcomed me to the cottage he lives in near the Pagoda where he has a room for shared prayer and meditation.
In our latest meeting this morning Gyoro asked me how my daughter was and I told him she had recently been to Thailand and worked as a volunteer in an elephant sanctuary. The update prompted a huge smile in Gyoro’s round face and an anecdote. He recalled the story of a young girl who had been saved from the Tsunami by an elephant who had sensed the impending disaster and saved his young human friend by taking her up into the high ground before the wave struck. “It was telepathy,” said Gyoro.
With that, we bowed to each other and went our separate ways, after agreeing that it was a beautiful day and promising to pray together again soon.
