Thought for the Week by Jette Howard

Skipton Quaker Meeting

THE book of Quaker Faith and Practice encourages us to: “Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgements about the life journeys of others.” We are asked: “Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God.”

Our world today is huge with massive differences pulling people apart and at the same time the globe appears to have shrunk in that we are connected to each other across vast spaces and borders with a few clicks on a mouse.

I plan to “sit down for breakfast and stand up for farmers” (Fairtrade Fortnight, February 29 to March 13) and so try to understand the life of others across the globe. When I buy and consume fairly traded goods I am respecting the work which has gone into their production.

At the same time I am part of a group trying to work out how we can make a positive difference in the lives of people who have been forced to flee from wars and now live quite close to us. How do we show a refugee that she is unique, precious, a child of God? We will invite her into our home, prepare some food and eat together. We will listen to their life stories and cry with them, but this is just the beginning.

I am not the only one who routinely looks for the Fairtrade mark when shopping or who shops for the local food bank. I feel we are all called to act with empathy when encountering strangers in our midst.

Putting aside prejudice and working towards mutual understanding may take a lifetime.