Celebrating differences

Recently, I was invited by my lovely seven-year-old neighbour, to be present at the service to mark her First Holy Communion. When I arrived, the church was filled with family members, so I slipped into a seat, next to a young man, right at the back of the church. He was considerate and immediately began talking to me asking if I was there to support a grandchild.

Explaining that I was there at the invitation of a young friend, he made me smile when he said that it was good that I was able to have 'an hour out of the house.' It crossed my mind that it would be good to have an hour inside the house but sat there thinking of how we often judge others on first appearances. To this young man I was a lonely little grey-haired old lady.

It brought to mind an incident that happened when I was teaching. A wonderful lady, who supported our pupils, had told me that she was originally from the Caribbean. When organising a Global Awareness Day, I asked if she would share her story with our children. They were totally astonished to hear that this lady, whom they had taken for granted to be part of our school setting, had, after living with grandparents in the Caribbean, travelled by ship, along with her ten-year-old sister, at the age of eight, to join their parents who were already nursing in London.

As she revealed her story, the children formed a totally different perception of her. We should never 'judge a book by its cover' but how often do we do this in our churches or wider communities? Frequently, we judge on appearances or situations without background knowledge. Our natural instinct is to focus on differences or faults in others whilst ignoring our own shortcomings.

How wonderful it would be if we all set out to accept that we all have one thing in common and that is that we are all different. Differences are there to be celebrated and there is much to celebrate, and to share, in our eight, often very different, but equally special, Ministry Area churches. Celebrating diversity invites people to appreciate and understand each other rather than to judge or criticise, reinforcing all the values of acceptance and empathy which are essential in creating a peaceful society.

Two of the most important qualities that we might achieve in our lives are tolerance and respect. Simplified, in the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us to 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'