FROM REVEREND ROBIN
It has been a busy couple of months for the Camelside Benefice, with many wonderful events happening from Carnivals, Garden Safaris, Hymns and Pimms, Pet Blessings and River Baptisms.
The response to all of these has been great but one. in particular, certainly got people talking. The Baptisms down at Delphi Bridge resulted in my first (and hopefully last) radio interview. There was something very unnerving about knowing everything you said would be recorded and played back for people to hear. When we have conversations there is no record other than our memory. If we say something wrong or not quite what we meant our facial expressions, natural pauses, give allowance to this and we correct ourselves. When every word, every hesitation, every umm or err, is there for people to hear it feels amplified. We are social beings, so much of our communication is non-verbal and when that is taken away what you say can be misinterpreted, or even as we have seen recently, can be used to say things that people would not normally say when face to face with someone.
The riots that have been happening in August (which I hope and pray have ended now) were fuelled by people online stirring up hatred. Saying things that people would not dream of saying in person; but the anonymity, the removal of that large portion of communication has given people the ability to bypass the looks of shock on the recipient’s face, the social cues that tell someone what they are saying is not appropriate or right. And it snowballs, once one person says it, it gives freedom for others to say it, and it gets bigger and bigger and then we have what we have seen in the streets and towns.
We must call it out, I preached recently that we have become very good at calling out misogyny. We pull up children who say ‘girls can’t do this’. We are not quite there yet when it comes to other faiths or issues of immigration. Those riots are claiming to keep England a Christian nation and yet their behaviour is anything but. It is mindless violence and as far from Christian as you could get. Christ tells us to love our neighbour, to welcome the alien. He doesn’t tell us to smash a luxury soap retailer and steal or burn down a hotel full of migrants. He tells us that we are all loved by God who made each and every one of us and knows us by name. He doesn’t say, find someone who looks different or thinks differently to you and beat them up. And perhaps the hardest one of all, he tells us to forgive.
So, I will condemn the actions of these rioters from the safety of my office in St Tudy, and I will pray for them that if they truly want England to be the ‘Christian Nation’ they are trying to protect, instead of taking to the streets to burn and steal, they come to church and pray and encourage others to do the same. I will also pray for those affected by these actions, that they find the strength to forgive them, and if they can’t, I know God will do it for them.
To end on a happier note, due to the response of the River Baptisms, I have been asked to hold another one so this will take place at Delphi Bridge on the 15th September at 13:00. If you would like to be baptised in the river do let me know.
God bless.
