The blog has been dominated by politics for the last few weeks. It is our nation’s preoccupation, and as Christians we have dual citizenship, in our nation and in the kingdom of God. It is right and natural that at a time when one of our places of belonging is in turmoil, reflection should happen on the interaction between the two, and what our belonging in the kingdom of God means for our belonging in our nation. Worldwide events are troubling too, with Nice prominent in our minds at the moment as the latest of a string of atrocities.
I’m going to share here something of my personal journey of the last few weeks. For me, three things are of note: trees; a social media campaign called ‘Movement of Love’ and a letter to the PM.
Trees are what held me steady when the news came in from the referendum. In their solidity and rootedness they reminded me that for all that much is changing, some things remain constant. The sun still comes up in the morning and goes down in the evening. Nature is flourishing in a time of year when there is much growth. There are things I am concerned about but God is still God, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.
Next comes my need to do something, which I think many of us felt. We saw an increase in racism, we saw hatred between those on opposing sides of the vote, and all against the background of troubling worldwide events. The antidote to such things is and always will be love, rooted in our God who is the source and origin of all love. I have become involved in launching a social media campaign, others may like to join in. #MovementOfLove and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/MovementOfLove2016/
Finally, a letter to our new Prime Minister. She said that she wants to work for a vision of the UK which includes everyone rather than just for the privileged few. It is all too easy to write angry and destructive letters so I decided to take the opportunity to write something positive, appreciating the sentiment in her words and encouraging her to stick to this commitment.
That is my story of the last few weeks, we each will have our own stories to tell. What is important is to ensure that our dual citizenships interact, that our citizenship of the kingdom of God inspires us to bring kingdom values to bear in our earthly citizenship too.
The Revd Cate Williams, Mission and Evangelism Officer for the Diocese of Gloucester