“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal
life.” Jesus, in today’s Gospel John 6:24-35.
“All you can say…. is that Jesus is crying as well.” Southport resident.
This has been a week of great contrasts with the shocking murders of three young girls and attacks on other children and adults in Southport, riots in various communities, the controversy over newsreader Huw Edwards who had seemed so reliable and the celebrations of the best medal haul Great Britain has had yet in the Olympics. From the depths to the heights of the human condition, this has been a time of very mixed emotions with young lives being snuffed out in so terrible a way and families plunged into unexpected suffering. Individuals and crowds have had huge influence on events with a great deal of misunderstanding and unfounded rumour also having an effect, not least in the attacks on Muslims, mosques and police when an incorrect name and faith was wrongly circulated in connection with the Southport murders. Misleading gossip and deliberate manipulation created further pain in communities already devastated by the actions of another child, albeit 17 years of age and now named publicly in order to overcome the growing confusion and anger in some places. In the face of such animosity, as one Southport resident commented, “All you can say…. is that Jesus is crying as well.”
Some similarities were reflected in the Gospel reading today as crowds clamoured for Jesus after the feeding of the five thousand, intent on further food for their stomachs. Perhaps, as they had been following him around for days, some of them were out of work, concerned about where their next meal was coming from or wanting to change their lives – not unlike many folk today, too. Having had their fill only the day before when the miracle took place, and seeking more, Jesus tries to get them to think about food for their souls as well as their bodies. When they mention manna in the wilderness during the Exodus, he reminds them that it was not Moses but God who provided it and when they ask for this bread always, Jesus tells them that he is the Bread of Life. That triggers misunderstandings which lead to disputes amongst the disciples and the crowd, with some of the onlookers eventually turning against Jesus as they find his teaching too hard. Others, however, remain and grapple with what they are told and its implications.
Misunderstandings and grappling with what was unfolding were also key to what happened after the initial stabbings in Southport. Some chose to try to support the families and their community by donating toys, food, drinks and money or opening facilities so that people could support one another. Others brought flowers or took in for the night the many soft toys that had been left and brought them back in the morning so that they wouldn’t get wet. After the riots, some went to the mosque and tried to help with repairs or comfort those who had been the focus of further violence. Still others turned out to sweep up and try to rebuild what had been torn down in their communities rather than leaving it all to the various Councils. Even elderly Nans against Nazis turned out with placards as people responded in the various ways and options open to them. As Sunderland Central MP Lewis Atkinson put it, “People from every community are coming together to clean up the shards of hate and build a better future.”
The shards of hatred are clearly well dispersed in what has happened but so, too, is the balm of love and the choices to be made in the days, weeks and years ahead may magnify or reduce both. For the devastation and consequences inflicted on those communities by the murders and the violence afterwards will last long after the media and world attention have gone and the reality of the bereavement and change sets in. In the face of the circumstances and situations facing us, there may seem to be little choice and few options but on what are we feeding, spiritually as well as bodily? Do gossip, rumour and lies feed us, as they have fed so many in all that has happened recently? Are Jesus the Bread of Life and his teaching factors in what needs to be digested or, like many of the crowd listening to him then, might we also turn away as we consider what is hard to stomach in life today? Or will we choose to be sustained by the Bread of Heaven which, as the hymn Guide me O Thou great Redeemer suggests, will feed us now, in all that lies ahead and evermore?
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.