There will be signs
So says Jesus in this Sunday's gospel reading: "signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves."
The roaring sea and the waves have certainly caused distress among the nations this week. The death of around thirty people so close to our homes brings into ever sharper relief both the reality of the migrant situation and the fragility of life.
I'm sure I'm not alone in being reminded of the image of the lifeless body of three year old Alan Kurdi being carried up the beach by a Turkish police officer six years ago. What has changed in the last six years?
The latest UN figures suggest that "some 79.5 million people had been forced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, and human rights violations." That number includes 29.6 million refugees, 4.2 million asylum seekers, as well as 45.7 million internally displaced people. What's changed?
And going back even further, we are all too aware that Jesus and his parents became refugees in Egypt, forced into exile by Herod's persecution. And even further back, the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt and were left wandering and homeless for years before entering The Promised Land. What's changed?
Some people suggest that it was Einstein who first said: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Whoever it was, I can't help wondering if we - globally and historically - have got ourselves caught in this endless loop of unrealisable expectation. Something needs to change.
Was it Aldous Huxley who coined the phrase: I wanted to change the world, but I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing Is oneself.
Maybe we need to look, not to 'them' to do something, but to 'us' to adapt, respond, change. It is impressive how much is going on here in Bristol to assist refugees and asylum seekers who are brought here, so I am not suggesting that nothing is happening. Far from it.
Many of you will know that I am a great fan of the TV series West Wing - it's about a fictional US president and his key staff and very well worth watching! In one episode the president says to his senior team: “Naval Intelligence reports approximately 1200 Cubans left Havana this morning. Approximately 700 turned back due to severe weather, some 350 are missing and presumed dead, 137 have been taken into custody in Miami and are seeking asylum. With the clothes on their backs, they came through a storm. And the ones that didn’t die want a better life. And they want it here. Talk about impressive.”
And Jesus says: "When you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near."
Dan Tyndall, Vicar
