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St. Mary’s Luton
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Thursday 12th January 2006 Herald & Post
 ‘Look beyond the hood’
 Vicar’s plea after teen ASBO order
 TOWN HALL STEPS  July 7 2006
Rattling into London on the underground can be a surreal experience at the best of times. During this last year it has been even stranger.
Unfortunately many of us have changed the way we look at, and look out, for people since last July. Our natural inclination, perhaps, is to create enemies of others in our own minds - from football fans to foreigners. After all, it’s a lot easier to know where you stand when there’s an ‘us’ and a ‘them’. We even do it between differing faiths, denominations, and even churches.
Yet I am concerned that we don't play the game of 'us and them' - that we become slower, perhaps, to create enemies in our own minds of other people, and quicker to ask whether those who are 'set up' by governments or media to be our enemies really are.
Yet God calls us to love both our neighbour and, much tougher, our enemy. We often re-visit the parable of the Good Samaritan to ask, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ But at such a changing time as this, can those of us with faith help to make a difference by also stopping to consider, ‘Who is my enemy?’
Fear is an understandable and human response to any threat, whether perceived or genuine. Love, on the other hand, feels an unnatural way to proceed.
If our faith is to stand the test, then one of our unique selling points – to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us – must be expressed and demonstrated. We won’t often hear it preached from world leaders, for whom a common enemy can help to justify the unjustifiable.
But we will, nevertheless, see faith in action in unexpected places – such as in the words of of Marie Fatayi-Williams (whose son Anthony was killed in the London bombings)
'It's time to stop and think. We cannot live in fear because we are surrounded by hatred. Look around us today. Anthony is a Nigerian, born in London, worked in London, he is a world citizen. Here today we have Christians, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, all of us united in love for Anthony. Hatred begets only hatred. It is time to stop this vicious cycle of killing. We must all stand together, for our common humanity.'
“I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend,” said Abraham Lincoln. It’s easier said than done. But next time we board a train or bus, we can at least start, perhaps, by seeing our fellow travellers indiscriminately as those we are called to help along the Way.
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St Mary's Parish Church, Church Street, Luton, Bedfordshire. LU1 3JF.   01582 721867   admin@stmarysluton.org