Rector's Letter

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		The Rector's Letter Aug/Sept 2011

August & September 2011

The Rector writes:

Dear Friends,

“It is the worst drought for sixty years and 10 million are affected by the famine,” so concluded the item on the radio news about the launch of the Disasters Emergency Committee East Africa crisis appeal. I gazed down at my reasonably substantial lunch and felt a distinct sense of unease, even a measure of guilt.

Alongside pangs of conscience, telling journalism has figured in shaping my response to this humanitarian catastrophe. Whilst comparisons with the past and indications of the scale of the current horror give us a historical and global perspective, the danger is that this disaster becomes one amongst many. Burdened, weighed down by the enormity of it all and our own impotence, we can slip into what is known as “compassion fatigue”. Essentially, we find ourselves unable to engage at any depth. Empathy escapes us. It is skilful reporting that can penetrate our weariness.

Stories of individuals, families and communities help us to make the connections. Our awareness of our common humanity is heightened by these tales of courage and grief. One vivid story of a mother’s love is lodged in my memory. Walking day after day with her four children, she sought the haven of a refugee camp. Exhausted, thirsty and famished, her offspring began to flag. Eventually, they simply ground to a halt. The mother resorted to carrying them one at a time a short distance. Putting them in turn safely on the ground, she returned for the next. Shuttling back and forth four times each time they made some progress, she endured the hardship. Together, they made it to their destination. Inspired by these short narratives, our response is to pray and to give as generously as we can.

Besides the urgent need for money, these calamitous events demand some hard-headed analysis. Issues such as food production and distribution, global warming and controlling the world’s population must all figure in our thinking about how to reduce the frequency of humanitarian disasters.

One of the five marks of mission agreed by the Anglican Communion is especially relevant: as God’s people we are called “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.” Simply and strikingly, we all have to find sustainable ways of living so that all may live.

As we think globally, we need to act locally. Recycling our waste, buying fair-trade produce, travelling by public transport, walking or cycling instead of using the car are some of the ways in which we can signal and make effective our concern for God’s world and its entire people. Of course, how we treat our neighbours around us in our town and villages also gives expression to our love for everyone.

Hence as we translate our distress and heartache at the stories and images from East Africa into prayer and action, let us determine to seek to align our lives with God’s all-embracing love for all people and his whole creation.

I close with a prayer for East Africa from the Christian Aid website:-

God of all grace
Who in Jesus cried, ‘I thirst’,
Hold the people of east Africa in your infinite love.
Be with those for whom the earth’s resources have run dry;
Be with those who must walk for miles to find their daily bread;
Be with those for whom survival is a fragile hope.
And be with us as we read the stories of those who bear such acute suffering;
Give us hearts of compassion to respond in your service,
So that together we may see restoration where there is pain,
And all may rejoice in your goodness. Amen

With love

David Tomlinson

Team Rector of Saffron Walden

July 2011 letter

June 2011 letter

May 2011 letter

April 2011 letter

March 2011 letter

Feb 2011 letter

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