The Fellowship of the Brethern

Christmas and New Year have come and gone. This gives us all another opportunity to start again. but I doubt that nothing will really change. The lesson of history is that we seldom learn from history. So we continue to have the famines we were told must never happen agaon; children continue to be abused in Africa, in Ireland and in Romania, to name a few; the war on terrorism continues unabatted and young men and women contin ue to die on all sides of the war in Afghanistan.

As I write "The Wire" is on the TV: a gritty, realistic police drama set on the streets of Baltimore. For "gritty and realistic" read the use of the "F" word every other word. Trying to get passed the street language I find myself viewing what I see through what I know about Baltimore and what looks like a similiar situation at the doors of our church building.

Everyone thinks themselves to be unique and in some respects we are all special yet in other ways we are not. Baltimore in the richest country in the world is one of the poorest communities, West and North Belfast, in a very different way, is also in great poverty despite being part of a country that looks after all its citizens from cradle the grave. Unemployment, dependency, poor health, drug and alcohol abuse affects those who are the most vulnerable the most. That's not to say that thwre are no problems in the middle class homes for there are but the real edge is in the places least able to help themsleves. While all this is going on there is a parallel universe in the middle class areas of the country where the grit of The Wire is no mpore than a television drama which goes away when the TV is switched off. While the walls of division and protection go up and the economic life of the community shuts down and the Christians take flight the subburbs grow but while the people leave the problems behind the problems remain.

The New Testament warns us of the fierce spiritual battle that rages as we live our daily lives and tells us of the protection provided. To be effective we need everyone to be protected, we need the support of fresh soldiers but believers from outside the community want to get involved: such is the extent of fellowship more than a shared cup of tea and a few tray bakes. When will we see support from our brothers and sisters? Show All