I am writing from the train home from Liverpool to Devon after the MWiB Connexional Creativity Day held at the Quaker Meeting House. We gathered there for coffee this morning, the sun shining deceptively at that point. By the time some of us ventured out to explore museums or a cathedral or to take photographs it was raining, and by the time we returned for lunch it was pouring!
It would appear, however, that spirits were not dampened and we shared lunch and conversation before reflecting on some of our learning of the morning. Those of us who had visited the Slavery Museum had returned thoughtful and challenged. The group who had visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King had explored a different setting for worship. The photography group had captured images which they assembled into a digital montage for our closing session of the afternoon. Those who had visited the bread church, Somewhere Else, in the morning had baked bread for our lunch and also more to be taken home and shared with others.
Our theme was ‘Leaving the Familiar’. As we went about the activities of the day we encouraged one another to look out for the unexpected. At the end of the day I shared briefly the story of a Syrian family whom I met in a refugee camp in Greece almost exactly a year ago. Just as the Slavery Museum reminded us of those who had been forced to migrate from their homelands, so thousands of refugees continue to leave the familiarity of home and to seek a new life in a safer place. Let us not forget them, even when they are not making the headlines on our news broadcasts.
