Back Home
I am back home in Northern Ireland this week for some meetings and preaching engagements. But I am also delighted that we have also finally been able to bring the play, ‘No Man is an (Irish) Island’, which I co-wrote with Play It By Ear drama company, to Ireland. Thanks to sponsorship by the Methodist Church in Ireland, and the Zeltmission of the UMC in Germany, we were able to show the play to a secondary school in Tipperary, a church audience in Mount Mellick, and last night in the Grosvenor Hall in Belfast. This play is all about the power of welcome – a timely message, that seems to have resonated with those in attendance. “This play should be seen by everyone in Ireland”, was just one comment after last night’s performance!
Migration
The topic of migration and refugees is one that will be with us for years to come. The huge inequalities that exist in the world, that are also fuelled (literally) by a climate crisis that will exacerbate those problems in the all too near future, means that increasing numbers of desperate people will be forced to flee or migrate in order to survive. Building higher walls and tighter borders to keep them out, is not the answer. No man is an island. No one is an island. We need each other. Everyone counts. And as simplistic and naive as it sounds, I really do believe that the only force powerful enough to get us to comprehend that, is …love. True love will motivate us to see the ‘other’, and hopefully be willing to put ourselves out for the other… so that our politics, our thinking, our giving and our religion may then be informed and influenced by it.
A New Song
That’s why today, on this Valentine’s Day, I want to share a song with you, that I just finished writing. It’s a rough recording and could certainly do with some polishing. But I did not want to miss the opportunity of sharing it today. The song relates to the refugee theme. And it’s a love song. Watch and listen to the song on YouTube
