REFLECTIONS ON LAW

This was the sermon delivered at the Annual High Sheriff’s Legal Service – St Mary’s, Nottingham on Sunday 22^nd January 2012

 

INTRODUCTION

It is a great privilege to be asked to preach at this service in this Jubilee year. In just two weeks time Her Majesty will have been Queen for 60 years following her accession to the throne on February 6^th, 1952. She has given a magnificent example of service to the nation and the commonwealth throughout these 60 years. She has been sustained by support from her late mother, Prince Philip, her wider family, loyal staff but, above all, by the prayers of God’s people and her own clear personal faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. This she made plain again in her Christmas broadcast.

It is the privilege of those who serve as Judges, Lord Lieutenants, High Sheriffs and indeed as magistrates, chief constables and police officers, alongside bishops and clergy of the Church of England to have a special relationship and responsibility towards Her Majesty as monarch. This is expressed in the oaths we take on entering office.

In our service today we thank God for this calling and privilege. We are also reminded of our responsibilities which, whilst bounded by Parliament, are ultimately God given. We are responsible to answer to human authorities but ultimately to a much higher and greater authority, God himself.

 IMPARTIALITY

You all know that around the world there are many sculptures, statues and pictures of the Goddess of Justice. You also know that classically she is blindfolded. Yet above the Old Bailey justice with sword in one hand and scales in the other is not blindfolded. This was clearly a deliberate statement by E.W. Mountford, the designer of the modern building which was opened in 1907.

So too was the carving of the inscription “defend the children of the poor and punish the wrongdoer” over the main entrance.

Now our reading from James is addressed to church members and leaders about how they must avoid treating rich and poor differently in the context of church worship and gathering. There must be impartiality because both in creation and salvation all people are equal in God’s eyes. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ must apply to all people not simply those with whom we find it easy to get on, or with whom we think there might be advantage in getting on.

In his famous parable of the Samaritan (described by Jesus as compassionate rather than ‘good’) Jesus made it plain that anyone in need is our neighbour.

However the principles from James equally apply to how we treat people in society as a whole, and how they are treated in law. Impartiality is an important principle to be upheld.

The rich must never be allowed to get away with seeking to sway politicians or the courts in their favour because they are rich and powerful. In particular their wealth and power should never be used at the expense of the poor. This has always been and remains, a temptation. It must be resisted, and when it is not, recognised and dealt with firmly. Impartiality is a key principle in the exercise of the law.

MERCY

But then so too is mercy. The exercise of mercy, as exemplified by the Samaritan, is a reflection of God’s character. God’s mercy is undeserved by us all but in Christ he offers us mercy.

‘Mercy’, as someone has said, ‘is compassion in action’. Or in longer terms, Portia’s great words to Shylock, in the Merchant of Venice:

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows, the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the heart of kings,

It is an attribute of God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God’s

When mercy seasons justice.

Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this –

That in the course of justice none of us

Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy.

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy.

The whole of the biblical record encourages us to ensure that the poor are not exploited, abused or oppressed. It calls on us to be merciful and compassionate. This is not to excuse wrong doing but it is to be aware of the grinding nature of poverty and its impact on people. It is to be conscious of the reasons some find themselves in poverty and what this can lead some people to do in seeking the welfare of their family. This may well then encourage us to act with mercy and compassion.

This is why, I think, lady justice is not blindfolded above the Old Bailey. In exercising judgement eyes need to be open to the sword and the scales, and above all to the person in front of us. What judgement is appropriate? What mercy and compassion might be required in the exercise of the law?

JUBILEE

But let me return, finally, to the fact that this is a Jubilee year. The Mosaic Law has a Jubilee in it. Every 50^th year Israel was supposed to hold a Jubilee which included provision for Land Return, the Release of Slaves and the Cancellation of Debts.

It is this vision of release that underlies our first reading today from Isaiah 61. Here God is announcing his intention to establish the jubilee for Israel once again. It is an inspiring vision. It is the one that Jesus himself used at the very beginning of his ministry as he read this passage in his home synagogue in Nazareth. He came to bring in God’s year of release – freedom and the cancellation of all our debts towards God.

In all the difficulties we currently face nationally and globally I think some reflections on the principles of Jubilee – re-establishing equity and equality for all are worth considering.

It is still the eschatological vision of the church – that there is coming a day and a time when God’s Kingdom will be established in all its fullness. A day, may I dare to say, when the need for police, magistrates and judges will be no more.

But we are not there yet! So in holding on to this vision of jubilee today we give thanks to God for the privilege of serving our monarch, our nation and our people in the ways we have been called to serve.

We also recognise afresh our responsibilities. May we exercise them well, with our eyes open to ensure we do so with impartiality. May we also know when and how to exercise mercy which reflects God himself. He has shown us his great mercy in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ; and in his final analysis “Mercy triumphs over judgement.”

The Rt Revd Paul Butler

Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham

22^nd January 2012

Special Education

It was my joy to spend 2 hours at Oak Field School & Sports College yesterday morning. I had been told that their annual show was a treat – this was an understatement; it was amazing. As the outstanding headteacher David Stewart noted at 1 point, “some of you are looking at the programme to see if their is a plot – as if”. Ship Ahoy trotted from Portsmouth to Penzance but took in Japan, Venice, Africa, America, Scotland, London and other places en route. There were great dance scenes where wheelchairs and beds moved gracefully in time and concert; there were musical items with solos and choir; there were lines coming from mouths and machines. Wheelchairs were turned into many undersea creatures, London buses, fairy princesses and so much more. The smiles were broad. The dedication to achievement very clear. The co-operation a delight. The sense of pride and joy and sheer fun was almost overwhelming.

This was an extraordinary testimony to the skills, dedication, professionalism, expertise and sheer loving care of a staff team that obviously wants the best for every child, however severely limited their capacity.

It was a privilege to see and share in it. Special education has much to inspire all education, and all of life

CHILDREN & BIG SOCIETY – FINAL PART

ADOPTION & FOSTERING

 There has been lots of recent comment and concern around both following on from the controversies earlier in the year about Christian couples and fostering. There is no doubt that there is work to be done in all areas to try and ensure children who are to be adopted move through the system more rapidly, without losing clear safeguards for the well-being of the child. There has been little reference in these comments to the place of the courts in the process though there are now proposals on the table to tackle this. It is they who are often slowing the adoption process in particular down by anything up to 18 months. All agencies concerned will need to work hard with one another at seeking to ensure that the child’s best interests are served. Given the importance of permanent, stable, loving care from 2 parents wherever possible it must be the case that moving more children into adoption as speedily as is wise and feasible should be society’s priority.

In relation to the concern about ‘exclusion of’ or ‘discrimination against’ Christians I want to note that running a very negative response to a small number of difficult cases has not been helpful. As a diocese we work with a County and a City authority of 2 different political hues and have found them entirely positive about us encouraging church members to put themselves forward for fostering and adoption roles.

So I believe the best response to any perceived negativity is a proactive response in raising up fostering and adoption as a possible vocation for Christian parents – whether as singles or couples. Let us be more on the front foot showing how Christians can offer wonderful homes for children who deserve a loving family home environment in which to grow and develop. We are working on such a positive campaign in our area with the full cooperation of the local authorities who believe that the churches, and indeed the mosques, temples, synagogues and gurdwaras, do have many people who would be excellent foster carers and adoptive parents.

We are after all a people who believe in ‘being adopted into God’s family’. Adoption is something we all experience with God so why not mirror it in our lives by fostering and adopting children?

PLAY & SPACE                                           

 Play England, and others, have done a wonderful job in recent years of highlighting the importance for children of play, and of space in which to play.

The importance of space was also highlighted this autumn by RIBA as they reported on ensuring that new homes which we build have adequate internal space for children as they grow, and access to outdoor space for play. Their report suggested we are building new homes with too little internal space – and we are not building enough of them as well.

Yet the importance of play and the vision of it as part of childhood and evidence of a healthy, wholesome community, is nothing new. Isaiah offers a wonderful vision of a child playing with a snake (Isaiah 11.6ff). Zechariah offers a vision of children at play in the streets alongside the elderly secure and at peace.

Jesus observed children at play in the market place and saw their games as a picture of how his society was responding to hi and John the Baptist’s ministry (Matthew 11.16ff)

Then there is the Creator God making play, even at play, in the variety and hilarity of creation.

Play is God given.

So where are we engaging in debates about house/home size, open space and play space in our local and national settings?

Many of our church premises are used for toddler and playgroups, children’s and youth clubs. But might we be able to be more enterprising in creating play space on our church land and in our church premises? There are some fine examples of this already happening. Let us look to do more.

EDUCATION

 The nature of the Christian Child Care Forum means I shall only mention this in passing. But in considering the total wellbeing of children we must be fully aware of the huge changes taking place in education – Academies, Free Schools, debates about Curriculum, the changing structure for Higher Education  are all massive. It is good that we have people significantly engaged with government and local authorities

In this 200^th anniversary year of the National Society there are huge questions to be addressed. I was pleased to be a part of The Watson Symposium 2 weeks ago which sought to explore some of the debates about Christian distinctiveness and about spirituality in all schools.

YOUTH (UN)EMPLOYMENT 

The growth in youth unemployment is one of the biggest wastes in our society at present. There are a whole range of issues to be tackled including those for whom work has not been part of their family life for several generations; the help needed for them is very different from that needed for those for whom it is a new experience. Both need to be tackled. There is a huge waste in graduates who are either unemployed or in jobs that hardly stretch their capacity. The latter is often taking away work from others for whom it is stretching rewarding work. We need further work from the public sector, businesses and the voluntary sector to seek to create meaningful, rewarding employment for all young people, appropriate to their level of skill and education.

I know there are leaders in business, including banking, who are deeply concerned and not only want to take action but are beginning to be creative about doing so.

I think this will require a radical shift – those of us in work might need to think about agreeing to reduce our income to create capacity for others. We might need to work less – it does seem madness that those in work in many cases are working longer and harder to the detriment of their family life very often; whilst others who have capacity are not being engaged. Using public money to create jobs must be a better use of our corporate resources than simply paying out benefit. Perhaps churches should take some prophetic steps to create jobs locally by a greater sharing of our common wealth. We already do it through paying pastors / ministers/ youth workers etc – let us see how we might create some more. There are no easy answers but simply trotting out a mantra about the need for ‘growth’ will not lead us to think differently and act radically, which is what we need to do.

CONCLUSION

But we, as Christians, are not simply concerned with ‘education’ or ‘social work’ we are concerned with the total transformation of society. This means the spiritual change of our society.

We do believe in social capital – we are concerned about bonding, bridging and leveraging but we also believe in spiritual capital.

We believe in a world in which values are turned upside down; where the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted and the reviled are the truly blessed. We don’t believe might is right nor that it wins; we don’t believe the market is all or that the market rules; we don’t believe it is a world for adults, we believe it is a world for children and adults together; we don’t believe there is no hope, we have a God of hope; we follow a teacher, a leader, a master, a saviour who places children in the midst, blesses them, points us to them, welcomes their worship and lays down his life for them.

In all we do for Children and the Big Society we have to keep Jesus example, teaching, dying and rising ever before us. Only that way will we contribute in a truly Christian way.

FAMILY POLICY & CHILD POVERTY

FAMILY & COMMUNITY POLICY

We are rightly concerned about family policy. It matters. But we need continually to take care with our language. When we talk of the importance of ‘family’ what ‘family’ do we have in mind? So often we sound as though family is still consistently Mum, Dad and 2.1 children when the reality with which we have to work is that family make up is so much more diverse. Some might wish it was otherwise but we are called to work with families whatever their make up, including same sex couples. We need to speak clearly about the important roles of parents and grandparents in the raising of children and the offering of a good childhood.

It is important that we are offering all children female and male role models. Girls and boys need to experience healthy examples of both.

 But family policy also has to recognise the importance of the wider community in ensuring children have a good childhood. So we have to work hard on understanding what ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ looks like in UK terms.

In all of this we have to explore in what ways local church might be ‘family’.

And in what ways local church might contribute to the creation of local community.

 CHILD POVERTY

 Frank Field’s Report highlighted once again the critical importance of early years.

We have to be concerned about the impact of the proposed Benefit Cap. The Children’s Society research (12/9/11) suggests:-

More than 200,000 children to be biggest “losers” of Benefit Cap

 Children will therefore be around nine times more likely than adults to be affected.

 The cap will impact around 50,000 households, 95 per cent of which are estimated to have      children. These families will lose an average of £93 a week – the equivalent to around double the average weekly family food bill.

• Analysis of the Government’s Equality Impact Assessment of the cap shows that these 50,000 households contain around 69,000 adults and 206,000 children  – meaning that three quarters of those affected are children.

 The cap could make 82,000 children homeless

 

To this we add the Joseph Rowntree Foundation work on Children in Relative Poverty:-

 • The number of children in relative poverty is forecast to rise from 2.6 million in 2009/10 to 2.9 million in 2015/16 and 3.3 million by 2020/21 (measuring income before housing costs)

 • Relative child poverty will rise from 20 per cent currently to 24 per cent by 2020/21, the highest rate since 1999/2000 and considerably higher than the 10 per cent target in the Child Poverty Act (2010).

 • The proportion of children in absolute poverty (using the 2010/11 poverty line fixed in real terms) is forecast to rise to 23 per cent by 2020/21, compared with the 5 per cent target.

 • The direct impact of the current government’s announced reforms to personal tax and benefit policy will be to increase relative poverty among children by 200,000 in both 2015/16 and 2020/21.

 (SOURCE: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/children-adult-poverty-welfare-summary.pdf)

 

Now we have never agreed with a purely economic solution to poverty. The simple re-distribution of wealth will never suffice because people are more than their possessions; our Lord made that abundantly clear in his teaching. Yet at the same time we cannot be content with not tackling such poverty because we know it links to so many other issues, like health, life expectancy, educational opportunity etc.

So we are to be at the forefront of seeking an end to child poverty but part of our contribution must be to recognise that poverty is so much more than economic and that alongside children in real economic poverty, some of them may be socially, emotionally and spiritually rich whilst there are very wealthy children who are emotionally, socially and spiritually poor. Our commitment to the poor must embrace the full range of poverty.

GOOD CHILDHOOD

Part 2 from last week’s Big Society and Children event

 

Debates have existed for a very long time over what constitutes a
Good Childhood. However in recent years we have had a very helpful array of
inputs into this debate for our current era. Arguably much of the current
debate was kicked off by Sue Palmer’s ‘Toxic Childhood’ in 2006 the questions
have tended to range around both what is harmful to children and childhood, and
in contrast what is helpful.

The Children’s Society ‘Good Childhood’ Report in 2009 was not
only a major contribution to the debate it has managed to deliver some ongoing
momentum through further research, the developing place of Good Childhood
conversations and the interaction with other research and reports.

 

Simply to list some of the other significant input illustrates
the amount of work being undertaken:-

The Compass ‘Commercialisation of Childhood Report’ in 2006

The UNICEF Child Well Being Report Card 7 in 2007 which placed
the UK at the bottom of the league of most developed nations. This highlighted
inequality as 1 particular issue. It has been followed up by further research
published by UNICEF UK & Ipsos Mori this autumn.

In 2010 we had the Mothers Unions’ ‘Bye Buy Childhood’ and this
year has seen the Bailey Report on the ‘Commercialisation and Sexualisation of
Childhood’ as well as that by Action for Children & ResPublica.

With all of this work being done and the very firm conviction
that the commodification of children and childhood is something that is both
real and undesirable and therefore needs to be tackled we are rightly in the
debate.

In doing so we must recognise the historical changing nature of
childhood through the centuries. Aries may not have got everything right, I’m
sure he didn’t, but his work does show along with others that childhood has not
been seen or expressed consistently or constantly. One of the key factors
affecting this is undoubtedly life expectancy, both in terms of child
mortality, and of overall life expectancy. When it is likely that a high
percentage of children born today will live to 100 compared with when I was
born an anticipation I would live to just over 70 it must affect how we view

every stage of life.

But in this real debate we will want to continually affirm that
every child, whatever her or his birth circumstances, is made in the image of
God; is loved by God; was died for by Christ and so is of immense worth. Her
value lies not in who she may become, what she may do, or what economic
contribution she may make it lies simply in being human.

But our engagement in the debate must also move into more
specific issues so in broad terms I want to look at some key areas within
current debates in the ‘Big Society’ agenda

Children and the Big Society: Too Small to Ignore

I begin by expressing my own concern that in all the talk of the Big
Society there is a serious danger that the child, or the children, have been
rather ignored. This is also the conclusion of the report, Children
and the Big Society, produced for Action for Children by ResPublica published in June
this year.

As Dame Clare Tickell puts it in her introduction to the report

1 We must put the needs of children and their families
at the centre of efforts to build social capital. The “big society” agenda must
do more to involve children and young people, and particularly those who are
most vulnerable and their families.

And from the opening of the Executive Summary:-

The Big Society agenda: where are the children?

The Coalition Government has made clear its intention to encourage greater participation in
local decision making and to shift ownership of assets and of initiative into
the hands of local individual, groups and communities[1]. This agenda has enormous potential for
delivering new ways of supporting children, young people and families, but the
connections between the Big Society agenda and children have not been fully
considered. How do we ensure that children and young people – often members of
a community with only a small voice – can contribute to building and can
benefit from safe and friendly communities?

In this report we put the spotlight on children, young people and their families. We
map out ways to generate child-friendly and family-friendly communities and
explore how this can transform the well-being, safety and life chances of
children and young people.

 BRIEF THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

I think this assessment is largely correct; the language of ‘Big
Society’ rooted in Philip Blond’s ‘Red Tory’ thinking, and indeed of the
developing variation, ‘Good Society’, rooted in Lord Glasman’s ‘Blue Labour’
thinking has been heavily focussed in an adult centred world. But as followers
of Christ we should not be at all surprised by this observation. It has ever
been thus with children has it not? In society after society in way one or
another children have been ignored or put down. Whilst they are given a very
high place in the Old Testament Scriptures, as gift, as members of the people
of God, as the promise of the future and as the potential voice of the Lord
come Jesus’ day he had to recall God’s ancient people to recognise that
children matter to God. He welcomed them, blessed them healed them, included
them in his miracles and audaciously placed a child in the midst of his
disciples and said to them all ‘Unless you turn and become like children you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’

Children were counted as amongst the poor; and the poor were
called blessed by Jesus.

In our own reflecting on Children and the Big Society we will
need to heed Jesus’ words and actions afresh and ensure we place the child in
our midst; not the theoretical child of academia but the actual child of our
street, our block of flats, our village, our city. We will need to be people who
continually enable children to tell their own stories, to express their own
concerns, thoughts and ideas. We will need to be those who stand alongside
children with their stories and advocate with them for their full and proper
place in the society whether it be ‘Big’ or ‘Good’. We will have to enable the
child to stand in the midst and let their presence and voice help people of
power observe, listen and act.

This, preceded by quoting my earlier blog ‘Child on the Tube’, waas the opening of my talk at The Big Society Forum sponsored by Christian ChildCare Forum today. I will post the rest in parts over the next few days each covering a different area of  interest (Good Childhood, Family Policy, Child Poverty, Adoption & Fostering, Play & Space, Education & Youth Employment

Child Poverty

Yesterday the Children’s Society published a report on the possible impact of the Benefit Cap. What the report has exposed is the potential impact on the poorest of children in our nation. In seeking to tackle an issue about adults it would appear that the government may have failed to consider seriously the children who would be impacted as well. Whilst it is calculated that 69,000 adults will be affected the number of children is around 205,000. Now children are always affected by the behaviour and actions of their parents, this cannot be avoided. However in planning changes to any benefit scheme surely there is a responsibility to consider the impact on the most vulnerable, namely those who are unable to do anything to change the situation; in this case the children.

It is to be sincerely hoped that those responsible for the policy look carefully again at the impact on children and consider how this might be handled differently. Child poverty in our land remains a scandal. It is the task of government to help the whole of society to work to end child poverty; it must therefore ensure that its policies contribute to the eradication of poverty not worsening the situation for those children who are already enmeshed in poverty.

http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk

9/11 Wedding Anniversary

September 11th 1982 was the day Rosemary and I were married. It was a fabulous day; the service was at Rosemary’s home church of West Croydon Baptist. We had 5 clergy involved in the servcie in 1 way or another, all friends. Friends sang too. We walked down the road for photographs in the grounds of the redundant Anglican church – West Croydon Tab being in the middle of one of Croydon’s largest and busiest roundabouts. Our reception was back in the Tab in the Spurgeon’s Hall with its sloping floor. Great day; great memories. Tomorrow we celebrate 29 years together.

On our 19th anniversary we had planned to go out for a meal in the evening – still a rare luxury for us 10 years ago. Rosemary was at work in St mary’s School. I went down walthamstow High Street to buy her a present (Last minute as is often the case). I walked into a favourite clothes shop confident I would find something good. On the TV screens I could not understand why this clothes shop was screening a disaster movie in the middle of the morning. I looked again and the scene was being repeated, a plane flying into a skyscraper. It took a while for it to dawn on me that this was real and not a movie. I just stared and stared struggling to believe that what I was seeing was real. I bought nothing and went back up the hill to home as quickly as I could turning on thre TV to find the same scenes on just about every channel. Slowly the horror and shock of it all was beginning to hit home. How could anyway do this? How audacious. How horrendous. How evil. We cancelled the meal out that evening. It didn’t seem right, and neither of us had any appetite.

Those pictures which must have passed through my eyes and into my brain tens of times on that 1 day. They still burn in me every time I see them. The subsequent collapse of the towers and the dust clouds across New York can never be wiped from the brain. I feel pain every time; although the pain changes -it is much more now for those who have learned to live with their loss; and for the different world in which we live because of 9/11.

Wedding anniversaries have never quite felt the same. Instead of it being ‘our day’ to remember the promises we made to one another that we have stood by it is more ‘our day’ as part of a world shaped by fears and uncertainties; a world still wrestling with how different political philosophies live alongside and with one another; a world in which the major faiths still seek to understand and work with one another rather than bring about conflict. We are able to celebrate our anniversary; giving thanks for all we have shared, not least our 4 fabulous, grown up, children but we can never isolate ourselves from the way 9/11 (a way we would never have dreamed of putting it before that day) has shaped all of our lives since. May this anniversary remind us all to commit to working for true peace and justice for all in our world.

Prison Visiting

I made my first ever visit to Lowdham Grange Prison this morning. The worship was wonderfully well led by Chris & Helena Knight whose 10 years of service here has clearly born real fruit. The men who gathered were the inevitable mix in prison of those who are there because they have a living and real faith; those who are searching and enquiring; and those for whom it is something to do on Sunday morning. However unlike some other prisons I have been to there was plenty of other choice of activity on this Sunday morning; from outside we could hear the football taking place. The way prisoners took part in prayer, reading the Scriptures and sharing testimony was impressive. In particular there is a real desire to do something themselves for those who are starving in Somalia; they want to galvanise the whole prison into giving from their small incomes to help bring relief. The genuine compassion for this situation was clear. So too was the tangible concern for the people of Norway. I was very grateful to be given a loud round of applause at the end of the sermon; Chris promises me this does not readily happen so I must have made some connections. The conversations afterwards were a mixture of deeply saddening and encouraging. What is absolutely clear is that this prison is getting some things right in helping these men think about their lives, their future and their responsibilities. There is a desire to live differently whilst inside and when release comes (which for some is a long way off). What is also clear is that the work of the chaplains is hugely valued. These men value being loved, cared for, prayed with, supported in their situation and with the family needs of which they are aware outside.

As always listening to others stories; listening to their needs & listening to their experince of God leads to learning and discovery for myself. Rosemary & I enjoyed our time in prison today. We admire those who work in them, especially the chaplains; and we’re gald we have fellow Christians trying to live for Jesus whilst they are inside.

CHILD ON THE TUBE

Travelling to London earlier this week I was getting onto
the crowded tube at Kings Cross when a man said, ‘Hey don’t push the boy out’.
In front of him and besides me there was a boy of I guess 10. Sheepishly I
continued on but realised that the man had been right. In my haste to squeeze
onto the tube I had pushed in front of this boy, using my size, and probably experience
of the tube, in a way which was unfair and unkind to the boy. I could put my
lack of thought and care down to any number of factors – I hadn’t eaten for 15
hours and only had water to drink for 12; the train had arrived a few minutes
late so I was hurrying to get to my appointment on time; I was simply caught up
in the crowd. But actually they are all excuses and none justified the way I
acted; ignoring the child, or even worse deliberately pushing the child out.

As we proceeded I thought about my action. I got off at
Great Portland Street; so did the man and boy. So instead of walking on and out
the gates I turned around and went back to say sorry. I looked the man in the
eye and said, ‘I’m sorry; you were right. I apologise’ I shook his hand; he
thanked me. I turned and walked away; I was glad that I had acted to say sorry;
that I had literally gone against the crowd to do so. The man was surprised;
apologies on the tube don’t happen often. But just as I was feeling good about
myself it hit me – I hadn’t said sorry directly to the child. Once again I had
ignored him, put him to one side. In the crush of movement through the busy
rush hour by then it was too late to find them again and apologise to the child.

So easily even those of us who are committed to trying to
ensure children are treated equally; working hard for justice for all children;
passionate about children’s spirituality and inclusion can get it so wrong. We
can ignore the child. We can push them to one side. We can talk about them over
their heads. We can feel good about what we have done for the child when the
child has been left out.

Lord have mercy. Lord help us all to truly recognise and
honour the child.