Conneticut

Face hatred with love, and fear with courage. If surrounded by need, strive to be of service. Above all, be an agent for peace.

Today as always, our hearts are with those affected by senseless violence, which to varying degrees, is all of us.

Via Beware of Images.

Rough Guide to being an Ordinary Radical (Part 3)

Why would someone leave comfortable suburbia to move onto a run-down local estate? Come along and hear Ash from Hope House explain why he moved into one of Barnet's most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and what happened next...

This is the last session in our Autumn series, so don't miss out!

Bringing joy to dark places

While it is definitely too early to be thinking about Christmas (though Tesco and others don't seem to have got the memo), it could be worth thinking about getting behind this fantastic campaign already...

"Sadly, there will also be children in the UK who won’t enjoy the basic luxuries a cosy family home; they will be spending Christmas in a refuge, having escaped domestic abuse – often with few of their toys, games or clothes from the home they have fled. Which is why domestic violence charity Refuge – Red’s partners in the Speak Up Save A Life campaign – run an annual Christmas Present appeal.

Every year, Refuge try to ensure that every woman and child in their refuges receive a minimum of two to three presents each to unwrap on Christmas day. As Refuge say, 'The Christmas gift initiative is vital to ensure that refuges became places of joy on a day that has the potential to very bleak and hard.'

The charity have a gift list at John Lewis for the appeal so it could not be simpler. You can go as small as a counting block for £2.99, to as big as a pair of roller blades for £40. Whatever you pick, you will know that there’s a child in a refuge somewhere who will have a present to open on Christmas morning – thanks to you."

(Source: Red Online - John Lewis Refuge gift list)

In addition, the Prison Ministry at St Barnabas Church is also running the Angel Tree Project again this year - another opportunity to bring light and hope to dark places this winter. We'll share more details about this opportunity as and when we know more.

Activists, optimists and ordinary radicals?

Recently, one of our members shared with us how she had felt uncertain about joining Justice Matters because she wasn't that actively involved in campaigning or anything like that. Thankfully, a conversation with another member encouraged her that we weren't all zealous placard waving revolutionaries, but rather ordinary people with a shared passion to make a difference in whatever (often small) ways we can.

Reflecting on this conversation, I wanted to explain a little bit more about our invitation to 'activists, optimists and ordinary radicals' in case anyone else was uncertain about whether JM is the place for them.

There are no admission criteria to be a member of Justice Matters aside from an appetite to get involved with the community. You don't have to work in the charitable sector or be a seasoned campaigner. You don't even have to be especially engaged with any particular issue to come along and take part. It is our hope that through JM you may find an issue or an organisation that inspires you and you might like to get behind, but that needn't be the case from Day One.

So what do we mean by calling ourselves a network of activists, optimists and ordinary radicals?

Our membership is quite varied. Some of our members work in International Development and other Third Sector organisations. Some are active in championing a specific cause or charity. These two sets might be described at the activists, but not everyone has that same clarity of purpose or opportunity to be engaged in this way. A good number of our members are what might be called 'ordinary radicals' - individuals living their lives as best they can, making deliberate decisions about where they shop, what they eat and where they save their money. They may do this to different degrees, but they make concious decisions to live a life alert to the impact of their choices and seeking in their own everyday way to sow positive change into the world around them. If that sounds like you, you are just as welcome as the person running fundraising marathons or visiting Number 10 to lobby the Prime Minister.

So that's the activists and the ordinary radicals explained - different but both welcome. What about the optimists?

The reason we include optimists in our description is because we are aware of lots of people out there who see that the world is in a mess and would like to make a difference, but feel that there is no way the barriers to change can be overcome. This is not an unreasonable position to hold given the scale of the challenge. If that's how you feel, you are just as welcome to come along as anyone else. However, we believe that the situation is not insurmountable, that change is possible and that we can play a part in that. If we didn't believe that, there would be no Justice Matters; there would be no point in trying. We are optimists because we have hope. If you share that belief, then you'll fit right in and we've love to see you at a future gathering. However, you don't have to share that hope to be welcome. Come along and see what we're about - who knows, you may even rediscover your optimism...

Olympic truce

Evidence of hope in unlikely places. In connection we discover our common humanity...

Shared from the Justice Matters Facebook Page

Hope in dark places

"Imagine that you have no job, no money, you live cut off from the rest of society in a world ruled by poverty and violence, your skin is the 'wrong' colour - and you have no hope that any of this will change. Around you is a society governed by the iron law of achievement. Its gilded goods are flaunted before your eyes on TV screens, and in a thousand ways society tells you every day that you are worthless because you have no achievement. You are a failure, and you know that you will continue to be a failure because there is no way to achieve tomorrow what you have not managed to achieve today. Your dignity is shattered and your soul is enveloped in the darkness of despair.

But the gospel tells you that you are not defined by outside forces. It tells you that you count; even more, that you are loved unconditionally and infinitely, irrespective of anything you have achieved or failed to achieve. Imagine now this gospel not simply proclaimed but embodied in a community. Justified by sheer grace, it seeks to 'justify' by grace those declared 'unjust' by a society's implacable law of achievement. Imagine, furthermore, this community determined to infuse the wider culture, along with its political and economic institutions, with the message that it seeks to embody and proclaim. This is justification by faith, proclaimed and practised."

From Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities, 2010, by Miroslav Volf; cited in Generous Justice by Tim Keller, 2010 (paperback).

Weekly update

Did you know that more men, women and children toil in slavery now than during the entire course of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade? This illicit trade generates profits in excess of £6bn a year for those engaged in the sale of our fellow human beings. These are shocking statistics, but ones that should not be ignored.

We will be meeting this coming Wednesday (20th) at Coffee Republic for a session looking at the issue of human trafficking and modern slavery. We are very excited to have a guest speaker from rescue and anti-trafficking organisation, International Justice Mission, coming to tell us more about the subject, as well as encouraging stories of hope amidst the darkness.

Please make an effort to join us for what promises to be another thought-provoking and inspiring evening. As ever, doors will be open from 7:30pm, so come along for a coffee and a pastry before the session begins. (Our spend on refreshments is part of the way that we pay for use of the venue, so please do buy something to help us cover costs.)

See you there!

PS - Did everyone get in touch with their MP about the Rio Declaration on climate change and sustainability? Did anyone get a response? Do let us know if you hear anything...

Fight the good fight

"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry, as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight - I'll fight to the very end!"

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, speaking at the Royal Albert Hall in 1912.

Reasons to be cheerful

I love this new video from Stop Climate Chaos - see what can be achieved when people get together!