Leith's Ocean Terminal may seem a mere dinghy compared to Bluewater, but there as in the other entertainment and fitness developments nearby people gather but don't meet. Shoppers and sellers, guests and hosts, getting and giving. When was the last time anyone's eyes met?
Lord, when did we see you ..?
As we walked through Gravesend (now referred to as Gravesham) we heard that it will soon be home to the largest Sikh Gurdwara outside Asia. There are active neighbourhood, local and area-wide endeavours for faiths to communicate with each other and to effectively express the needs of faith communities within local politics. Within some churches there is also active high-level opposition to Christians taking part in such organisations.
Lord, when did we see you ..?
In Leith, former churches have become the meeting places for Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Yet, many Christians remain unable to distinguish one from another. In our mis-understanding of their faiths we often miss Christ in the eyes of all God's children?
Lord, when did we see you ..?
Linda Bandelier
We saw stranger yesterday. We put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, Music, song and story in the listening place.
And with the sacred name of the triune God he blessed us and our house, our cattle and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song, often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise.
Linda Bandelier
Regeneration and Seeing Christ!
A reflection on Kent, Leith and Matthew 25:31-46
On Tuesday of the MIBIC Conference our field trip took us through Medway and Kent Thameside where we confronted issues related to massive regeneration on old harbour and quarry sites, developing new communities and religious and ethnic diversity. For someone who lives and works in Leith, Scotland it was like looking into a mirror.
We visited Ingress Park, an architectural award winning development. The average house is about 250,000. Most of them are let to people who only sleep there and 'live' elsewhere. One of our guides remarked, 'There are few gardens but many of them have small balconies. It will be interesting to see what community develops from them'.
Lord, when did we see you a stranger...?
In the 1950s, in Leith another architectural prize. This time for flats built within the walls of a Georgian fort. Residents now say it is safer to keep to one's self. A few weeks ago an emaciated toddler was discovered with the body of his mother who had been dead for six weeks.
Lord, when did we see you hungry or lonely ..?
What makes houses into homes and developments into communities?
Our tour took us to Bluewater the largest retail experience in Britain. Half the UK population can be there in less than 2.5 hours Masses of people throng through the shops spending, on average, 112.00 per person. People passing people, exchanging money.
Lord, when did we see you ..?
