Black Lives Matter: Four Stories

It’s June 1948. His name is Walter. 

Along with around 500 others he disembarks the SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in London. There is a spring in his step. It’s been a long voyage, but a new and exciting life awaits.

As the ‘Mother Country’ we called out to Walter and his friends in the West Indies to fight in the war. He came. Then we invited them back to help rebuild the Mother Country. Walter responded again, and here he is on this cold London morning.

He’s been told where it is best to go in order to find a boarding house and still with a spring in his step, he approaches the street he’s been directed to.

As he turns the corner, all the excitement evaporates. In front of him are two boarding houses, next to each other. Both have the same sign in the window.

No Blacks. No Irish. No Dogs.

With slumped shoulders and the beginnings of what would become his familiar slouching walk, Walter carries on down the street.

The story you have just read is a composite of a number of stories told at that time.

Now let’s move to 2020. I want to introduce you to three friends.

Judith has just finished her degree. She has the world at her feet. Or she should have. It’s not quite that simple. Of Nigerian parentage, growing up Judith didn’t really see herself as ‘black’ until she got to reception class at school and people started to call her ‘Judith Pooith’.  She didn’t really understand the nickname at first until she realised that they were making fun of her skin colour. And then at twelve years old she was first told she was a  ni**er. It shocked her.

Judith faces discrimination daily. She says:

‘Did you or your parents ever have to worry about their jobs because of their skin colour? Did you or your parents have to think about what they are going to call their children because they don’t want them to be discriminated against because their name sounds “black”? Did your parents ever have to tell you that you need to work twice as hard because you will always have to prove yourself to others because of the colour of your skin? Did you never think before going into a room that "I’m going to be the only black person here"? I normally don’t talk about these things because I’m scared as to what others may say. But enough is enough. I can’t stay silent.’

Susan is a little older than Judith and already successful as a writer and business woman. She has parents of West Indian origin. Susan says:

‘Sometimes I’m accused of using the’ race card’. But what does that mean? Should I just ignore what happens to me? What about the time I had dog’s excrement thrown at me as a child while being told to go back to where I came from? I remember when I was eight years old, after many hurtful comments, asking my parents why I was born with black skin "as no one seems to like us this way". One time I bit the insides of my cheeks in order to prevent tears as others laughed because someone has printed a picture of an ape and put my name above it. More recently, having married my wonderful white Danish husband, I was asked why I didn’t date black men.

'The news has unearthed feelings I had buried. The video of George Floyd dying with knees on his back and his neck is both literal and metaphorical for what many put up with because of race.’

Angela is a young woman of Indian origin and has had her fair share of racism too. She is a bright girl from a highly educated family, but despite this has regularly been called a ‘dumb black girl’ and ‘stupid Paki’. For Angela her concern is the response to the current crisis:

‘Too many who usually have a lot to say on politics on social media are saying nothing on the injustices that are happening. They are part of the problem! Silence is betrayal. Too many don't see injustice and just see inconvenience and a challenge to their own comfort.

'We all know racists. I see their looks, I feel their prejudice. Racism is a state of heart. In the end only God can change that heart. But we can pray, set the standard of respect and love and speak out against racial injustice.’

Three People. Nigerian. West Indian. Indian. 

Four stories. One problem.

Pray. Speak out. #blacklivesmatter.

A Tribute to Julie and Jonathan

For a few years near the end of the 70s I headed up a Christian rock band and did some solo work on the London gospel circuit. Not a lot of gigs, but a lot of fun.

About half the material consisted of covers of the Christian artist of the day (think Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Nutshell, Barry McGuire…) and about half was self-penned.

Aside from the obvious Christian influences, I took some song writing inspiration from folk-rock troubadours of the day, two of whom died recently – Julie Felix and Jonathan Kelly.

I first got hold of a Julie Felix album in 1973. Those of us at Walsall Technical College were well aware of the fact that the manager of the Record Department at Boots the Chemist didn’t know his Abba’s from his Zappa’s and would often sell stuff off at ridiculously low prices. The first Parchment album on Pye (a collector’s piece today) for 10p with a small scratch on the first track. A first issue single of Free’s ‘All Right Now’ for 5p.

And there was Julie Felix. At 20p I took a risk, having never heard her. I loved her stuff. I loved her obvious left-wing politics, and the choice of the cover songs she selected. In fact she was already well known in the UK having been championed by David Frost and had two long running shows of her own on TV. But that had passed me by somehow.

My favourite album is the 1972 ‘Clotho’s Web’ which includes the single ‘Fire, Water, Earth and Air’. It’s worth a listen.

I must have first heard Jonathan Kelly at around the same time. A few of us would gather in each other’s houses to listen to records at the weekend. (Does that still happen or is it all social media nowadays?) And it was then that my friend Godfrey played ‘Twice Around the Houses’, Kelly’s second album. I loved it. The upbeat love song ‘Madelaine’ the protest song ‘We are the People’ and the haunting ‘Ballad of Cursed Anna’. But the one I loved the most – and the one my family had to put up with me singing – was ‘Rock You to Sleep’, the final track. I sang it to all our children at bedtime throughout their early years.

Well there you are. Two folk-rock legends have passed. RIP Julie and Jonathan. And thank you.

The Rainbow Redeemed

The rainbow has been borrowed by a lot of different organisations over the years. From businesses, (Apple, Google, various healthcare companies) through to the Freemasons and on to LGBT. And they’re welcome.

But it’s been a delight to see the rainbow redeemed for its original use during the recent pandemic.

For children, painting the new additions to many a window, it may simply be a colourful moment in their day.

But it is also a declaration of hope.

The rainbow appears in the very first book of the Bible when God puts a rainbow in the sky as a promise. A promise that there would not be another flood that would wipe out humanity. It’s a picture of hope, a declaration that God will have the final say.

The rainbow declares there may be a pandemic, but it is going to pass.

The Metro Newspaper reports that this current spate of rainbow pictures started in Italy, which was hit hard and relatively early with the virus. It’s been copied from there to most countries undergoing ‘lockdown’.

I love it. Each nation declaring through a rainbow, hope, solidarity, promise.

The rainbow declares God’s covenant; His promise. Ultimately, it points to God’s promise of redemption offered through Jesus.

Even if most of the kids putting their pictures in their windows don’t know it, right now the rainbow shouts out good news. God will have the final say.

Furlough

Suddenly a word is in the news that has had little usage in recent years.

Furlough.

It is traditionally used to describe a time away from the front line for soldiers. I first came across it in a church context. As a young Christian I went to a Brethren church and was told that a lady missionary was coming to visit on furlough. I thought it must be some kind of vehicle!

Actually it is a vehicle of sorts. It’s one that allows you to take time out. To rest.

For many in the UK the word is not welcome. Its newer definition is being laid off from work with 80% of pay due to the effects of the Corona Virus on our economy.

But maybe in this lockdown, we can all experience some furlough in its original sense? The root of the word is ‘verlof’. This is Dutch and means ‘permission’.

We have permission to take time out right now. Permission to dream, to plan, to think. To do something different. Not to waste the time but to use it as time away from the front line.

So what will we do? Read a book we have always intended to read? Pick up the watercolours again? Study a language? For those of us with a Christian faith, to go deeper into a book of the Bible?

I appreciate that some reading this will be experiencing furlough with kids running around their feet and the sense that they have less time than at work! Yes, but it’s still a different time. There will still be moments that can be used in a different way.

I don’t expect that most of us reading these words will ever get another furlough. Let’s appreciate the blessing along with the challenge.

From Purple Flares to Old Pulteney

I remember the details of the day. A warm September  morning, 1976. I was early, so walked around St James’s Square, London, a couple of times before plucking up the courage to go in. The Clerical, Medical & General Life Assurance Society. My first job.

I wore a three piece purple suit with ridiculous flared trousers. Despite that, they let me in. I worked as a Pensions Documentation Clerk and quickly found that pensions wasn’t as boring as the name suggested to a twenty-one year old.

I realised that pretty much everything in pensions revolved around the age of 65 – the normal retirement age for men (It’s changed a bit nowadays). So I did my own calculation on that very first day – when would I reach that milestone? It was with some relief that by my calculation, the day would never arrive. It was so far in the future.

10^th April 2020.

Well here we are. The flares are long gone (though I still like purple). In this strange season of lockdown, my plans to celebrate with a tour of the Scottish whisky distilleries went by the way, though Roh set out a tour of the garden to find my own bottles of whisky! And my main present was a bottle of 12 year old Old Pulteney single malt, from the northernmost distillery in the British Isles. I like to think that my tastes have improved a little since the purple flares.

Where did the time go? How did I get here?

The answer is by the grace of God.

I’m grateful for every step of the journey. Thankful for God’s goodness, a beautiful wife, four amazing children, three incredible sons/daughter in laws and two awesome granddaughters. And a pretty decent career in pensions.

The day did arrive. It wasn’t such a long time. May I encourage you, as the Bible says, to ‘count your days and seek a heart of wisdom.’ (Psalm 90)

My Old Testament hero is Caleb. He was still conquering mountains at the age of 85 (that’s where the idea for this blog came from 15 years ago), so I trust I still have plenty of time to count my days and seek wisdom. And still plenty of time to continue to conquer the mountains of life for the One who conquered all for me.

The God Who Zoomed

We live in strange times. Isolated at home, unsure how long the virus pandemic will continue.

It can be unsettling.

But God is still on His throne. The Psalms declare it. He is not unaware of our situation. The Gospels tell of it. He has a plan for us and it is still in place. The Epistles affirm it.

God is with us.

The Christian leader and theologian Ian Barclay explained it as God dwelling with us: The root of the Bible word is God ‘pitching His tent with us.’

Loosely translated, that’s the same as God Zooming with us, God Skyping with us.

So when we meet as a church or small group by electronic means, He is still with us in the same way as if we were together.

This was brought home to me by the beautiful way His Holy Spirit was with us on Sunday at Chroma. Just a few at the centre. Thousands on line. And most importantly of all, God with us.

We have a God who Zooms.

Words of Truth in a Time of Fear

He’s got you. And He’s not letting go.

He knows when you sit down and when you get up. He knows what you’re thinking and wants you to know He is protecting you. In fact He’s got you hemmed in with his love and kindness. He is your refuge – you are sheltered under His wings.

There’s a path set out for you and nothing is going to push you off track. No sickness or virus can be greater than His purposes for you. He restores health and heals wounds. He delivers you from the deadly pandemic. He has already rescued you from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons.

He knew you before you were born; chosen before the foundation of the world. He formed you – you are wonderfully made. You were chosen by Him before your first breath. He made you, loved you and wanted you as His child. You are wanted and loved; you are not a mistake or a surprise.

He has blessed you with every spiritual blessing. You are chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven. He took all the broken and dislocated pieces of your life and fixed them together in vibrant harmonies. Grace has been lavished on you. He has sealed you with his Holy Spirit within you. His Spirit in you confirms who you really are.

Don’t be anxious about your life. He cares for the sparrow – how much greater is His care for you! He clothes the fields with beauty – how much more will he care for you and clothe you! You are not forgotten. On the contrary, he knows all about you, even to the number of hairs on your head.

His plans for you are good – you have a hope and a future with Him. He has abundant life for you. This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant. His thoughts are for you and are more than the sands of the sea.

Where could you go? He’s there – wherever you go.

He’s got you. And He’s not letting go.

If you have a Christian faith, every word above applies to you. If you are on a spiritual journey, every word written can also be true for you.

The words are from the Bible: Psalm 139, Ephesians 1, Psalm 91, Deuteronomy 7:15, Jeremiah 29:11, 30:17, John 10:10, Colossians 1:13, 18-20, Romans 8:15-17, Luke 12:6, Matthew 6: 25-31.

Take time to think on them. In this time of fear and pandemics, allow the truth to bring assurance.

Turn off the phone and tv. Find a comfy chair in a quiet corner. Read aloud the Bible words set out above. And let God’s blessing rest on you.

And remember. He’s got you. And he’s not letting go.