What a fabulous night on Sunday night, as we gathered on board SS Nomadic for a bit of history in the making: the first ever baptism in the Titanic Quarter.
History in the making for the Dock Chaplains as well, as we had spent some time getting our heads together to figure out what a ‘Dock Baptism’ looks like – and so we came up with a service which included elements from all our different traditions. Little Lily was baptised not by any one tradition or denomination but by the team of Dock Chaplains, representing the new shared city we’re building.
And a great day for the great neighbours of the Abercorn Basin in Titanic Quarter. Amazing to think that a year or two ago, none of us knew each other… But there we were on Sunday, Lily (and her mum and dad Andy and Jenny) from the TQ Mace, the team of chaplains and volunteers from the Dock, and our great neighbours from SS Nomadic, all gathering together to celebrate a new life.
These are the building blocks of community… The little steps that suggest that Life In The Titanic Quarter isn’t just the slogan above the door of the Dock – It’s becoming a reality.
These things were still swirling in my mind when I was sent a link to an article by George Monbiot in today’s Guardian (so you may want to make yourself a cup of herbal tea and some mung beans before reading it. Only joking, Guardian readers! Keep your Birkenstocks on)
His article – The Age Of Loneliness Is Killing Us – is a warning siren about the way the modern world is making us more and more isolated – and doing immense damage in the process:
Three months ago we read that loneliness has become an epidemic among young adults. Now we learn that it is just as great an affliction of older people… Ebola is unlikely ever to kill as many people as this disease strikes down. Social isolation is as potent a cause of early death as smoking 15 cigarettes a day; loneliness, research suggests, is twice as deadly as obesity. Dementia, high blood pressure, alcoholism and accidents – all these, like depression, paranoia, anxiety and suicide, become more prevalent when connections are cut. We cannot cope alone.
It’s a brilliant, alarming piece and I encourage you to read it.
But what really struck me about the article is that someone (thanks Christine!) read it and straight away thought of The Dock, and got in touch to see if I’d read it. A potent reminder that in the middle of grinding coffee beans, preparing the pop-up picnic, manning the market and baptising babies, this is what we’re all about.
Loneliness is killing us. And in the Titanic Quarter, no-one has to be lonely any more. Neighbours are connecting. Community is growing. Chat and prayer and conversation and life are flourishing. The kettle is on.
It’s amazing to read how everyday the Dock is growing and it’s impact on daily life is having such positive affects and in some cases life changes.
The article on loneliness is so true we have become a nation of people cut if from society in many way. I notice even people in the street or on buses when before someone would always say “it’s a lovely day” or “I think it’s going to rain” now it’s people with headphones in lost in their own world and no conversation. Sometimes the person a at the bus stop was the only conversation an older person would have had. I know what loneliness and isolation feels like and sadly the longer you are isolated the bigger grip it has the less likely you are to survive.
Keep up the great work and may God continue to bless you all.