I love the Dock Walk!

Yesterday we had another fantastic afternoon with another wonderful melting pot of people.  This week we even had international visitors and Bishops in the mix…

One man who covers both those bases is Moses, the Bishop of Wau Diocese in Southern Sudan.  (How cool is that? – not only to have the name Moses, but then to be the Bishop Of Wow as well?)  (He’s standing 6th from the left in the photo – you can maybe spot him.)  I had a brilliant day getting to know Moses as he joined me in Carrowdore and Millisle as well as on the Dock Walk.  The challenges facing Sudan are immense and it was a real inspiration to hear about the work that Moses and the church in Sudan are doing as they seek to speak peace and justice into a very tangled situation.

One thing that really struck me about Moses’ story was his account of John Garang.  (I have to confess I hadn’t heard of him before – but Moses hadn’t heard of the Titanic, so we reckoned we were even on that score!)  John Garang was a leader in Sudan for a tragically brief 21 days before being killed in a helicopter crash, but the day of his death is now marked throughout Sudan as Martyrs Day.  People on all sides of the political spectrum, in a country with profound division, unite on that one day to pay respects to a leader who was admired by both sides.

As we walked and prayed, we got to talking about how the Titanic, in some ways, provides a similar unifying point for people in Northern Ireland.  The massive, rich heritage to do with the Titanic comes from a point in our history before the Troubles; the Titanic isn’t identified with any one particular side of the community.

Some people think it’s strange to celebrate a tragedy; to name a new part of Belfast after a ship that sank.  But as the story of John Garang shows, the things that unite us don’t need to be cheerful – they just need to be shared.  The fact that we built the most famous ship in the world – and that it was all right when it left here – is something we can all own.

So, two challenges.  One, how can we build a rich, creative, engaging culture in the TQ that’s based on things we share rather than things which divide us?  And two, can the churches find some ‘John Garang moments’ – the vital meeting places and unifying points that connect us as brothers and sisters?