‘A new inclusive narrative would recognise the limitations of our allegiances and beliefs.’
Sacrificial spirit: Howard Grace’s Thought for the Week
‘We all have distinctive parts we can play.’
I was born and brought up two miles from Greenham Common, and my first memory is of watching planes towing gliders. I now know these were probably carrying soldiers to land behind enemy lines on D-Day. It was from here that Dwight Eisenhower made his famous ‘The eyes of the world are upon you’ speech.
I joined the recent memorial occasion for D-Day at Greenham. During the silence, I pondered the immense sacrifice of the thousands who had fought and died on the Normandy beaches. Was that necessary to stop Hitler? I asked myself. And what about present wars, particularly in Ukraine?
Once fighting starts, huge sacrifices are forced on vast numbers of people. But, in the silence, I wondered about the sacrifices needed now to build a world in which, among other things, wars are less likely. These sacrifices are far smaller, relatively, but equally important.
We all have distinctive parts we can play. Many of us are engaged with worthwhile initiatives, depending on the sort of people we are and where our convictions lie. It’s good to weigh the relative cost of our present actions, or lack of them. Personally, I want to focus whatever time is ahead of me on fostering the spirit of our shared humanity.
One of my Palestinian friends, several of whose family have been killed in the present horrors in Gaza, says that a primary problem in his part of the world is that Palestinians and Israelis are both trapped in their own narratives. I’m sure that this entrapment is true for so many situations, whether with international strife, religious affiliations, husband/wife clashes or anything else. As well as the importance of living into each other’s narratives, this also points towards a need to seek a universal vision and greater purpose, which everyone can buy into.
A new inclusive narrative would recognise the limitations of our allegiances and beliefs. We would accept that we have been nurtured in different cultures, and that we have come to identify with the beliefs and norms of that culture. If we could acknowledge this phenomenon within ourselves we would more likely be able to walk in the shoes of, and stop demonising, ‘the other’.
Appreciating our shared humanity would not answer all our problems. There would still be many conflicts of interests and disputes to solve, from personal through to international. But such a spirit would offer a sounder basis on which to build.
As I pondered the sacrifices made on D-Day, my conviction to foster a spirit of trust was deepened. I am determined to make this a priority, and a daily commitment. This is a challenge facing all of us who have the conviction that our shared humanity overrides all other group allegiances.
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