Have you seen that Christmas T-shirt on social media?
“Rejoice in the birth of a brown-skinned, middle eastern, undocumented immigrant.” It says.
It’s talking about Jesus and, of course Jesus really was all of those things, things which
so many people, the world over, are now beginning to fear and hate.
It wasn’t always like that. Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in relative peace in Jerusalem right up until 1917. They enjoyed freedom of religion, and it was possible to find a synagogue, church, and mosque on the same street. All lived together peacefully side by side. As they did in Medieval Spain and most countries in the Middle east.
That is the world we are encouraging our LAAT children to learn to build.
A place where everyone’s needs are met; yours, theirs, the family’s next door, and in the next town and city and village. A world where we celebrate difference, understand and learn from the stories of others as we share our own stories with no fear of judgement or retribution.
We can learn from Christianity:
Hebrews 12:14: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and be holy
We can learn from Judaism:
Zechariah 8:16: “Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect peace in your gates”
We can learn from Islam:
“You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I inform you of something which, if you do, you will love one another? give greetings (peace) amongst yourselves.”
We can learn from those with no belief in a God of any kind:
Stephen Fry said “all the big words: virtue, justice, truth, are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness.”
In our LAAT schools we use Lyfta to help us understand the richness of the stories of other people. If you’re a teacher, you’ll know the depth of conversations that these lessons encourage in your pupils. If you are a parent or carer, why not ask your child about who they’ve encountered and what they had to say? We’re hoping to start a project in the coming year to share Lyfta with our parent and carer community so watch this space!
Stories have been around since we gathered around the fire, since minstrels travelled from town to town, village to village.
Listening to stories reminds us of who we are, grounds us in our history, helps us to learn, comforts us, challenges us, helps us to understand the world and our place in it and the place of other people too. Stories change us.
The story at the heart of Christmas does all of those things – as we hear about a baby born to a middle eastern family, in a place far, far from their home, forced there by the politics of the day. But welcomed by shepherds and kings, by inn keepers and angels. Acts of kindness and welcome which, in turn, brought great blessings and understanding.
This is the story we need today – a story of love and hope, a story of family and community, a story of togetherness which leaves no one alone, no one unloved, no one uncared for.
Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise;
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic host proclaim
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
As we think about the Christmas fast approaching, could I remind you that LAAT has a fund – Love As Action, Together – It’s been set up to support those who are struggling to make ends meet. Please do talk to your school – tell them your story – if you think that we can help.
And as this year ends for everyone at LAAT; pupils, staff, parents and carers, governors, communities, as well as all of our wonderful education sector partners, a huge thank you, and may I wish you all the sense of peace and love and hope that the Christmas story, of Mary, Joseph and a baby, can bring and a very, very Happy Christmas.
