Dear La Côte family and friends,
I am sure that as I write, many of you are watching with alarm and anxiety, the escalation of war in the Middle East – looking to our leaders for words of insight and integrity to navigate this situation and its far-reaching repercussions.
I have turned to Bishop Guli of Chelmsford for wisdom in these troubling days. As an Iranian refugee herself, who has spent many years in exile since escaping the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a teenager, she writes with humility and compassion, offering us a prayer to guide us as we watch and wait.
In her pastoral letter to church leaders in the Diocese of Chelmsford (3.3.26) she writes:
“The matters that preoccupy us in our churches and daily lives always take place against a backdrop of wider world affairs. At present we cannot but be aware of events taking place in the Middle East following the attack on Iran by the United States of America and Israel last week. It is not at all clear what the outcome or consequences of this action will be.
Many are hoping and praying for a change of regime in Iran and for freedom and justice for the people who have been so brutalised over the last four decades. But this is far from certain, and in the meantime, as we watch and wait in horror, innocent people are dying and there is fear all across the region. In Iran itself, of course. But elsewhere too, including in Israel and among Palestinians in the West Bank who continue to suffer the atrocities of illegal settlers while the eyes of the world are turned towards the epicentre of the conflict.”
Bishop Guli continues: “I commend the letter published by ++Hosam of Jerusalem on Saturday which expresses so poignantly much of what I would want to echo. ++Hosam’s letter can be read by clicking here. Please join me in praying for Christians, Jews and Muslims and all people across the Middle East, remembering especially our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Iran.”
I likewise warmly commend ++ Hosam’s words – which offer a clear way forward for the global Church in the face of these tragic cycles of violence.
In addition, please use Bishop Guli’s prayer (see above), to guide you over the coming days.
In the meantime, this coming Sunday we continue our Lenten worship with another one-to-one encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Our theme, “Meeting God in thirst” will reflect on Jesus’ offer to quench our thirst with “an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” (The Message, John 4.14) The prophetic words of ++ Hosam offer fresh waters of the Spirit to quench our thirst for justice and peace.
Carolyn Cooke
