Page 12 - Moravian Messenger Nov 2020

From the Sanctuary
Compromise is a most difficult thing to achieve when we are principled. We saw it in what we were told about the 'Brexit' talks, with each side having their 'red lines' beyond which each side was not prepared to compromise - and there is something admirable (and also frustrating) about having 'principles'. We are taught that Christians should be principled people - but what would the world, and our relationships, look like if we all held a principled position in every disagreement and situation? Isn't compromise often better?
November 2018 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the end of what we now call the 'First World War' (1914-1918). Some of the men of our congregations died in that war, and we have memorials to remember them by. I suspect that many of the women of the congregation endured great suffering too, but alas we don't often have a memorial for them. If I hadn't been so short-staffed at work, I would have liked to have researched more about each of the lives (names) on the memorial at Dukinfield - but like most things in life, that had to be a compromise between what needs to be done to 'survive', and what is realistically doable in the circumstances, if I am not to go under with stress. Yet more compromise!
I do sometimes look at that memorial and wonder what each person looked like; what their jobs and family lives were like; whether any of them were pacifists or conscious objectors (which many Moravians were) who succumbed to the pressures of
joining the war? Did any of them compromise their principles for the 'greater good'? What would I have done if it were me in that situation? I was also reminded recently of a vicar, from the Lake District, who went to the front - not as a fighter but who served as a medic, thereby keeping his principles of non- violence - helping soldiers from either side in need. He risked life and limb, becoming the most decorated non-fighter, gaining the Victoria Cross and other medals for bravery. What would have happened to those whom he rescued if his principles of non-violence had kept him out of the war? Yet, men and women were needed to grow the crops, build the ammunitions etc. when most of the men were away fighting.
War, like all traumatic events, turns 'normal' values and ways of operating, topsy-turvy, and brings into perspective just what principles we do hold, and which of them can be compromised and which can't be - which is always required of us by life generally, but in a less-intense way. Where is God in all of this process, I wonder? Where is that still small voice, guiding and accompanying - but sometimes experienced as silent when we are willing it to tell us what the best thing is to do? How much more did our Moravian brothers and sisters experience that angst, as they discerned what to do - to compromise or to stay firm to their principles - or to find a way of achieving both (like the vicar) for the greater good. What would you have done?
Br Peter Gubi Dukinfield
British Mission Board (BMB) News
The BMB will host an online service of celebration and thanksgiving for the work in the South Asia Mission Area (India & Nepal) on Friday 13th November, 1pm GMT. Marking the centenary of the ordination of Br Gergan and Br Dana, we will give thanks for the legacy of their heritage and give thanks not only for the Moravian ministry in Ladakh but the spread of the Church in India and Nepal and we continue to grow and develop into the
21st Century. The service will be held online, led by Br Joachim Kreusel and ministers from South Asia and we hope as many people as possible from India, Nepal, the UK and around the Unity will be able join together online. Details will be sent out by the BMB shortly on how to access the service. Please contact Roberta.hoey@moravian.o rg.uk if you would like more information.
Roberta Hoey attended
the European Mission Council on 30th
September and 1st October. Originally planning to meet in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania we were determined to go ahead and so met online instead. Our discussions included updates from each Mission Agency and work that is going on throughout the globe. We discussed common challenges and opportunities, and it proved to be a time of good
collaboration and reflection. Participants were from Mission 21 (Switzerland), BDM (Denmark), BMB (UK), ZZg (The Netherlands), HMH (Germany), FEBS (Sweden), BWM (North America), Unity Women's Desk, Moravian Church Foundation, and Moravian Unity.
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