29.07.2022
Lambeth 2022 Day 3: Retreat – Suffering must trigger empath and solidarity
The Lambeth Conference is currently taking place with Anglican bishops from throughout the Anglican Communion gathering in Canterbury. The once in a decade conference brings together bishops from across the globe for prayer and reflection, fellowship, and dialogue on church and world affairs. Archbishop Michael Jackson is attending and will report back to Dublin & Glendalough. Below is his report from Day 3 of Lambeth 2022 which has seen the bishops meet for the second day of their retreat.
While it happens in many settings, and not least in our own diocesan cathedral of Christ Church, it is always inspiring to participate in The Lord’s Prayer with members of the congregation saying the prayer each in his or her own language. This happened at both services of Holy Communion during the Retreat.
Over the two days of the Retreat we have worked our way assiduously through the whole of 1 Peter and this will be very valuable as we embark on daily Bible Studies for the remainder of the conference.
Highlights of today include the insight that suffering must trigger empathy and solidarity and that we must fight against the natural tendency towards isolation. How often do we hear of people suffering alone and our heart bleeds for them?
Another highlight was the connection between anxiety and humility. Tracing the word humility to the Latin word humus/earth, we were shown that such humility is not abject self–degradation but literally being grounded in ourselves and handing anxiety over to God from this vantage point.
The day began with a hymn written by The Melanesian Brotherhood. I hope that we can all be buoyed up by this verse:
We praise him (God) for the ocean vast,
With throbbing reef and coral shore
For fish and shell and mighty whale,
For all his gifts our thanks we pour
Even in the midst of suffering and anxiety, there is room to stop and to praise God for the majesty of creation.
