Our third annual EBAMP Social Justice Lecture 'Poetic Justice and The Empty Space. Making room for compassion in the human heart.' - was held before little short of a hundred of us gathered in May at St Mary's.  As lilting Irish music faded away Richard introduced our guest speaker with a promise that he had brought with him a huge amount of faith, wisdom, poetry, music etc. (how right he was !).

Pádraig Ó Tuama reconciliation worker and poet in residence for Community Programmes in Belfast, began before an on screen backdrop of changing Lowry paintings, often crowd scenes.  As the flitting images of matchstick humankind were chosen (we later heard) to reflect the shared ground of our 'ordinaryness', Pádraig turned towards the quest for shared humanity and what we needed to do to find it. Pádraig is a facilitator and reconciliation worker within community groups often of Catholics and Protestants, including children.  One passion is for writing poems of protest, grief etc. sometimes in response to the stories of ordinary people recalling 'The Troubles' when 3,700 died.  One lady's observation was - 'There's many that died which were never killed' - due to trauma related consequences.  In one of Pádraig's poems he writes about the hunger strikers 'Of ten mothers' sons that died when all they ate was love and pride'. 

Then there was the story told of an eleven year old who asked him- If God loves us and God made us then why did he make Protestants, when they hate us and they hate him !?

'When adults continue dehumanisation and scapegoating awful things happen'.  For years people lived speaking little of 'the thing that devoured them'.  Thankfully change began to take place with brave talking between Catholics and Protestants, even between those living in close proximity linked to both perpetrator and victim.  'I'm glad this talking has begun, leading out with love.........It is in the shelter of each other that we live'.  Pádraig's thoughts re. division (42 'peace walls' remain in Belfast) and dehumanisation, were not always confined to Ireland.

Were we challenged when asked who was it we saw as 'the demonised people here in England' ?  Or short of sympathy when Pádraig's poetry told of those of gay and lesbian persuasion, languishing in Ugandan jails - 'bodies like yours-bodies like mine'.  Pádraig blessed us 'In the name of goodness and love and broken communities.....  In the name of action and peace.....  In the name of forgive and forget.....  In the name of Holy reflection..... In the name of harbour, shelter and family.....'  Thanking our speaker Colin said how he had been deeply moved touching on the Tory/Lib Dem alliance (at the time in its nascent hour) and our own EBAMP (both gems of opportunism!)  We would all take something away from the evening.

So let The Messenger record here two of Pádraig's related insights :- 'One way to find peace is when I can tell my enemy's story as my enemy would say it.....  We do not hear stories as they are but as we are' and let's not forget his incisive -  'Could we be the location of moral culpability ???  

Edward Eldred

Our Third Social Justice Lecture

Highlights from The Messenger