Canon Barry Naylor, who has planned the Order of Service and is officiating this evening, asked me to bring in a representative from each of the member communities on Leicester Council of Faiths. Each one would be asked to give a short reading from their scripture or sacred text (lasting no more than a minute). And I should ask them to resist the temptation to speechify when they get behind the microphone.
Even though this had to be done at short notice (doesn't everything these days!) I'm concerned that with hardly five minutes to go, as I enter the Cathedral we don't have a Hindu representative and our Muslim speaker is late. I didn't know if a Jain was going to be able to attend or not, but I'd proposed to our Jain friends that if this were the case, I'd be happy to represent them and read from their scripture. They were content with that, so I was prepared for it. As we're taking our seats, I spot Cllr Rashmikant Joshi come in, so dash over and buttonhole him about doing the Hindu reading. Barely a moment’s thought clouds his face before he accepts. I see Abdulkareem Gheewalla (President of the Islamic Education Trust and Chair of the Indian Muslims Association) speaking with someone in the pews, and when I ask him if he'd come forward as the Muslim speaker, he proposes his young friend, whom I've never met before. He accepts (brave soul) and comes down to the front with me. In the event, our invited Muslim speaker turns up in good time after all, so our substitute has no need to step up.
Early in the service, Barry Naylor asks the representatives to come forward one at a time, bringing with them a length of ribbon (each of a different colour) to be tied to a tall candlestick, then move forward to the lectern and read. First is Eleanor Davison, Humanist Celebrant with Leicester Secular Society. Then Tony Nelson, representing Leicester Hebrew Congregation. Next is Resham Singh Sandhu for Leicester's Sikhs. Then I have the honour of reading on behalf of the Jain community (I stress the principle of non-violence - Ahimsa - which is central to the Jain path and describe the Jain community as being, for most people, the undiscovered jewel among Leicester's faith communities). Dharmavidya David Brazier (in the photo above) is the Buddhist speaker – an impressive sight in his robes. Then Minou Cortazzi, for Leicester Bahá'ís. Sughra Ahmed represents the local Muslim community. Rashmikant Joshi steps into the breach for the Hindus (though you'd never know that he hadn't had any time to prepare). John Hull, Director of the St Philip's Centre is the last speaker, from the Christian perspective.
The oddest feeling of strength and vulnerability (at one and the same time) come to the fore during the singing of the hymn, "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace". I find this a rather odd, subdued number at the best of times, but here it has a genuine sense of radiant acquiescence about it: not of surrender to ravenous wolves at the door, nor of submission to something inevitable though undesirable, but of some business altogether more mysterious and unfathomable, of strength coming from making oneself vulnerable.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;In giving to all men that we receive;And in dying that we're born to eternal life.
This was a quiet moment of transcendence - perhaps a real "you had to be there" moment, but real none the less. Even so ... I couldn't help but be reminded of those 1950s sci-fi movies (like the Gene Barry version of War of the Worlds) in which the last remnants of humanity unite in prayer at the climax of their crisis while, outside the church, the aliens are gathering to bring about their destruction.
Cllr Manjula Sood (Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) reads from the Book of Isaiah 2:2-5.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Following on from the last lines of that reading, "let us walk in the light of the Lord", we're invited - one and all - to come forward, light a tea candle and place it on the floor in front of the screen, making a carpet of light. Judging by how long it takes to complete this part, very few here turn down the invitation!
Bishop Christopher, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Leicester, prays for the city:
We thank you for the rich diversity of our city and pray for its unity, and a true desire to pursue the common good. We thank you for all who, in past years, have contributed to the flourishing of this city.
We pray for all involved today, in its governance; may they perceive the needs of those they serve, uphold what is right and do always what is just and noble.
May the people of Leicester work together in the building of a city where all may live safely, all may experience true hospitality, all may have a just share of the blessings you give and all may know and enjoy life in its fullness.
We pray for all who uphold these values, that their hearts and minds may be emboldened and we pray for those who seek to destroy them, that their hearts and minds may be enlightened.
We ask these prayers in your most holy name.
AMEN
This is a beautiful, rare and timely event. I feel privileged to be involved in it, to have played a small part in helping make it work. One might say it's a pity that we have to wait until our harmony and friendship is threatened before we do something like this, but this is really what happens in Leicester every day, writ large right now. Because of the strange circumstances which beset us right now, everything we do is under the microscope, everything that we take for granted in our city is being picked up, turned over and shaken, to see how - or, indeed, if - it works. It's when the things we love are threatened that we realise just how much they mean to us. These are special times, times of heightened awareness, when we realise just how much we mean to each other.
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