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TALKING ISSUES -
‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
How do we address the widening gap between rich and poor in our nation? What do we do about the increasing numbers of calls to Besoms across the network from ever more desperate social workers and other, long-term community care workers; the lengthening queues at the food banks; the rising anger that bubbles beneath the crust of our society like magma? How long can we expect the unemployed across Europe to sit on their hands (as high as 23% of the adult workforce in Spain, nearly 50% of those under 25)? When will the social unrest begin?
choice but to go out and do what we can to bring about change. We see ourselves in the position of the other – but for the Grace of God. It matters not how much change we bring about – it will probably be very little in terms of the overall problems faced by those who are in distress; but at least it is something, and we can look at ourselves in the mirror in the morning without distaste. As a driving force for action, compassion is unbeatable: it is not just a feeling, it is an inescapable, relentless, uncompromising, sacrificial call to arms and it comes from so deep within the spirit of a man that it causes him pain. Another word for The debate about capitalism and its compassion is love – or Truth. benefits and disadvantages continues unabated as I write, and I have made my There are still many who are compelled in own suggestions in previous newsletters. this way, thank Heavens; but even In this one, though, I want to examine an amongst these, there is little issue that lies far beneath the cut and understanding of a second, and equally thrust of the debate between economists crucial, aspect of their compassion. It is and politicians, commentators and this: we must do more than assist the one business leaders. What ever happened to in need; we must locate the source of the compassion? pain, the underlying cause of the distress, the reason for the poverty and the disease Pity is not compassion. Pity is the feeling that leads to the unnecessary deaths, say, we can have when we see someone in a of so many entirely innocent children. condition that saddens us. It bears with it And we must stand on the rooftops and no necessary sense of shared experience or shout against the injustice of it, just as the engagement with the circumstances in Iranian students did every twilight before which the person pitied finds himself (or, the 2009 elections there and before they more commonly, herself). It has come a were silenced by the torturers and the long way from its roots in the old Latin oppressors of that dark regime. We must word for kindness or duty which at least propose the dismantling of unjust encouraged a sense of responsibility even structures, whatever they are, in the same if it was hard and unemotional; indeed, breath as loving those who have been pity can often now come across as distant damaged or rendered passive or impoverished by them. Compassion is the and condescending. highest and purest form of criticism of the Nor is sympathy compassion. Sympathy status quo, of the dominant culture. We suggests a closer affinity with the object of may not be silent. one’s emotions than pity: if only out of our common humanity, we can recognise So, it is integral to compassion to say that a fellow sufferer. ‘You have my deepest central government is unjust by sympathy’ provides encouragement and definition, is corrupt in practice because the knowledge that the speaker cares (if he power corrupts in practice, that every is genuine); but again, sympathy carries no leader should be required to be necessary connotation of needing to act to transparent about how much money he and his family has and where it came from alleviate the person’s suffering. and where they are spending it; it is Nor, even, is empathy compassion. integral to compassion to say that every Empathy comes when we have organisation of any scale, any experienced something similar ourselves accumulation of wealth or power, be it a to a person’s distress so we know more business or a landowning or an readily how the person must be feeling. ‘I individual, or a multinational, should have been there’ we say, ‘I know how you have to justify its existence all the time feel’. How refreshing, how comforting against a plumbline of love and freedom that can be to a person who feels alone or and sustainability and community wellmisunderstood. Yet even this shared basis being; and it is integral to compassion to for our feelings towards another does not stand and criticize and stand again, whatever the personal cost of so doing. propel us to act. Compassion is an emotion of a different order – and there is a lot less of it about, I believe, as self-interest and self-indulgence become ever more common. Compassion comes, first, with the imperative to lessen or remove the cause of the pain or the need of the sufferer. We cannot stand idly by as, say, 30,000 children die every day of starvation and malnutrition-related diseases; we have no
It is not enough just to be caring passionately on the ground for those who suffer, to be off on the vans delivering furniture, food and clothes, to be out painting the flat of a single mother rehoused after abuse. And no one, quite rightly, will listen to those who merely rail against injustice without having their sleeves rolled up as they wash the feet of the poor. We have all had enough of hot
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air. Those who have earned our respect across history and across the globe have been compassionate in both senses of that hugely powerful word – Bonhoeffer, Booth, Luther King, for instance, and, quintessentially, Jesus Christ. The opposite to compassion is contempt or, as George Bernard Shaw wrote, indifference. That seems to be the principal characteristic of the downward spiral I see around me, the very zeitgeist of our nation: live and let live, mind our own business, enjoy ourselves while we can. It is underpinned by what the psychologists call a diffusion of responsibility, or the ‘Genovese syndrome’ (named after the hapless Kitty Genovese who, in 1964, was stabbed to death in New York City whilst 38 people allegedly did nothing). This occurs when everyone assumes that someone else will go to the aid of another in distress and when that assumption is strengthened by seeing others equally apathetic: ‘if they are not acting, I do not need to help either’. And it is encouraged too, by what Herman has described as ‘normalizing the unthinkable - the process whereby ugly, degrading, murderous, and unspeakable acts become routine and are accepted as the way things are done’ – Arendt’s banal evil. We have the media to thank for that, of course. So, let us assess our leaders, those in positions of power and influence across our nation or further afield, against this backdrop. In what ways do they express compassion in the policies they espouse, the public and private lives they lead, the money they earn or have, the businesses they run? What is the visible fruit of their actions in the lives of the least, the weakest, in our society? If they have the honour to serve us in these exalted positions, if they have the opportunity to hold the destinies of many in the palms of their hands, if they have found themselves with a great fortune because they have had the chance to create wealth (and the fun of so doing), or more especially, if they have just been there when wealth has tumbled down upon them, how have they responded? Can they see the trees for the wood? Surely we should allow no one to have any significant role in our land unless they are motivated by, unless they model, compassion? Of course we need those versed in business skills, talented in all areas of public life – but compassion, surely, should be a sine qua non, a bedrock to their appointment. Where does compassion come from? Well, compassion always engenders compassion: life at the bottom soon changes when those at the top are known to be driven by it. But I only know of one Source. James Odgers Fo un d e r T h e B e s o m a n d FA C E t o F a c e M a r c h 2 012
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The Besom helps people make a difference. It provides a bridge between those who want to give money, time, skills or things, and those who are in need. It ensures that what is given is used effectively. The service it provides is free. Issue No. 44 First Act
A Brush With Hope
THE BESOM
Besom 2012 March 2K:Besom 2010 july
vulnerabilities. Her success is obvious as a good number of the There are very specific images that come to mind when one is clientele are adorned in the Muslim chador and the racial mix asked to think of women living in London’s East End. The is as diverse as any pub smoking-area in the locality. Though most obvious may be the tragic figure of Nancy from Charles she had family and friends in West London, she felt the need Dickens’ Oliver Twist, then more recently Nazneen, the to devote herself to building strong friendships with the culturally-conflicted heroine of Monica Ali’s Brick Lane. As women of Bethnal Green. Moving into a community rife with much as these characters encapsulate a set of social struggles, drug abuse and kerb crawling, she spent the first two years the history of one part of the East End particularly sticks out. doing weekly art workshops at a local women’s hostel, giving “The Blind Beggar of Blethenal Green” is a Tudor ballad and her time to the Whitechapel Mission and for six months the first recorded reference to the area now known as Bethnal helping with the Team Challenge Bus project. Of course, these Green. Though the title of the song outs the unspoken view of are only the formal appointments her time-giving took in. London’s collective consciousness – that the area has always Many more hours were spent by her simply being in those been associated with poverty – it is equally known as an area communities, talking and building relationships without the both vibrantly blessed and blighted by the tensions of distancing structures of charities around her. She held open multiculturalism. In the 18th century, the influx of Huguenot lunches for local women at her house, attended court cases and Irish weavers drawn to the silk trade of Spitalfields with the ladies, doctors’ appointments; her vision was very brought with it the predictable Hogarthian cocktail of much geared to a holistic lifestyle of charity. prostitution, binge drinking and homelessness. In the early She tells me one story about a 19th century, Bethnal lady called Helen. Wendy met Green’s reputation for Helen in the Hopetown large families living in hostel just off Brick Lane. As derelict, tumbledown with many vulnerable women buildings made it home to in the area, the almost the world’s very first universal and more often council housing project, i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e the Boundary Estate. combinations of issues left Bethnal Green is no Helen a destitute alcoholic. stranger to broken families, Over a two-year relationship to poverty and perhaps with Wendy and receiving most relevantly here, it is much of the natural human no stranger to the plight of kindness that she provides, vulnerable women. she became a Christian in her Though the gentrification hostel bedroom and has now process of the early 21st been clean of alcohol for over century has largely filtered a year. out the most visible traces There’s a strong ethos that of Dickensian slums, the project is specifically leaving a rather sanitized local, and this is to ensure shabby-chic, there are still that intimacy and strength is places where the struggle provided in the relationships continues. Furthermore, grown, as most of the work is there are still places where achieved through pastoral human compassion actively care, art therapy or a spiritual challenges the injustice of means. Wendy’s combination suffering. of artistic encouragement and With sheets of poetry, wire Biblical teaching is aimed at sculptures, paintings and rebuilding broken identities, flowers adorning the walls communicating healing and like a free climbing mosaic, hope through an active Arch 76 is decorated as if example of Christian love. the most joyful collection Looking around at the of childhood memories has women, currently dissecting been projected into some images from glossy magazines sort of giant rabbit hole. A painting by a lady named Tracey, her first ever. idolizing the size-zero version The rumble of trains of Venus, one can see how much more so Wendy’s work is passing overhead would be easily mistaken for the brewing of one of dissecting the fallacies that women are faced with by an indoor thunderstorm in this surreal, comforting these presentations of feminine identity and beauty. atmosphere. Along with the trains there is usually music Presentations which have undoubtedly led the men in their playing, as ladies reminisce shared songs and stories with time lives to undervalue them. Money givers through The Besom givers and each other. Insofar as conversation and familiarity have had a great impact, with sofas and chairs providing is concerned, there is very little distinction between the comfort to the environment. The healing processes for these servant and the served, but all seem equally able to enrich one women seem undeniably to rely on the replanting of truth another. The groups are either chatting on sofas or huddled where lies have been sown, the rebuilding of strength from the around the craft table being creative. smallest of seeds, of kind words and gestures. Similarly, this Though no one there is quite so creative as Wendy Rolt, who project is small in physical scale, but sees huge changes made founded Arch 76. Wendy left Hong Kong two years ago, in individual lives. While the wounds of an area with such a feeling called to Bethnal Green to help vulnerable women. As painful legacy are not displayed on Brick Lane itself, Wendy a Christian missionary she is passionate about providing a and her team are changing lives in the backstreets. welcoming environment for women of all faiths and
Besom 2012 March 2K:Besom 2010 july
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WITNEY
Even though Christmas was a few weeks ago now, we are still aglow from the fact that we were able to help so many people experience some extra Christmas kindness this year—thanks to our wonderful friends. At last count, 57 households received much-needed Christmas hampers full of food and other treats. It’s amazing how often the right things were given to the right people at the right time. For example, a little boy in Witney asked his mum for some new crayons as his were all broken and whittled down. “We’ll see,” his mum, a struggling single parent, told him. Well, what do you think happened to be in the hamper we delivered to them— a box of fresh new crayons! “We are both so delighted,” the mother told us. “And all the other items are fantastic and will give us a merry Christmas. Thank you for thinking of us!” In addition to the hampers, we were able to bring our usual food parcels to more than a dozen recipients in a time of need who would have gone without. We received referrals requesting food parcels right up to Christmas Eve and it was great to be able to add some festive treats to each of these as well. Many people received not just food…but M&S food! Unsold food from stores is often thrown away, but M&S staff members obtained permission to purchase the unsold food themselves so they could donate it to us. Together, they bought and gave us six trolleys’ worth of food. They stayed after hours to organise it all into boxes. We had people and cars ready to deliver these “unwanted” items—18 complete meals in all. More than one person cried upon receiving their food parcel. On Christmas Eve we visited and blessed elderly people, single people and families of all sizes—including one family who were homeless and staying with friends and greatly appreciated being able to contribute to their friends’ festive table.
“ One wom an ha d w ai ted and waited at Sainsbur y’s to se e if a turkey wou ld b e reduced to a price she could a f fo rd — to n o av ai l . S h e went hom e s ad, bu t two ho ur s la te r we were a t her door with a turkey and all the trimmings.” Besides food, many other items were given to us that helped us put smiles on faces at Christmas. One person sheepishly offered us some Christmas tree decorations, thinking, “Will anyone really want these?” Little did they know that a few days before we had been able to give a Christmas tree to a needy family, but they didn’t have anything to decorate it with! We received donations of baby food and toiletries. Then we heard a residential project in Witney that supports young families had recently run out of these kinds of supplies so we passed these gifts on to them. On Christmas Day, one of our supporting churches in Burford offered a free Christmas lunch to anyone who wanted one. They cooked and served 29 meals and it was great to hear how God provided over-and-above what was needed for this community outreach and what a good time they had. We feel sure the smell of the turkey in the oven made their Christmas Day service even more special this year! These are just some of the Christmas stories we could share of people whose needs were met and whose lives were touched, thanks to our givers. As a professional support worker wrote in a thank-you note to us, “It is just so wonderful to know that there is so much kindness out there.” It truly is. Thank you so much for joining with us as together, we help sweep away suffering in our communities.
A wee k i n th e li fe of
The Besom in Witney
We recently held a social evening for time to e-mails, taking and making phone calls and TIMEBesom WELL in SPENTgeneral ! givers and those who support The organisation of collections and Witney in prayer. We had various visual aids deliveries. We carried out initial assessment to try and demonstrate and explain the visits where we meet a new recipient in their various bridges that we span here in Witney to home with their better inform our supporters for our Besom: professional support worker to find out what • Giving and matching of things their needs are and how • Food gifts we might help. We gave • Projects just three food parcels, • Being the bridge – all the different skills, tailored TIME to the recipient’s WELL SPENT! services and aspects of our team that come needs and circumstances TIME WELL SPENT! together to form our Besom. (we average four most weeks). We had three teams carrying out van It was a very special evening together, with runs to collect and deliver furniture, and cakes TIME and WELL bucksSPENT fizz, ! some collections and deliveries of smaller and an opportunity for items in cars. We had a small group of people the wider team to get who sorted things into and out of the shed for to see who else is recipients. We also had a time giver carry out involved here in some dressmaking for a lady with disabilities Witney. Six or seven with whom we are churches were repreworking. Oh yes, and a sented by those present (although we are in curtain rail was put up. fact ‘The Besom’ to eighteen different supporting churches in the town and The ladies project surrounding villages). group painted a kitchen for an expecOne of the most striktant mother, washed her curtains and baked a TIME WELL SPENT! ing things about the cake. Some firm friendships evening was guessing were established through and then hearing doing the decorating; some how many people had of the team live in the same given time the week village as the recipient and before. All the guesses were too low. It was an have since begun to provide amazing tally of 22 different people plus a proadditional friendship and ject group of 5 ladies! support for her and her family ahead of her new baby We heard how the 22 timegivers gave time in arriving, arranging to meet up with their chila wide variety of roles dren together for a play date over half term. including: managing our financial records, Comments since the evening included from collating our giver one time giver ‘it’s so wonderful to be a small records and keeping part of something much bigger than I our diary, responding imagined it to be’.
Chr istmas Hamper s
This is a letter that we sent out to all of those who gave hampers through us:
“ Thank you so much for giving a hamper through The Besom in Witney this Christmas. Your hamper, along with those given by others, enabled us to make Christmas a bit better for many local people who for different reasons were struggling. Recipients included people living in various local supported housing projects with whom we work regularly, a couple of families where a parent is in prison, two people who are homeless, and many other families in need for different reasons. Overall, we passed on 56 separate hampers. We have had some lovely feedback from some of their support workers after the deliveries: • All the families have said how much they've appreciated the Christmas food parcels. So many thanks. • I just wanted to thank you for the hamper that was given to L and her family. She was absolutely delighted. Thank you so much for dealing with everything so quickly and making the family’s Christmas that bit easier. It is just so wonderful to know that there is so much kindness out there. We have heard some lovely stories from those who delivered the hampers. It is clear that recipients were so grateful and thankful for these gifts. Many were moved to tears. One single mum told us that the hamper enabled her to tick off everything she had written on her shopping list and gave her some breathing space to get her children some little treats with the money saved. We are most grateful to you for giving to The Besom in Witney and thank you for helping to make such a difference.
”
THE BESOM In O xford The Besom in Oxford has been slowly getting back on its feet after a couple years of hiatus while babies were being born! We are rebuilding relationships with our local social workers and churches and look forward to the projects and blessings that 2012 brings. To give an example, in late 2011 we had a project that brought extra smiles to all involved. Emily (name changed) is a single mother to two children under five living in a new council house on one of Oxford’s estates. The children had taken quite a few liberties with crayons and pens on the white walls, and Emily was facing the prospect of losing the house if the condition wasn’t improved. Some givers from Oxford Community Church who live on the same estate offered to repaint the lounge, hallway and stairwell all in one Saturday morning! Sure enough, they were finished by 2pm - we were astounded at their speed and the quality of the job. Emily had invited some of her friends over to pitch in for a few hours, which is something she had originally wanted when we first spoke with her. As we walked through the door to collect the painting equipment, the giving group were howling with laughter in the kitchen with Emily and her friends, and we even overheard them being invited to a poker night! Emily had her walls approved by the council and avoided eviction. We continue to feel blessed as God has brought to us exactly the amount of givers and projects we can handle as a small group. He knows the right timing for the Besom in Oxford and we trust him for provision and guidance.