±«Óãtv

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop Jo Bailey Wells

Good morning.

Last week I was on crowded a commuter train. That itself wasn’t unusual but what was utterly radical to someone who lives in the South East, was that PEOPLE WERE TALKING. As you might guess, this was not Surrey but Yorkshire. Of course I couldn’t help but listen in. We were in one of those trains with 3-seater rows, facing each other knee-to-knee. It began with two people comparing their phone covers and it ended up including 5 of the 6 of us, covering everything from fridge-freezers and teenagers’ phone contracts to protecting the elderly from scammers and the demands of work that day. I was hesitant to join in at first; but with hindsight it felt like a gift, a gift of inclusion, the kindness of strangers. It was just a 20-minute commute but it transformed the rest of my day.

"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" said Blanche DuBois in ‘A Streetcar named Desire’. So why did I resist it here? I wonder: what strangers might I encounter today? Where is the scope for showing kindness or receiving kindness? It costs so little yet its potential to transform is so great.

So our prayer today is very specific. Just see how God might answer it!

God of radical inclusion, enlarge my world today through the gift of a stranger. Open my eyes to where I may show kindness. And open my heart to receiving kindness from others. I ask that such kindness might transform this day so strangers become friends, after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who dares to call us his friends.

Amen.