Contrasting dreams

 

 'The Church should go forward along the path of progress and be no longer satisfied only to represent the Conservative Party at prayer'

It was hard not to immediately think of this remark - made by the preacher and suffragist Maude Royden at Queen's Hall in London, on July 16 1917 - after listening to the sermon at a church my family and I have recently started attending.

The frisson of nervous tension that shivered throughout the congregation that Sunday in October was audible as it became clear the preacher was contrasting two different versions of a dream; one belonging to Martin Luther King, the other Suella Braverman.

He began: 

'That's my dream. I'll say it again. That's my dream. Now when you hear a quote mentioning a dream you can be forgiven for thinking I'm referring to Martin Luther King's famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.

'Dr King's dream was one in which his four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

'Unfortunately, however, my quote isn't from Dr King's famous speech, instead my quote comes from the home secretary.'

It was at this moment of explicit elucidation that it was clear that the sermon was focusing on what the home secretary had said days earlier at the Conservative Party conference; and at this moment a murmur of nervousness swept up and down the pews. It was followed by rapt silence and anticipation of what was to follow.

The Sermon continued: 

'In her dream, which was reported in the news this week and which she pubicly described in her own words "there is a photograph, a photograph of a plane on the front page of the Daily Telegraph. That plane is taking off to forcibly deport asylum seekers overseas".'

'So then we have two very contrasting dreams. The first dream from Martin Luther King, is a beautiful one, it simultaneously celebrates human diversity and also emphasises our universal and equal dignity as children of a loving God. At once it is both a vision of the Kingdom of Heaven and also a determined hope that this Kingdom will be realised here on earth.

'In contrast the second dream, the dream of manhandling asylum seekers on to planes and shipping them overseas, that dream rides roughshod over the dignity of the divine image intrinstic to each of us. In this second dream, there are only two responses to difference; hostility and inhumanity.'

The last line deserves repetition:

'In this second dream, there are only two responses to difference; hostility and inhumanity.'

The address has revolved around my mind in the weeks since it was delivered. Suella Braverman has been sacked and reinstated in that time. Yet, it still seems pertinent, as the government try and persist with their deportation strategy.

It's certainly true that Church of England leaders frequently clash with politicians of all sides but I don't recall such explicit condemnation of a political policy from the Sermon of a parish church during the main Sunday service.

I also don't recall a congregation following each word and sentence of a Sermon with such tenacity.

The Sermon continued for a few more minutes, delving into the parable of the ten lepers from the Gospel of Luke. All healed by Jesus, the one who returned to thank him was the Samaritan, ostracised by society but all treated equal regardless of a status or belief.

And he finished with a few lines from the poem Paul Robeson, by Gwenydolyn Brooks:

'We are each other's harvest. We are each other's business. We are each other's magnitude and bond.'

The home secretary may not have been in the congregation, but for those who were there, the message was pretty clear.