Today is the feast of Eid and while many Muslims throughout the world will be wishing eachother Eid Mubarak many are suffering the consequences of war. in spite of calls from Presidents, Archbishops and Popes for ceasefires there seems to be no let up in the violence.  Often religious people like to say that those perpetrating religious violence are not being true to their religion. They're certainly not living according to the ideals of their religion but in so far as religious people are implicated in the violence then religion has to take some kind of responsibility and face up to its dark side.  Pope Francis has told us that we have to cry for the ills of the world and it's true that many religious and non-religious people will take  the pain of those in war zones to their heart and grieve for what's happening. But how difficult it is to feel helpless and impotent in the the face of the awful destruction and suffering we see daily on our televisions.  I have always said that interreligious dialogue is sowing seeds for peace but sometimes it feels like that's not enough.

At the moment it is Israel and Gaza that dominate the news. There have been a number of ceasefires but each one has been broken by one side or the other. Israel insists it wants peace but it's fearful for its security. The Palestinian Authority wants peace though Hamas is intent in ridding the world of the State of Israel.  Is it possible ever to dialogue with someone who wants rid of you?  And to strengthen its borders Israel is intent on an expansionist policy which makes the situation worse. Here in Scotland people seem to polarise when it comes to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Many Christians see Israel as an apartheid state and use every opportunity to oppose it. In conversation it's taken for granted that we all feel the same way.  They even approach Jews about Israel suggesting that somehow they are responsible. And often demonstrations are accompanied by anti-semitic incidents. This makes the Jewish community uneasy and I often think unable to criticise Israel's policy in public. In this there are two sides to the story and it's difficult to stand in both camps at the same time.  Donald Nicholl, who for a long time was head of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, said he would know it was time to leave when he found himself taking sides in the conflict.  When I'm with those who are pro-Palestine I feel a need to put forward how Israel might feel and when I'm with Jews the need to put forward the situation of Palestinians so that everyone thinks I'm on the other side while in a sense I'm on both sides.

I also wonder why people are so quick to demonstrate against Israel but no word against some of the other atrocities around the world or the walls that isolate communities from one another - a very large number of them in Belfast, on our own doorstep. Are we a bit fearful of opposing loudly Muslim regimes, I wonder?  Take Mosul at the moment. For the first time in 1600 years Mass has not been said in what is Iraq' second's city because the Christian population has fled and a christian community nearly as old as Christianity itself has been devastated. And it has fled because Christians were given an ultimatum - covert to Islam, submit to its rule and pay a religious levy or face death.  This was read out in Mosques and broadcast on loudspeakers.  The homes of Chriristians were daubed with the letter "N" for Nasara which means Christian or Nazarene. And the international community, as well as the Christian community, seems to be silent apart from Bishop Angelaus, head of the Coptic Church in Britain. 

Tich Nhat Hanh has said the way to peace is peace but there seems to be little motivation for it.  As someone said 'there's enough religion for hate and not enough for love'.  Rather we appear to be afraid of one another, suspicious of one another, unable to compromise and live with one another's differences and truths. I have to believe that interreligious dialogue is one small step to overcome this. Please God this is true.  

Glasgow is alive with excitement at the Commonwealth Games due to start this very evening.  The city is bathed in sunshine which always lifts the spirit of Glaswegians and bunting everywhere gives the city a real festive feel.  This is not just a sporting competition, it's a celebration of sport and culture.  From 71 nations and territories people are pouring into the city and even before the opening ceremony I have been to an interfaith service of welcome and friendship, a civic service, a celebration in dance and song of the River Clyde, a flower show, a talk on the history of Glasgow and the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony.  This is quite a lot  considering the Games haven't even started but shows how much the city has taken this festival to heart.

I don't suppose I have given much thought to the Commonwealth, perhaps seeing it as an outmoded left over from the British Empire though there are now nations part of it that weren't in the Empire.  But I like the idea of a commonwealth of nations.  In Scotland we have a  word, commonweal. It means the common good and the best of Scottishness is to have a  concern for the commonweal.  This surely is what these Games are about - different nations in friendly rivalry, disinguished by their own culture  but united in a bond of common concern and support.  At one time the bond would have been the Queen but nations have been able to remain part of the commonwealth even when they have chosen independence, showing that bonds can exist even when nations choose  to govern their own affairs.  In Scotland we're facing a referendum and no matter what the outcome I am sure we'll always believe that better together's an ideal worth striving for ( but of course as equal partners!).

For the first time the Commonwealth Games are being held in partnership with UNICEF and a recurring theme is  'children first'.  Tonight the eyes of the world will be on Glasgow and part of the  Opening Ceremony will give people every where an opportunity to donate to UNICEF in one grand gesture of generosity, made possible by social media and mobile phones.  This is in itself is an amazing legacy and shows the ideal of a commonwealth of nations - to look beyond self interest to care for others, especially those much poorer than ourselves.  Having children at the heart of the Games is a constant reminder that in spite of the ideals of the commonwealth we are in danger of handing on a very dangerous world to our children, a troubled world, ill at ease with itself, unable to live in peace, set on destroying the very environment it needs for survival. 

But it is certainly not doom and gloom when it comes to the Games. Thousands of people from all walks of life and all ages have volunteered to help out.  The red and grey uniforms around the city are being worn by volunteers, the blue and white ones by baton carriers.  They seem to be everywhere.  At least 2,000 people have given up their time for daily rehearsals to take part in the opening and closing ceremonies. Like the Olympic Games the generosity of the volunteers is overwhelming.

The baton seems to have become particularly meaningful - everyone wanting to touch it as it passes them. I went to see it pass in my own neighbourhood but also watched the live coverage on the BBC yesterday when friends of mine were due to carry it. Each time the baton was handed over family and friends crowded round for the inevitable photographs. To see the love and pride of families was very moving.  My friends were Sikhs and they bangra danced their way down the street accompanied by tabla playing and what seemed like the whole Sikh community in that particular area.

Yes, all this excitement and celebration gives us a glimpse of what the world could be like if we let go of our fears and suspicions, if we looked to the good in others and committed ourselves to the commonweal.

'The world is charged with the grandeur of God. it will flame out like the shining from shook foil'. I'm not sure I understand Gerard Manley Hopkins but his language conveys images that speak of the beauty and magnificence of creation.  It gathers to a greatness like the ooze of oil, it is never spent and there lives within it the dearest freshness deep down things - wonderfully evocative images. Gerard Manley Hopkins is the focus this month in the British Province calendar so  I have been looking at his picture every time I sit at my desk.  He doesn't seem too remote even though he lived in the 19th century because his poetry is eternal but also because he served in a parish very near where I live. Perhaps his spirit and energy are still around.

I have been looking at the area in which I live with new eyes this week. A friend visited from the US and noted the number of places of worship there are around my home.  We decided to make a little pilgrimage, visiting the Episcopalian Cathedral, the Buddhist Centre, the Mosque, the Ignatian Spirituality Centre and the Catholic Cathedral of St Andrew.  But we also visited the River Clyde on our way which seemed most appropriate. Pat wondered why so many faiths had set up places of worship in the area. I had no idea and presumed it was for economic reasons  but perhaps there is an energy and dearest freshness deep down things that I have not been aware of before.  Even realising this possibility helps me look beneath the surface. It is true what it says in Matthew's gospel ' we have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear'. We need to look beyond the obvious  and to do so is to put us in touch with those interconnecting energies as a source of inspiration and strength.

Another source of energy this week has been  Glasgow's Botanic Gardens.  I spent a  day there with some deacons from the Church of Scotland. It was a quiet day, a day of mindfulness to allow us to slow down, to ponder, to gaze, to smell, to touch the world of which we are part. We were invited  to look upon creation with love and compassion, reverence and respect, to care for it and its inhabitants, to listen to its cries and concerns, to offer healing and hope, to take it further on its journey towards wholeness and love. This we did by simply looking, seeing that dearest freshness, deep down things and opening our hearts to welcome in all that we saw.  The sun was shining, the water sparkling and the park packed with new born babies and pregnant women as well as older people, couples, families, some people reading, some playing games, others just sitting. It was easy to feel the interconnectedness of all things, to feel the warmth of the sun, to breathe in peace and breathe out peace to others.  I often walk in the Botanic Gardens but realise how seldom I do so mindfully and what a wonderful day of retreat it can be.

 But this beauty and grandeur is not the whole story and we know our world is in danger and in need of healing and wholeness.  As John Muir reminds us ' the battle for conservation will go on endlessly. It is part of the universal battle between right and wrong.' But on days when the sun is shining and all seems well with the world we can rejoice that ' it is a privilege to be alive at this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.' ( Joanna Macey).  Recognising the sacredness of it all can help do just that.

I was recently at the retiral of a wonderful Salvation Army couple who had served the Christian Church and people of Scotland for over ten years. I was a bit taken aback when at the end of the proceedings they were each presented with a framed certificate which gave them honourable retirement from warfare.  The Salvation Army are an amazing organisation with officers totally dedicated to the work of the Army, ready to be sent anywhere in the country, ready to serve the poor and homeless. The way of life demands total commitment and readiness to uproot one's family, sometime as often as every two years.  Organised like an army, service to the community and to the Gospel is obviously seen in terms of warfare.  I guess warfare against poverty, injustice, inequality, sin etc and the fight is to establish the opposite of these.  This is not an uncommon approach within religions.  And how does it differ from that of the young man from Aberdeen who left home to fight in Syria "for the sake of Allah, to give everything I have for the sake of Allah"?  No doubt he thinks right is on his side and that he's engaging in  a war against evil.

Nearly all religions have used this idea of  warfare. The beautiful teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is given in the context of the Battle of Kurukshetra. Although seen as a conflict between good and evil, the Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he must fulfil his duty as a warrior and fight with the members of his family who are on the opposing side, even suggesting that their death is not of absolute importance as death is not final and their spirit will continue into another existence.

Baptised Sikhs  see themselves as soldier disciples who wear a small knife, the kirpan under their clothing as a sign of their willingness to fight for truth and justice and to sacrifice their life for it. St Paul tells Christians to put on the armour of God and to arm themselves with righteousness in the fight against evil. And in Islam the idea of jihad is often in the news these days even though the great jihad is against the sinful self and not others.

All this fighting is about spiritual warfare and the fight is essentially an internal one between the good and evil that resides within all of us.  Sometimes it spills over to seeing evil as external to us - sometimes in the form of another religion or way of life, sometimes the prevailing culture, sometimes individuals with different values and understandings of life. Then it can become violent and destructive.  Even when it doesn't become destructive the notion of conflict suggests competition, struggle, polarisation between right and wrong, however it is perceived.  It can lead to aggressive proselytisation, war, inquisitions, persecutions and even death and has done so in the past.  Sometimes it has led religious groups like the Amish to withdraw from society, to live by their own standards, to set up a separate way of life which looks out of touch with modern society.  Growing up I was taught that the Catholic Church was an ark tossed on a stormy sea but rather than defend ourselves against the storm should we not be learning to ride it and navigate our way through it?  To do this we have to know it and understand how to relate to it.

So I wonder if we should change our narrative to avoid non-violent language. There's a story of a child who asked which side would win in the struggle between good and evil in his heart. The answer was 'the one you feed'.  There's something to ponder in that methinks.