
Two things had made this statement stand out for me when I read it. One was a friend talking about receptive ecumenism which encourages different Christian denominations to listen to one another, to learn from one another's wisdom, to be open to the gifts that the other has to offer, to recognise a unity that already exists without demanding agreed statements on church governance or order - all approaches used in interreligious dialogue.
The other was watching a film on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. ' 5 Broken Cameras' told the story of the resistance of a Palestinian village Bilin to the building of the separation wall. It is stark in its realism and it is not possible to watch it without feeling the pain of the Palestinian people. While it is right that Palestinians should tell their story the conflict was seen in black and white terms with no account of the complexities of the situation. It was hard to see how reconciliation will ever be possible. And yet there are people working for peace in that troubled land which is so sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. How I wish we could hear more about that.