Dear Friends,
In the prayer that Jesus prayed before going out to Gethsemane to subsequent arrest and crucifixion, (John 17), the two verses that we always highlight are 21 and 22 as our justification for promoting unity among Christians. “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” The fact that in that moment Jesus was and is praying not only for his disciples back then but for us, right here and now – that we might be one – is something that still ‘blows my mind’ no matter how often I read these words. Throughout my life they have fed the conviction that our primary identity is who we are in Christ. Everything else, including our religious persuasion or denomination or political stance, our gender, our occupation or calling is part of a secondary identity and cannot be the sole definer of who we are. This particular conviction was nurtured over a number of years by many experiences and different people, including you, the friends of Restoration Ministries. We have journeyed far together over 36 years, never feeling we have arrived but always lured on by that sense of something more. And that continues. But as the years have passed I am coming to see that our interpretation, worthy and inspiring as it is, perhaps falls far short of what Jesus was really praying. We have come to accept that unity is not uniformity but rather diversity embraced by love. In the beginning when God ‘spoke’ what came into being was diversity – huge diversity – and God saw that it was good. What a risk God has taken and continues to take. Diversity, including humankind, is given the freedom to evolve to its full potential and to bear witness to that goodness. Sadly, as we too well know, the one species, the one nearest to God’s heart, the pinnacle of creation, is the one who betrays the dream. Since the beginning we have taken that freedom not to nurture beloved community but to grasp to ourselves whatever safeguards and promotes our particular secondary identities often with horrendous consequences – even now. We see it in the emerging rebirth of a right wing nationalism that declares any action legitimate in order to enhance uniformity, power and control. We see it in the religious domain including, tragically, Christianity where legalism, self-righteousness and power games are launching full scale attacks on the wide open spaces of God’s love and mercy, causing many to turn away from the institution. Those who faithfully and courageously have not equated God with the image presented by some are a sign of hope, people who know they are on a journey. As I tentatively tiptoe into a deeper awareness I feel the key to the living of these days is here in Jesus’ words. Yes, it would be wonderful if we could all come and stay together in harmonious unity, but the witness that will quietly and steadily bring about the transformation we say we long for in ourselves and in the world is the realisation that Jesus was/is praying that each of us might reach that oneness that he has with the Father, a unity within each pilgrim soul. It is awesome and extremely challenging, and will involve a huge letting go, a deeper trust, a greater ‘unknowing’ than we have ever experienced before. The world ‘will believe’ through the witness of such Love inspired oneness. This is our only hope – and it is a glorious one. Ruth
C0NGRATULATIONS RUTH -MEMEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY 2024
CITATION
Ruth Patterson, the first woman to be ordained in Ireland, is director of Restoration Ministries, an organisation committed to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. She was named the University of Edinburgh’s Alumna of the Year in 2000 and in 2003 received an OBE for her reconciliation work. She has authored some six books, and served for several years on the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund for victims of violence.
Restoration Ministries 