Thought for the week (we 2nd November 2014)

We’ve just returned from a holiday in the USA. Our visit to the National Congress library in Washington was of special interest and especially the area devoted to the Civil rights movement of the 1960’s.

The cruel prejudice and murderous intimidation that so many black people suffered was met mainly by peaceful opposition led Dr Martin Luther King. One section recalled the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama by the Klu Klux Klan. which killed four young black girls. History recalls that such was the outrage and revulsion that by the following year the civil rights act was passed securing equality and an end to racial inequality throughout the USA.

John Petts the renowned Welsh artist who died in 1991 was so moved by what had happened that he felt the need to express his solidarity with the people of Alabama. His hope was to replace the main stained glass window of the church which had been destroyed in the explosion. Soon a fund was set up the maximum donation being two shillings and sixpence in the currency of the day ensuring that people from all walks of life were able to contribute.

Within two years John Petts delivered his gift from the people of Wales, a heart-warming image of a black Jesus beneath a rainbow of racial unity; his right arm pushing away hatred and injustice, his left offering forgiveness.

Standing there I felt moved and in some way so proud, (if that’s the right word) that my nation had a heart bulging with such generosity and solidarity with those who had suffered so long. To this present day the ‘Wales’ window as it became known remains a symbol not only of faith but of confidence in a future free from the evils of racism and prejudice.

Over fifty years on those values remain at the heart of our nation and of all people of good will – ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God’