One of the joys(!) of waking up to Radio 4 in the morning is that I get to hear the news and I get to hear the Today programme try and unpick the news. This morning I woke up knowing what I would wake up to, and in an unusual turn of events I woke up when my alarm actually went off to the Today programme presenters asking again and again the big question that is on all of our lips:
'What Next?'
There have been timelines and flow charts and predictions and ideas. There have been opinions and dreams and wishlists and hopes. No deal, this deal, refined deal, people's vote, vote of no confidence, second referendum, general election, anarchy?
Nobody really knows right now - we're living in the moment - as we look ahead many of us don't see much at all.... and we hope that somewhere there is a plan. What will be, will be.
What do we do with all this? What do we do with all this uncertainty? How do we keep on keeping on?
We can choose to be very vocal about how we feel - like the gathering outside of parliament with its loud bells and whistles from both sides of the debate who rose in number yesterday and will rise in number today I'm sure as the momentum towards the no confidence vote tonight continues. It's OK to be vocal - it's good to be vocal - it's good to be passionate about how we feel. Protest is a legitimate release of emotion and anger and depth of feeling. We wonder what difference it will make.... but it matters because our voices matter. I will continue to sing songs of protest.....
But we've seen recently and over the course of history that protest can turn bad.... so we must think before we speak, we must be gracious with one another and listen to one another. We must be gentle with one another, as, even though undoubtedly, our voices matter, the way we treat and respect others matters too. Be nice in your protest.
We can choose to hide our head in the sand. We can decide that nothing we do can make any difference. We put our fingers in our ears as we sing a loud song, laying down to the inevitable because it's going to happen anyway....
Now that's an easy, and in many ways legitimate reaction - 'keep calm and carry on'. It is not going to affect us much anyway..... we'll keep doing what we've always been doing and hope we can go on holiday to anywhere we want.
However, there are many people that can't do this because what happens with Brexit affects their very well-being. While well off politicians advocate for the uncertainty of a no-deal that won't affect them and their life styles that much, there are ordinary people who are already feeling the effects of the changes that are coming and will feel them much more deeply in the coming months.
So I don't believe doing nothing is ever the answer... while we are not all loud protesters who express their feelings through marches and speeches and blogs and articles, we all have a responsibility to understand the bigger picture as the government makes some of the biggest decisions that our government has made in a long time.
We have a responsibility to look beyond the headlines of political infighting to the deeper issues beyond. Yesterday as you avoided the news because you were sick of Brexit you may have missed that there were some benefit rules changes were sneaked through on Monday night that will affect pensioners - particularly those who are at the lower income end are coming into force on the 15th May (read it here). How can we help those who are being left in poverty because there is not the money to ensure that they can live with enough for food, heating and rent? Perhaps our active response to the chaos in our country is to help those who are being left behind - whether it's those with little who are going to end up with less, whether it's those who had nothing already who are going to find themselves with less than nothing as their support is taken away, whether its those who have nowhere to go and nobody looking out for them..... as we walk into uncertainty, it is those who will suffer.
We have a responsibility to be people of bridges not walls, who build relationships across divides; across cultural and social and political divides. Imagine if the government had worked in a cross party way on the Brexit negotiations instead of snapping at one another all the time? We might have come to a different outcome.... it would have been hard work with all the personalities involved.... but imagine if....?
We need to model this alternative way of being in our own relationships - how can we re-build our broken bridges? How can we sit alongside an ardent no-deal brexiteer as an ardent snowflake remainer and listen with compassion and understanding? How can we sit down with that family member who just messes up everything for us all the time and build a relationship? How can we love unconditionally and despite....... How can we be more like Jesus?
We need to care for those who who are seen as 'the other' in our communities - who are, in many cases, worried about their own future and safety. The whole Brexit rhetoric has given rise to racism and intolerance and hostility.... how can we actively seek to make this country a safe place for all? To be out of Europe does not mean forming a toxic nationalistic identity without compassion and love for those who are different to us... how can we challenge those who want to create that?.... How can we be more like Jesus?
What Next?
To be honest, I really have no idea about the big Brexit picture, I have some ideas about what I think is right.... and I'm hoping that something good will come out of this.... but I'll be watching, in moderation as it can become overwhelming... and I'll be thinking about how I act as a consequence....
While the majority of us do not have a voice that is in the right places to make a massive difference to the Brexit negotiations.... our voices.... and ultimately... our actions.... they matter. What Next? Look beyond the headlines and care for those who don't make the headlines. Look beyond the headlines and look for those who are being left behind.... and be people, amongst all of this, of love, of justice and of mercy. Be more like Jesus.
And hold on. It's going to be a rocky ride.
"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" - Micah 6:8
