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Hi from the United Kingdom!
Pride Month is behind us, but London‘s flagship parade is always held on the first weekend of July. As I’m in the UK capital for a month now, London streets seemed to be precisely the place where I thought I should be this Saturday: at an event that unites the kingdom in supporting and celebrating diversity.
Some 30,000 marchers and 300 floats snaked through the city, from Green Park to Whitehall, with over a million people lining the route of London Pride.
Coming from Croatia, a country that religiously approaches catholic conservatism, it’s been refreshing to see that London has spiritual oases that blend traditional liturgy with progressive theology.
The clergy of Southward Cathedral, Swedish Church, and other representatives of the Council of Lutheran Churches, a company of those from Great Britain, Nordic, and Baltic countries, all showed up waving rainbow flags and carrying signs such as “Making Space for Love”, “God is Love”, “You are Loved”…
In the courtyard of the welcoming and inclusive St James’s Church at Piccadilly, a drag DJ played music, standing behind the banner “God Loves You, Just the Way You Are”.
Seeing ‘love’ in practically every message of religious voices at the Pride in London was just what you’d expect from theological doctrines being taught in the 21st century.
The parade also included members of the army, firemen, healthcare workers, public transport staff, as well as families with children… A true United Kingdom, thousands marching as one.
I especially liked seeing the youngest kids making their first steps against discrimination, following a humane approach to life practiced by their parents.
That might not be London in every family, but it was certainly London I chose to recognize this weekend. Not just at the Pride.
In the evening, after a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant (Café Amisha – check it out, this is not a paid ad!), I escorted my disabled friend to the Bermondsey Spa Gardens. At one of the street workout bars, I did a few pull-ups, trying to burn some calories from those creamy Ravioli ai Porcini.
Just as we were ready to leave, several young girls showed up, jumping on the workout equipment, to play.
I rolled my friend’s wheelchair out of the park, and suddenly, I saw a woman running after us. As the mother of one of those kids, she wanted to make sure that the girls didn’t push us away from working out, apologizing for literally nothing. Seeing a parent go the length of running after people, just to teach their child the importance of kindness, love, and consideration for others, was rather moving.
The more I see the world, the more I recognize that its most valuable worth lies in the kindness of strangers. Their hearts can radiate with a warmth that shows no calculation. In our societies that increasingly connect through nepotism and corruption, doing something nice for a person we are not related to in any way is probably the most divine thing a human can do.
As Joan Osborne would sing it three decades ago: “What if God was one of us / Just a slob like one of us / Just a stranger on the bus / Tryna make His way home?”
What if, indeed?
Help someone make their way home today.
Have a divine week,
Ivan Kralj
Pipeaway.com
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