Blessed are those who stand for peace.
This week I was hoping to write some more of the book that I am busy with, about white people and race engagement. I was also hoping to film the next clip for my video series called ‘Race with me’ on YouTube. Neither of them happened.
I recently wrote a piece on Anticipating the Interruption which was all about living life with a readiness to drop what you’re doing if the right kind of interruption comes along. So following my own advice, this week, instead of talking about justice issues, I had the opportunity to postpone those and be a presence on some of our university campuses.
PJW
I was invited to attend a training Monday morning on mediating. Within a few hours of this, a team of us were heading up to the University of Cape Town (UCT) to try to be a peaceful presence in the midst of growing protest.
I had an opportunity at the end of last year to go to the University of the Western Cape (UWC) at quite a volatile time, to be part of a group of Christian pastors who were there also to try help things remain calm. I jumped at the chance, albeit with some sense of anxiety of not knowing what could happen.
At the end of a long and tiring week (hot sun, a lot of walking, not the greatest eating schedule, praying and trying to figure out what to do as different situations arose), I look back with gratitude.
A team ranging from students to pensioners, men and women, different race groups and backgrounds, all united with a common cause. To observe and hopefully de-escalate any situations that appeared to be getting out of control.
ALL IN ALL A GREAT WEEK
If there is one thing I would love to see everyone in South Africa take away from the situations at the University, it’s the idea that it is not simple. It is a completely complex and complicated situation with so many factors and so many different parties represented or involved. To dismiss the movement completely without taking any time to engage with students and lecturers feels like a fool’s errand. To think that every single aspect and event that is part of the struggle is legitimate is probably just the same.
So our chief aim was to observe. To listen and be impartial and hopefully be a presence that calmed and helped lead people to negotiation and conversation rather than clash and incident.
And although there still were some volatile moments at two of the campuses we were present on, we definitely saw a lot of benefit. A group of passionate, brave, loving, gentle but firm volunteers gave of their energy and time [above and beyond] for a cause that in one way was not even their own. But in another way totally is all of ours.
This feels like one of the most significant times in the life of our nation. We don’t know which way things will go. But I for one am glad that in Cape Town we are seeing the church get involved in the most positive of ways. Let’s hope it continues. But let us all continue to engage with the struggle and keep the humanity of the people on all sides of this in mind. For a better stronger South Africa.