Fragmentation

When the establishment of our Cordate Community, without using that name as yet, was first talked about, it was in the context of secularisation. Western Europe was in the process of profound change. Organised religion experienced a steep decline and what remained of it was pushed back to the privacy of the home. It even went further than that: not just organised religion was affected but faith as well. Secularisation represented no less than a crisis of faith. Our community was envisioned as an attempt, however small, to confront the challenge of secularisation.

With this in mind, it is quite astonishing to walk through Aston in Birmingham, a neighbourhood in the second largest city of England, where you would expect secularisation at work in full force. But what you see in going around its streets is many mosques and many churches. I counted at least twelve mosques, big and small - the smallest not bigger than a house -, and eight churches of different Christian denominations. Apparently Aston is a highly religious neighbourhood and organised religion is still very much alive.

Fortunately our project was not only given the purpose of confronting secularisation, it was also meant to build bridges between different religions and different persuasions. Modern Western Europe was not just characterised by secularisation, it was also a fragmented society with all the dangers to peaceful coexistence which division implies.

Well, Aston is clearly a fragmented neighbourhood along religious lines, coinciding to a large extent with racial backgrounds as well, so plenty of work to be done. So far, apart from the very welcoming Catholic community, I have met representatives of only one mosque and one Christian church. Contact building is a slow and time-consuming process.

But how to build bridges? Just outside Aston near a large shopping centre is a hairdressing salon called "The Hand of God". I could not believe my eyes the first time I saw the name. I found it very funny and imagined the owner believing that the hand of God was guiding his hand in providing the most perfect hair care to his customers. Of course, the claim is outrageous if it were meant seriously.

Perhaps, religions should learn some modesty too. They often claim to know much more about The Other than is warranted. After all God is the one "whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no human being has seen or is able to see" (1Tm: 6,16).

Ton