REVIEWS

FINDING THE PEACEMAKERS 

A journey of faith from the mines of Chile to the deserts of the Middle East 

Written by: Dan Morrice Published by: Hodder & Stoughton Price: £14.99

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’ This verse from Matthew 5:9 is familiar to many Christians.

Yet few books seek to truly engage with the peacemakers of a generation – not the famous – but rather the everyday people seeking every day to make a genuine difference.

The author is not a theologian or explorer, but in his own words: ‘I’m not a paratrooper, or a secret agent, or an investigative journalist. I’m just a geography teacher with a few questions that the headlines weren’t answering, and my search for truth got a little out of hand. I share the journey, not as an expert or an academic, but simply as a witness.’

Intrigued by the plight and escape of 33 Chilean miners who escaped from underground in 2010 after 69 days of entrapment, he was inspired to travel and meet the survivors, finding a strong faith foundation. Their profound belief that Jesus walked with them as the ‘34th miner’ inspired Morrice to travel the world to find those seeking peace in the midst of conflict.

His journey includes meetings with Syrian and Iraqi refugees – and to the Holy Land, with encounters with the Nassar family and the ‘Tent of Nations’ – familiar to regular readers of this magazine and the wider Church of Scotland – who ‘refuse to be enemies’ farming against adversity on a hilltop outside Bethlehem and as the author describes it ‘a champion of social justice, a haven for all its neighbours – Jewish, Christian, Muslim and secular.’

There is also an encounter with a former football hooligan from Bristol, whose life was transformed when he turned a corner and protected a victim of violence and found his life turned around after meeting a group of Christians who persuaded him to hand his burdens to Jesus – leading to a new life amid a compassionate community.

The book, divided into six sections, seeks to show the role of today’s peacemakers – who have a single unifying trait – crediting Jesus’ life as an inspiration for their own work.

The final section of the book examines Jesus’ own work in peacemaking and ends with a clarion call to join the peacebuilding movement and seeks to show the common thread behind the peacemakers of today.

REIMAGINING BRITAIN: FOUNDATIONS FOR HOPE 

Written by: Justin Welby Published by: Bloomsbury Price: £12.99

I first reviewed this book in 2018, when it was first published. But whilst much of the original content remains relevant, much has changed in everyday life in Britain and publishers, Bloomsbury, approached the Archbishop of Canterbury and suggested the publication of an updated version to take account of political change across the UK – as well as the UK’s exit from the European Union – and other movements of change centring around global racial equality and discrimination along with the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic.

In an introduction, the Archbishop of Canterbury is clear that whilst he wishes to contribute to the ongoing debate, the opinions expressed in the book remain very personal ones. Equally he does not mince his words when writing of the injustice and lessons, in particular, of the pandemic, writing: ‘The impact of Covid-19 has been as dramatic as a tyre blowing out on a car travelling at speed. It demands urgent action and it reveals the need for essential and often equally urgent change. It has shown us in close-up of time and distance inequality, injustice and the capacity of nature to pose an existential threat beyond the power of any one country to face. If we do not learn the lessons and act on injustices of ethnic discrimination, lack of solidarity, neglect of the common good and, above all, the even greater danger from human-caused climate change, then these already terrible results of Covid-19 will seem as little compared with what is to come. We must learn together or suffer and even perish in our differences.’

Whilst taking account of the dramatic changes that have swept not only the UK, but the world, the conclusion of the Archbishop of Canterbury remains essentially the same: ‘Those of us who are Christians are taught by the story of our faith that God will raise up extraordinary people in the future. The UK grew from Christian roots: my hope and profound prayer is that in the future it rediscovers the power of the narrative that has shaped it for so long and set its values so deeply.’

The revised and updated book remains a thoughtful contribution to the debate surrounding ongoing change (which has picked up in pace) – both social and political – and is enhanced by the updated content, which strengthens its voice in the debate.

Lynne McNeil