When you pull on a thread

 

When you pull on a thread, everything comes undone. 

For a year, during lockdown, I was privileged to be studying in a group looking at what the bible has to say about Justice. Isiphambano no longer exists, another victim of Covid financial struggles, which is very sad. 

During that year, I met wonderful people who were asking similar questions of our faith journeys and we grappled together . There was so much reading and writing  to be done and we began with locating ourselves in the faith story of our country. 

One of the readings we had was from Sharlene Swartz book, "Another Country"

This part of the story intersects with a whole other part of what was unfolding for a group of friends who were in a weekly bible study group, and had been for several years. 

Another piece of this story unfolds. 

George Floyds death sparked a world of conversation about racism in the South African context. 

At schools, work places and reluctantly, in church spaces too. I our little weekly group something was about to unfold. 

In this group of predominately white women, were few people of colour. In a whatsap relating to #yousilenceweamplify in the school space, someone asked a question about how Black people and POC feel in white spaces. This questing was directed at THIS bible study group space and was met, not surprisingly , by silence.  And so began a rich , challenging and painful journey. 

My dear friend Hayley and I created a group called The Meeting Room and we , bravely or stupidly, along with the brave women who opted to join this very difficult conversation in a brave and safe space, embarked on a community journey which continues, though in a smaller form. to this day. 

We met monthly and we read Sharlene Swartz's book together. 

I will be forever grateful for these brave women and this wonderful , easy to read book that helped us all unpack and unfold and unpick the wrong way we thought and rebuild a more deep and authentic way of engaging with our context of South Africa and Cape Town  as followers of Christ. 

Many threads were pulled and unraveled or exposed the inherent threading but new, stronger and more colourful threads were found and continue to be woven.