Faith Matters January 2025: Leighton Linslade Churches Together
Who is included in ‘us’. And is duty of care for each other the same as loving your neighbour?
In the recent Booker Prize-winning novel ‘Orbital’ six members of the International Space station look down on the spinning earth beneath them. They are awestruck by the beauty and wonder of all life on earth. Four of them are astronauts and the other two are cosmonauts. But despite this difference they are united in looking after each other. Their lives depend on it. Their lives also depend on earth. If we were in their place with a view of the entire earth, would we also feel that all of life on earth is ‘us’.
What does ‘us’ mean? It begins with those closest, those who share our home. They might be our family, perhaps just our pet and ourselves, or our house mates, partner children or whoever. But beyond our own place, does ‘us’ include our wider family and friends? Would we put ourselves out if they were in need? Wider still, do we consider our neighbours, our community, our town to be part of ‘us’? Do we share an obligation to look after each other? And do we have a duty of care to all those we meet if they are injured, distressed or starving?
It may disturb us to think it, but we need each other. Like the different parts of the body we are mutually dependent, and we all need to work together for our well being.
This is why at the heart of most faiths there is the conviction that we should love one another. We are all part of the whole, all ‘children of God’. We should not walk by on the other side and ignore those who are in need.
Those in space have a special viewpoint, seeing all life on earth as connected. But we can share that attitude too. Life is precious. To love and be loved is wonderful. Care is not just a duty, it is a privilege.