For over twenty years, local scouts, civic guests and friends from other faith communities have gathered in mid-December for the Annual Peace Light service at All Saints Church in Luton. A flame is brought from Bethlehem to mark the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ which Christians mark at Christmas. Despite the Bethlehem Peace Light being unable to complete it’s journey from Austria to the UK in this year, Revd David Kesterton, Vicar of All Saints Church welcomed our own Peace Light.
The theme of this year’s service was “Peace with the Planet”.
Considering Climate Change has been big on everyone’s agenda this year and the UK hosted COP26 (https://ukcop26.org/) in Nov’21, the Peace Light Service this year was dedicated to the cause of Climate Justice.
Over the years, this service has had a multi faith dimension to it. This year too, with the help of Near Neighbours, different faith leaders had been invited to kindly read out short statements from their faith perspectives, on "how their faith inspires them to establish peace with the planet".
The creation story from the Jewish and Christian tradition was read, followed by reflections on how faith inspires the establishment of good stewardship of the planet: Maqsood Anwar from an Islamic viewpoint, Sanjeev Kumar reflected on Sikh tradition, Yogesh Mistry shared insights from Hindu teachings and Hilary Fox’s Jewish perspective was read by Alan.
Bishop of Bedford Rt Revd Richard Atkinson summarised our collective responsibility as custodians of God’s creation.
Talking about the the climate crisis impact on Bangladesh, Dr Nazia Khanum, OBE DL, being a British Bangladeshi and Chair of the United Nations Association-Luton Branch noted in her address that the Climate Crisis in Bangladesh is already very real. The floods and storms are far more fierce and frequent than before. If the climate deterioration is not halted and reversed soon, the lives and livelihoods of many people will disappear under the waves of the Bay of Bengal. Soil erosion, land fall, drought and excessive rainfall have caused internal displacements of many people in the country already. In addition, Bangladesh is hosting about a million Rohingya people who fled from the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar a few years ago. Most of them and many others live in small islands – more vulnerable to floods and storms. So, instead of causing displacement and suffering to millions of potential climate victims & refugees from Bangladesh, developed countries must “stop causing” and “start reversing” the climate deterioration and help countries like Bangladesh become more resilient and better prepared to address the Climate crisis.
Commending faith leaders for raising awareness about these issues, she added the big polluters of the world, which are predominantly all the rich countries, must also make rapid progress in switching to clean and reusable energy consumption and green economy. Bangladesh has already built the world’s largest Solar and wind Power Project. What we need now is the global cooperation for similar green economy projects, around the world.
Welcoming the Peace Light, The Mayor of Luton Cllr Mahmood Hussain said, “May this light be a sign of our commitment to making peace with the planet – our earthly home.”
All attending the service shared the Peace Light with one another. A closing prayer said, “May we see the world, our common home, not as a resource to dominate and exploit, but as a gift to be cherished by all generations.”
From L to R: Yogesh Mistry (Hindu Guest), Sanjeev Kumar (Sikh Guest), Maqsood Anwar (Muslim Guest) sharing the Peace Light with others at the Annual Peace Light Service held on 14th Dec’21 at All Saints Church, Shaftsbury Road, Luton.
From L to R: Bishop Richard Atkinson, Yogesh Mistry (Hindu Speaker), Alan Smith (speaking on behalf of a Jewish contributor), Sanjeev Kumar (Sikh Speaker), Revd David Kesterton (Host) & Maqsood Anwar (Muslim Speaker) at the Annual Peace Light Service held on 14th Dec’21 at All Saints Church, Shaftsbury Road, Luton.
