s Together Churches Together in Newport Pagnell Terrorism - and the need for dialogue Letter om the EcumenicalModerator What a summer it has been. Little did I think the last time I wrote to you that a couple of months later we would be living in the wake of terrorist attacks in Britain, some achieving their goal, some failing in their attempt. As a Christian community we extend our sympathy and prayers to all those who have lost loved ones, or who have su ered physically or mentally as a result of these events. We o er our prayers too for the Moslem community. Now, of all times, there is a pressing need for us to build bridgesofdialogueandpeacebetweenus. have heard too the view repeatedly marked also the sixtieth anniversary of expressed by politicians and others that the dropping of the atomic bomb on no civilised person can possibly begin to Hiroshima. We cannot say we have no understand what was in the minds of As the story has unfolded, our minds have been bombarded (if that's the right word) with images of su ering, of dark underground trains and tunnels, of weeping witnesses, of police vans and raids, and we have listened to daily MDH Computing Se ices Adrian Macer Personal Computer & IT Specialist Telephone: 01234 712 668 Just recently I attended the funeral of a young man I knew in Wales who had committed suicide. He was twenty-two, the child of a mixed-race marriage, and had been su ering from a mental illness. It was a beautiful service which gave thanks for the gi s with which he had been endowed and which o ered to God the tragedy of his early death and his unfulfilled potential. The two familiers reporrs of various individuals being tracked down and arrested. A great TV police drama is suddenly being acted out for us in real life. We have heard over and over again - and rightly so - the strong condemnation of acts of terrorism. We forgiveness, o ered to us in Christ. We begin to be agents of peace not when we condemn others, but when we recognise in ourselves the capacity to do what we ourselves condemn. This summer has seen too the sixtieth anniversary of D Day, when we have honoured again those who 'gave their lives' in conflict. We have different places - from Britain, the Caribbean and the United States. They were all devastated, examining themselves as to what they could have done to understand him better, love him better, make his life more worth living and keep him from this terrible deed. They were on a journey not of condemnation but of • Do you have computer problems? those who committed the atrocities. inkling of having the blood of innocent victims on our hands. But to suggest that understanding the mindset of another is beyond even our strongest imagining - even if their actions rightly o end our profoundest moral sensibilities - is to imply that such people are outside the realm of humanity itself, and we shall never create peace if we claim that certain others are outside God's pale. Our scriptures remind us that the rst step on the road to peace - peace with God and peace with others - is to recognise how far we are from the love of God and to know our need of God's drawn together by his dying om many • Is your hardware noisy, crashing or unable to meet your current requirements? • Is your Data secure and regularly backed up correctly? • Do you need an upgrade without the expense of an all new PC? MDH-CS offer the following rapid and cost e ective services: • PC repairs - both Home and O ice systems • Networks for Home or O ice use - wireless and cable based, Internet Routers, Firewalls • Small Data Server systems for shared data applications - both Home and O ice based • Upgrading of existing PC hardware • New PC systems built to your exact needs and requirements • Systems Maintenance, cleaning & servicing • Data & systems backups - advice on hardware configuration • Data transferred from your old PC to your new one • Broadband, Internet & Email - assistance in setting up and configuring -those from his birth family, and thos who had adopted him as a baby - wel Mobile: Email: Website: 07930 1 57 633 info@mdhcomputing.com www.mdhcomputing.com j PAGE 4 4 PHONEBOX