Remona Aly
Monday 06 February 2017 Moment of Reflection, BBC Radio 2

Circle of Us

Circles of Us
Moment of Reflection, BBC Radio 2, Good Morning Sunday with Clare Balding

I went to a magnificent wedding last week: a Muslim couple celebrated their union in a former church that’s now a multi-faith venue. True to its spirit, guests included Christian ministers, devoted atheists, and Jewish rabbis who joined in with Palestinian folk dancers. It really was a marriage of many hearts.

The wedding favour carried a quote that read: “They drew a circle that shut us out, called us names, showed no heart. But we had love and the wit to win. We drew a circle that took them in.” This adaptation of a poem by American poet Edwin Markham was deeply poignant to read at a time when millions across the world are being shut out. But my hope sails high when I see so many eager to bring strangers in: into their arms, into their hearts, until they’re strangers no more.   

We all need to strive to make the circle bigger, to embrace our broken world so that we can glue it back together. It’s a circle of trust, a circle of love. It’s the circle of us.