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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Chine McDonald

Good morning,

A few weeks ago, I travelled to Nigeria to attend my grandmother’s funeral. Although I moved to the UK when I was four years old, every time I return to Nigeria – touching down on the tarmac amid the haze of the African sun – I feel a strong sense of homecoming. It feels familiar to me in a way that nowhere else in the world does; and yet it also feels completely alien. That juxtaposition – feeling at home and at the same time very far away from home – is a feeling familiar to many first and second generation immigrants who can trace their roots back to elsewhere.

Throughout my life, I have been drawn to the beauty of my culture – the traditions and rituals that help us to make sense of life and community and God. Nigerian funerals – like Nigerian weddings – are extravagant. My grandmother’s lasted for three days. The burial alone was attended by over a thousand people. While that may seem completely alien to the average Brit, to me it symbolised the importance of community. Many of the attendees had never met my grandmother, but they came from community groups that meant something to her – whether her former school or church, or delegations from distant parts of her family, plus friends and friends of friends of her children.

My dad as the eldest son was the recipient of amazing outpourings of love, of support and thanksgiving for his mother’s life.. Saying goodbye to my grandmother surrounded by so many members of her community taught me afresh that at times of mourning, we can learn about friendship, family and community and what it is to be human.

Life-giving God, help us to be those who provide places of homecoming and community to those who need it most. Amen.