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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley

Good morning.

I have a very vivid memory of being stuck in what I can only describe as a bus form of ‘Groundhog day’ with 30 bishops from around the Anglican Communion on a day trip from Canterbury one chilly February day a few years ago. As we had a bit of extra time before we were due at our destination our driver thought it would be good to go for a bit of a tour, only then to find us stuck in a one-way system driving in seemingly endless circles around Parliament Square in London. On about our fifth circuit, when I for one was beginning to feel a little bit dizzy, someone asked who all the statues were of, - this being before the recent controversy surrounding the statue of Churchill - and a quick check online revealed the answers they were looking for. ‘No women?’ was a question raised by one of my female bishop colleagues.

A few years later, and a new statue appeared, of the suffragette campaigner Millicent Fawcett. What catches the eye is the banner she holds across her body reading ‘Courage calls to Courage Everywhere’. It is a compelling statement, one which applies to our season of continued emergence from the pandemic. It is a reminder too of the countless people who have committed their lives to the pursuit of democracy.

Today is Women’s Equality Day and the day designated for the commemoration of the granting of the vote to women in the United States. Courage does not ask us to stand still; it is a state of action, one which demands that it be passed on. If I feel courageous this day, how can I uplift others in their struggles and challenges?

Loving God, may we be filled with such courage that we summon others to take hold of it, to make it their own, and find new life transformed in hope.

Amen.