An Interfaith Walk for Peace

After this rest, we proceeded into Chatham and headed for Chatham Memorial Synagogue, which had kindly invited us to drop in for a quick visit. We had told them not to expect too many people, so I think they were really surprised (hopefully in a good way!) as dozens of us filed into the small synagogue and took up practically every seat. Despite passing this synagogue on countless occasions throughout my life, I’d never had the opportunity to enter before so I found this fascinating. I saw lots of similarities between the synagogue and a Christian church, one of the key differences being that the “pulpit” is located in the centre of the congregation rather than the front.

Following our visit to the synagogue and a lovely sermon by the Rabbi, we proceeded to Rochester and our final destination – the war memorial outside Rochester Cathedral. Here, we were addressed by the Councillor of Watling Ward and the Dean of Rochester Cathedral, and finally sang “Amazing Grace” accompanied by live saxophone.

The final thing we did before parting ways was to take part in a guided meditation on the grass beside the memorial. In this meditation, we were instructed to first concentrate on our own selves, filling ourselves with peaceful, healing energies. We then visualised ourselves in Rochester High Street, and extended the peaceful energy outwards towards the people around us. Gradually, our visualisation grew broader and broader, as we pictured “zooming out” to view the River Medway and all the Medway towns, then the whole of Kent, then the United Kingdom, followed by Europe, and finally the whole world itself, all the while spreading the positive energies of peace.

I thought that this final meditation really brought together what the Walk for Peace was all about. It was a reminder that this idea of working towards peace begins first and foremost with ourselves as individuals. From there, we can then spread this peace to our neighbours and our community. By simply working on what we can achieve in our own small sphere of existence, we can eventually reach the whole world.

The Walk for Peace was an excellent example of this. Although all of us participants came from very different spiritual paths, we are far more alike than unlike. Firstly, because we all believe in this idea of peace and tolerance. And secondly because we are connected to Medway. Our ties to the local area meant that we all have shared experiences and memories, and much of this came through during our walk. By treading well-worn paths and passing familiar landmarks, people who were previously strangers to each other were given the opportunity to talk and exchange stories of what these places meant to them, and to realise how much in common they had with each other thanks to their connection with the locality.

I don’t think it was merely the participants of the Walk for Peace who contributed towards creating this atmosphere of mutual friendship and understanding. During the entire walk, I did not witness any kind of heckling, abuse or catcalling, racist or otherwise. Passers-by seemed variously puzzled, amused or curious, but at no point did I experience any kind of hateful behaviour. This walk was designed to unite the people of Medway, in all our glorious diversity and eccentricity, under common values of tolerance, respect and rapport as Medway citizens. I think we achieved it. I couldn’t feel more proud of my hometown.

If you would like to find out more about Medway Inter Faith Action (MIFA) and join in our activities, please see our website here and our Facebook group here.