In net ballerina skirt and glittery shoes, the two-year-old
played with the tinsel tassels which were strewn on the dance floor. Her attention
to them was complete; she was oblivious to the adults around her joyfully
jigging to the Scottish ceilidh music being played.
The adults laughed and smiled. Some men wore Afghan trousers
and tunics; others wore Syrian shirts with their jeans; still others wore the
white cotton shirts embroidered in local Ukrainian designs. The women were in
burkas and scarves, dresses with Ukrainian embroidery, and other national
costumes.
In this refugee week celebration, Aberdeenshire had gathered
over two hundred who have fled here for safety. I don’t know all the countries
that were represented there: middle-Eastern, African, Eastern European. We were
treated to the resonant, haunting music of a mother/son duet from Ukraine. This
was followed by an Azeri woman singing songs which resonated with the Afghan
people in the room, as they clapped and sang and some danced. Then came the
Syrian music, streamed in, and up got a group of men who danced, swinging their
worry beads over their heads, to the enthusiastic clapping of their women. As a
feast of middle eastern food was placed on the tables, a Scottish ceilidh band
took the stage. There followed some time of feasting and dancing, rather
chaotic and hilarious as the caller tried to direct the simpler of dances.
Children raced through the room, faces painted and tummies
filled, happily joining in the party atmosphere.
So poignant. How many conflicts and unsafe situations had
this group of people, collectively, fled from? A poster at the door was there
for people to write on. As we left, I noticed one Ukrainian write a prayer for
peace on earth.
Why can’t we all be like the little girl with the glittery
shoes, blind to the differences between us, only seeing the things that we hold
in common? In this room, perhaps it was only our humanity, but that was enough
for tonight. It is enough, if we let it be.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that all might live. Jesus, Prince of Peace, come. Maranatha.
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