大象传媒

Good morning.
A friend threw me a challenging question the other day.听听 He said:听 "When you shake hands with someone,听 is it a symbol of friendship?听 Or does it actually change the way you feel about the person you're greeting?"
It's just a symbol, just a gesture, I thought.听 But I wanted to test this out.听 So I invited a group of people to shake hands with each other - and put the question to them.听 Sure enough, they said - yes:听 although the handshake did begin as a sign of friendship, they felt differently, indeed better, about the other person after they'd done it.
Recently, the people in my church wanted to find a way of showing solidarity with our Muslim neighbours after reports of a rise in religious-hate incidents in the wake of the attack on Manchester Arena:听 an attack which hurt the local Muslim community as much as everyone else.听 So we approached the local mosque with our Jewish neighbours and asked if together we could distribute cards to worshippers leaving after Friday prayers with the words, "You Are Loved", and a yellow rose, donated by the local supermarket who wanted to support us.
It was like the handshake... more than a symbol.听 It changed the way we all felt about one another.
We came away from the encounter with a sense of peace.听 The gifts had changed the givers as well as the people who鈥檇 received them.
My friend went for his newspaper the next day - and the newsagent struck up a conversation.
He said:听 "You were there yesterday at my mosque, giving out flowers and cards.听 I can't begin to tell you just how much that meant to me and my family."听
For twenty years my friend had been听 going to that newsagent - and this was the first time they'd spoken.
Lord, teach us to shake the hand of our neighbour today.听 Amen.听听

听