Lord Avebury presented with the Blomfield Award.

-
This afternoon I went down to London to the Bahá’í Centre in Rutland Gate to attend a reception to honour Lord Avebury for his lifelong commitment to the defence of human rights and at which he was presented with the Blomfield Award. The Blomfield Award is given in memory of Lady Blomfield, a philanthropist and social reformer in the first half of the 20th century, who campaigned for the vote for women and was a founder member of Save the Children. She was an early member of the British Bahá’í community.
The Bahá’í Centre is in a rather fine house hidden away in a difficult to access backwater of Knightsbridge. When I arrived a number of guests were already there and chatting amiably over elegant glasses of red and white grape juice (the Bahá’ís are teetotallers). Then Eric and Lindsey, Lord and Lady Avebury, arrived with their son, John William, and his girlfriend, Verity, and we were soon called to order and the presentation got under way. Ann Clwyd MP arrived when Eric was already well into his acceptance speech. She is a colleague of Eric's on the All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group and has succeeded him as Chair.

I can't possibly reproduce all the wonderful things that were said nor especially the atmosphere but it was very inspiring and hearing of the campaigns that Lord Avebury has waged over the years made the little troubles that most of us have seem so shamefully insignificant. I wished there could have been some of my followers there to have heard said over and over again how tirelessly, consistently and tenaciously Eric has worked over the years. That and his stated determination to carry on as long as possible is such a tremendous example and one that I want everyone to hear.

I had a good time talking to Jeremy, a great friend of Eric's, who in the columns of the Daily Express many years ago accurately predicted, alone amongst journalists at the time, that Eric would win Orpington. We exchanged stories of the Beatles and all sorts of things. He was a bit surprised when I produced a camera from under my robes but when you've got a blog to keep up! And I had a good conversation with Barney Leith about our difficulties with Buddhists who want to pick and choose which precepts to keep. We were talking especially about alcohol and Barney said of the Bahá’ís that abstaining from alcohol is one of the things that you do as a Bahá’í and which makes you a Bahá’í and of course it ought to be one of the things you do as a Buddhist.
Afterwards we dropped JW off at the Tube, Lindsey at a bus stop and Eric at the House of Lords and then we beat it back up the M40 to Warwickshire.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Burma again.

-
Thai AirAsia flight 244 Bangkok DMK 11:10am (local time) – Mandalay MDL 12:25pm (local time) An early meal and then our little party managed to successfully meet up at Don Meuang Airport. All went well with the flight and entry to Myanmar. The car and driver were at Mandalay airport to meet us and soon we were checking in at our favourite hotel. Our first stop after a wash and brush up was the Pagoda of the Big Book - at least that’s the nickname. Then we went on to ascend Mandalay Hill where we were joined by Neelam and her husband. We stayed there as long as we could and then it was back to the hotel.  A very good day.
Read more

Prisons Week - A Multifaith Occasion.

-
Earlier today I nipped down to London to Abell House, home of Prison Service Chaplaincy HQ, for a meeting about a multifaith event that we're planning for Prisons Week this year. Originally known as Prisoners' Week when it began in 1975, Prisons Week is a Christian initiative to pray for, and raise awareness of, the needs of prisoners and their families, victims of crime, prison staff and all those who care. I have often wondered why it couldn't include all faiths and one year I remember I did try to have it observed by Buddhists. Now this year thanks to an initiative by Monsignor Malachy Keegan, the Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain to the Prison Service, we are organising in Prisons Week a multifaith celebration to be held in the chapel at Wormwood Scrubs Prison on November 21st with up to two hundred invited guests. Father Malachy has kindly asked me to give the address.
Read more

Painting the Shrine Room

-
Image
It's six years since it was last done, so we decided that this year the Shrine Room really had to be painted and this week we finally got around to it. Tuesday afternoon and evening we did the preparation and painted the first half and Wednesday we did the rest. The part that took the longest was before when we discussed and experimented and finally, eventually, decided on the colour scheme, a subtle shade of off white with a hint of gold, a special mix which I'm happy to say has turned out to be rather splendid but which the photographs don't really do justice to. It's interesting, watching the thought associations and how your mind moves when you're doing things, especially quiet and simple things. The first job on Tuesday that we all were involved in was the covering with newspapers and dust sheets what we didn't want painted, the floor, the beams and skirting boards, and the big Buddha Rupa that cannot be moved. Hanging the newspaper over the beams and stapl...
Read more