Tonight we held our prayer vigil for Norman Kember and the other CPT hostages in Iraq.  I'm not sure how many people I hoped would come - but to be honest more than the three who did come.  Even so, it was a worthwhile exercise, allowing us to focus our minds, hearts and prayers in a way that perhaps we would not have done otherwise.  There was nothing ground-breaking in what we did - we sat around in my living room while some 'Christian muzak,' as one of the local vicars puts it, played quietly in the background and used some of the downloadable liturgies to guide our prayers.  I had produced some large photos of the four men and we had a lit candle by each one of them.

We were fortunate - or blessed if you prefer - the room was warm and comfortable and we could walk out any time we wanted to.  We were together for about an hour before two left to return home, and after two hours it was all over.  The candles were snuffed out and I found myself saying 'goodnight' to each of the men in the photos.  I gathered the papers ready for recycling, put away the CD and became keenly aware of the transcience of what we had shared.

Four people met in a room in England to pray for four men in an unknown place in Iraq.  Perhaps it was good to be so few, to focus on the similarities and differences of our situations.  I don't think any one of us would claim to be a pacificist (well I certainly wouldn't) but each had been inspired to pray for these men who are.  Being a disciple of Jesus is costly, these men are willing to pay the ultimate price: surely for us to spend a couple of hours praying for them and those they love was no big deal?