Here’s the text for the 11 May 2026 “Pause for Thought” I offered on the Breakfast Show with Gary Davies on BBC Radio 2. Listen here.

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You know the old jokes that begin: “So, a priest, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar”?

Well, last year, I experienced something much better than that: a group of twenty actual Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders. We met regularly at Windsor Castle, brought together by the Faith in Leadership Programme.

We gathered to learn, to read each others’ scriptures together, and to treasure our differences. The hope was that we’d become better leaders – maybe even better humans – able to transform conflict and help heal our country.

Our conversations were always deep and challenging, but there was also so much laughter that, over time, we became friends.

The formal programme has now ended, but we stay in touch and occasionally meet up in different places: in Rome for a papal audience, at an iftar to break the Ramadan fast.

And last Monday, for dinner in Golders Green – the epicentre of Jewish life in Britain – where, just the week before, two Jewish people were stabbed in a violent expression of the rising antisemitism in our country.

Our group discussed writing a statement to condemn the attacks, which many have done and is so important. But someone said: let’s meet up and have a meal instead. A sign of friendship and solidarity in the midst of hatred.

And so we did. Jews, Muslims, Christians – together. We listened. We lamented. We had delicious Kosher shawarma. It probably didn’t change anything structurally, but it did feel like healing: this ordinary act of resistance and hope.

After dinner we walked along the high street, which was dotted with celebrations for a special day in the Jewish calendar. People lit bonfires and sang and danced and prayed. There was so much joy breaking into a season of so much sorrow – and it was moving to behold.

This week across Britain, several marches and protests are planned. Some, I believe, mean to be acts of great care and good conscience. Others, I fear, may leave our communities more frightened and divided than before.

As a Christian, I listen to what the Bible repeats again and again and again: that every person, every people, every family comes from one parent, God. We all share God’s good name and are meant to share life together. In big, national ways, yes – but also in small personal ways, like friends, eating together, around a table.

My prayer for our country this week and always is that our actions move us away from division towards belonging; away from hostility towards hope; away from death, into life.