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Good morning. Today marks the 5th anniversary of the murder of Jo Cox MP. The repercussions of the killing were profound, and the impact continues to be felt to the present day. However, the response that was for me the most touching and poignant was that of her family and friends. Inspired by the quote from her maiden speech to Parliament, 鈥渨e have more in common than that which divides us鈥, they set out to remember Jo鈥檚 life by trying to instigate positive change to society and hope for a better place for us to live in. The anniversary is a timely one for Sikhs who are this week marking the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Sikh Guru. As the first to compile the Sikh scriptures, the Guru is a pivotal figure in the faith. He also constructed the central Sikh shrine of the Harmandir Sahib, better known as the Golden Temple. The idea was for a building to emerge from the sacred pool of nectar like a lotus flower floating in a lake, a place of tranquillity and spirituality in the midst of the mortal world. In the heat of summer in 1606, the Guru was arrested by the Mughal authorities who saw him as a threat to the establishment. He was taken to Lahore in modern-day Pakistan, where he was tortured over a number of days and ultimately killed. During his torture, the Guru is said to have repeated the same verse from the scriptures over and over, 鈥淥h Almighty one, your actions seem sweet to me鈥. Events can sometimes shape ideas and concepts in ways different to what we could have imagined. The martyrdom of the 5th Guru was a watershed moment for the Sikh community, and a greater focus on active social justice became embedded within the Sikh faith in the immediate aftermath. To this day, devotees mark the anniversary by serving cold drinks to others in memory of the thirst that the Guru himself experienced during his own torture. Meanwhile, Jo Cox鈥檚 assassination led to the creation of a charity named after her, with its vision for a kinder, more compassionate society and a desire to galvanise and inspire grassroots change. When we finally emerge from the Covid restrictions and start to look to the future, many of us will grapple with loss. In particular, dealing with the grief over those who are no longer with us. However, grief and loss can be powerful catalysts in creating a legacy far greater than that we might think possible. The end of lockdown, when it comes, won鈥檛 be the end of the pandemic, but merely the closing of one chapter in humanity鈥檚 response to it. How the next chapter in the post Covid world looks is up to us.
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