Tony and Barbara Holden – ‘actions and words’

You can have too much loss and grief: you can need to sidestep and recoil from the world’s ills. But then someone or some people, step up and seek to help, heal, contribute to the common good.

Many of us watched the Buddhist monks ‘walk for peace’ in America. The bishop who met them on 10/11 February 2026 at Washington National Cathedral was Mariann Edgar Budde. She commented –

“The monks, like all our spiritual masters of all faiths, including Jesus, remind us that true peace begins in the human heart, and in genuine peace offerings to those we love, those we struggle to love, and even those we would consider our adversaries (on Facebook).”

We see in such an event how strong actions are challenging and meaningful.

Tony has valued for many decades Ludwig Wittgenstein’s creative idea that: “words are deeds.” They remind us that our opposition to war, violence in all its forms, injustices, and doing harm - need to be opposed both in words and deeds.

As Christian’s we recall the many parables of Jesus in the Gospels. Commentators have often described some of them as acted parables (washing feet, writing in the ground, riding into Jerusalem). They vividly show that words and actions are indeed ‘deeds.’

Barbara recalls experiences (as with travel, other cultures, interfaith dialogue) which “made me think of alternatives that I had never considered.” Such action-reflection is at the heart of human learning, and it is very much at the centre of Christian teaching, worship, and spirituality. Consider Paulo Freire -

“Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it [‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ 1970 and 2014 thirtieth anniversary edition].”