I’ve had the great privilege of spending some time with Margaret and Barry Mizen recently. They are, without a doubt, two of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met and am ever likely to meet.
I’d rather you hear their story in their words rather than in mine, so here’s a link to them speaking to 80,000 people in Hyde Park in 2010 and here’s an interview I did with Margaret in 2019. Their story is really hard-hitting but also truly inspirational.
Barry and Margaret sum up their message in three words: forgiveness, peace, and hope. These are easy words to say but difficult to live out. What makes the Mizens’ message so powerful is that they have lived them out. They have experienced trauma greater than most of us dare imagine but still exude forgiveness, peace, and hope in everything they do. I am in awe of their ability not to succumb to anger after their son’s murder.
Here’s Margaret explaining why they refused to take this angry option:
After Jimmy died, when the house went quiet, we would be round my kitchen table and we would be sitting laughing about Jimmy. In those early days, we would be laughing as well as crying, trying to make sense of it, but we had a lot of laughter remembering and talking about Jimmy. I meet a lot of families who have lost loved ones to murder, who are driven with anger. But it’s so destructive to the family. People blame each other and argue – but anger is so damaging. The pain it causes on top of the pain of losing a child can destroy families.
The day Jimmy died I promised him two things; one, I would keep his name alive and two, I would dedicate my life to working for peace.
And they have. They do wonderful work in schools, prisons, and in many other places. They have shown thousands of people that forgiveness, peace, and hope are possible even in the darkest situations. More than that, they show through the way they live that forgiveness, peace and hope are the only truly effective responses to evil.
I’m currently writing a book for Angelico Press called Travels in Radical Christianity. In it I describe my travels across the UK to meet counter-cultural Christians from various different backgrounds, including the Bruderhof, the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Renewal, and the Transalpine Redemptorists. I also have a chapter about Barry and Margaret Mizen. The book’s likely to come out later this year but there’s no need to wait until then to find out more about the Mizens. If you would like to see what they do and discover what you can do to help, their website is a great place to start.
Thank you for sharing this inspiring model of forgiveness, peace and hope. We all need real life examples that such forgiveness is possible (with the help of God’s awesome grace). I am very much looking forward to this forthcoming book that you have described!