11:00 am, May 18 2025
Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green
Speaker: John Graves
Poet: Rowan
Could a look into history give the modern buzzword ‘synergy’ real meaning, while bringing us closer to our Sunday Assembly goals to Live Better, Help Often and Wonder More? Today we tackled this question, while also reflecting on Mental Health Awareness Week and giving a nod to yesterday’s Eurovision Song Contest.
How did we cram all of that into 90 minutes? Read on to find out…
Our guest speaker: John Graves
Throughout history, societies and economies have been governed by a succession of elites who have amassed enormous wealth while the bulk of their fellow citizens live in relative poverty.
They are often presented as exceptional, entrepreneurial, gifted individuals, when in fact they’re driven by insecurity and attempts to overcome their sense of inferiority.
Some pre-industrial societies managed to avoid this schismatic structure, finding a way to harness these energies for social benefit. What can we learn today from these synergistic societies?
We were delighted to welcome back John Graves: psychotherapeutic studies teacher, life coach and lifelong philosophy student. John explored the ingrained disparity between society’s wealthiest and poorest, explaining how our own society could achieve greater synergy: individuals’ assets and actions supporting the common good.
Our guest poet: Rowan Kiffin-Murray
We also heard from East London poet Rowan. Rowan’s poetry expressed his ideas about loneliness and life’s journeys, including the virtues of a metaphorical unicycle.
Today’s songs
Our Sunday Assembly London Band performed four songs: three on the theme of togetherness, one in reference to Eurovision:
- Come Together – The Beatles
- Together in Electric Dreams – Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder
- Happy Together – The Turtles
- Waterloo – ABBA
Notices
Today’s updates included:
- Our book swap table: a flexibly defined feature of all our assemblies where books can be donated and/or taken (but ideally taken as we have a lot at the moment)
- A thank you from Ann to Aaron and David, the volunteers who joined her to help steward the Mile End junior parkrun before today’s assembly
- A reminder about the Sunday Assembly Global Gathering in Glasgow in September
- Marking the last day of Mental Health Awareness Week and its official theme of Community, our new Community Engagement Lead Tanya invited us to ‘leaf a message’ about our experiences of Sunday Assembly London’s community after the assembly. Thank you to everyone for their contributions, which you can read here
As always, we followed the assembly with tea, biscuits and chat at the Backyard Comedy Club, lunch locally, and drinks & games at The Three Colts pub.
As a bonus, we also had a guided walk. At 2pm, Sunday Assembly London volunteer and local resident Diane hosted a tour of the spaces that put the green into Bethnal Green, sharing her wealth of local knowledge.
Thanks to our host Alan, co-host Hanna, all our wonderful volunteers and everyone who filled the room with singing, good energy and appreciation – especially our first-timers!
→ Our next assembly: Craftivism: The Art of Gentle Protest, 1 June
Sarah Corbett will be sharing the story of co-founding the Craftivist Collective: a strategic and compassionate take on activism that makes a real impact.
→→ And the one after that: Deep Dive: Wonders of the Ocean Depths, 15th June
Following World Ocean Day on 8th June, marine biologist Pavan Kaur Virdee from Incredible Oceans will be our guide to the enchantment under the sea.
← Our previous assembly: Bubble Club: Inclusive Nightlife Under Threat, 4 May