\u201cMy family will confirm that I was bemused by the whole experience,\u201d he writes in the book. \u201cThe whole thing was unplanned, unexpected and completely disproportionate. The simple message I had tried to pass on is that friendship overcomes fear. Hatred doesn\u2019t generate itself. It is a by-product of fear; fear of someone who is just slightly different from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Intrigued by the title of the book I asked him what does mischief mean to a Christian?<\/p>\n
\u201cFaith, Hope and Mischief<\/em> comes from the phrase which Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 13, where he talks about faith, hope and love,\u201d explains Graystone. \u201cI\u2019m saying that mischief is an expression of love. Mischief, like love is doing things that you don\u2019t have to do that are unexpected and unpredictable and with positive intent, but without necessarily knowing what the outcome\u2019s going to be. That\u2019s true of mischief and that\u2019s true of love. You do things that you don\u2019t have to do that have positive intent, that are unexpected and you don\u2019t know what the outcome\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n \u201cLoving someone is risky, it\u2019s making yourself vulnerable. Mischief is having a go, trying it, taking the risk. And what\u2019s the risk? Very often the risk that I\u2019m afraid of is that I\u2019m going to look stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n Graystone seems to be a deep-thinking man of faith, clearly saying what he means, with no duplicity of intent about him. Rather shy, but courteous and friendly, occasionally pausing before answering my next question. Rubbing his whiskered chin his eyes would briefly search the red brick wall behind me as if looking for the very truest answer. Twice, with some degree of boyish delight, he glanced skyward and simply answered: \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d appearing to relish the opportunity of thinking about something which he hadn\u2019t previously thought about.<\/p>\n Media attention has mostly settled down since that time when tens of thousands of people got in touch to say that they were encouraged, reassured or given a little bit of hope. But Graystone isn\u2019t concerned about the results, he continued: \u201cI think we can be a little bit obsessive about wanting to know what the outcomes are going to be. I know some people have to measure what they\u2019re doing but outcomes are not our business necessarily.\u201d He added: \u201cI think God sometimes uses the spaces where we sit and ask \u2018how does this feel for someone else?\u2019, which is a really good question to be asking.\u201d<\/p>\n Graystone has lived in a vibrant multicultural area of Manchester for over two decades. Though not a native northerner he describes himself as having become a true \u2018manc\u2019 who embraces the city and wouldn\u2019t want to live anywhere else. We drink tea and talk some more about mischief and everyday activism.<\/p>\n He tells me with heartfelt warmth: \u201cMy family, my community and my church community are really important to me. I\u2019m very committed to doing things together. The one person who could stop me from doing something daft would be my wife, unfortunately, she\u2019s more likely to encourage me!\u201d<\/p>\nEncouraged<\/h3>\n
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