We Are All Complicit Are We Not?
So how do we respond to all the conflicting and confusing views we hear when it comes to the great moral issues of our day? I sometimes think it is easy to get things out of perspective, however there is little doubt that the temptation facing all of us is to become cynical about people politics and prayer.
I know why this happens, you see I do think people of all ages have become a lot ruder. I can give you verse and chapter. I think all of our Christian faith communities have bought into the cultural moral and material thinking of our age. So, I get exasperated when one group of Christians act as though the problems all lie in one camp. And I'm convinced that the politically correct movement has become the new faith orthodoxy of all our political parties.
All this has influenced our educational aspirations and even our freedom of speech. I don't wish to promote the rude behaviour of extremists but can we just be allowed to speak our mind in a courteous manner without being liabled, labelled and lamented. That's my rant over!
Yet in spite of all the dark realities of the human spirit. I am continually inspired by the light that I see burning in he lives of very ordinary people. I do believe that God has not abandoned us. He stands back in amazement that we never seem to learn. A few years ago I wrote a song out of the experience of grief, disappointment and frustration. I was in danger of seeing my cup half empty. This song was written to remind myself that God has given his people the Holy Spirit and we become the lamplighters. This song is from the album entitled "Lamplighter"
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I think when the history books are written about the turn of the 21st century, these times will be recorded as unparalleled in the history of humanity. So many challenges face us on so many levels. When we look at the ecological balance of the world we are in danger of reaching the tipping point into the abyss of a polluted creation. I remember a few years ago in Peru, standing on the edge of a rubbish dump in Iquitos we could literally go no further - the rubbish was piled up on the edge of a cliff ready to tip over. All around me was the rain forrest . The rubbish dump was just about to claim more of the virgin ground. The lush green vegetation would continue to be violated. The waste from the city was literally spilling over into the beauty of the creation.
As the world population continues to increase so does the appetite for wealth among all sections of humanity. From Chennai to Lima from Edinburgh to Sydney, we humans are striving to be satisfied. Never before has so much knowledge of the past and the present and even the future been available to the inhabitants of the world. Yet we seem to be like rabbits caught in the headlights of our collective aspirations - looking and longing for more while ignoring the consequences of the headlights. We can't keep going on like this forever, something will have to give. I was listening to the broadcast on BBC Newsnight, earlier this week when Paxman was interviewing Rowan Williams, have listen. Click
I found it interesting that in this interview the Archbishop was highlighting the need for a spirit of repentance in the nation. indeed in the world. We also have a responsibility to speak of the alternative society - we are called and qualified by the grace of God to speak of the Kingdom values. All this brings me back to my song and my half empty glass. I have no doubt we are all complicit in the "Credit Crunch" but we need to do more than just speak of our complicity, we need to pray that the old and the light flow from us to bring healing and a new vision to scotland and indeed the world. "Let's talk no more of desolation"
