from the Vicar

Vicar's Letter for September 2010

 

Harvest is a time for thanksgiving, but I’m not sure that this year anyone will feel much like giving thanks.  News on the harvest front this year is not particularly good.  Soaring temperatures in Russia during the summer have led to a 20% reduction in their grain harvest and a consequent increase in the world price of wheat and the loaves of bread in our supermarkets.

 

On top of that, the huge clean-up costs following the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are a severe body blow to one of Britain’s leading companies.  This, too, will have a direct effect on many of us who have pensions, as many of the pension funds have suffered losses due to BP’s share price being slashed as a result of the tragedy.

 

What lessons can we learn from these events? 

First, and most important, we live in an interconnected world.  What happens half way around the world has a direct impact on the lives of people everywhere.  It is no good thinking only of what happens here in this island off the coast of Europe.  We are, like it or not, part of a much wider global community of nations.  What happens elsewhere affects our lives, and what we do affects the lives of others around the world.  This is more true now than it ever was in previous generations.

Second, our awareness of global events has also increased exponentially in recent years, as worldwide news reporting has brought into our homes knowledge about conditions in other parts of the world.  Natural disasters, like the terrible earthquake in Haiti or the flooding in Northwest Pakistan, are brought to our attention almost as soon as they happen.

 

The challenge facing us.

These trends mean that we increasingly find ourselves in the place of God, looking at the suffering world around us, and wondering what we can do to make it better.  To say simply that it’s God’s responsibility and that we cannot do anything to help but pray is to miss the point.  God has given us the ability to reflect on his love and goodness and to respond to the needs of others with love.  In the creation stories of the Book of Genesis, God gives us dominion over the creatures and the plants of the world and commands us to care for them.  Harvest is a time to remember this lesson.

 

We, living in what is a relatively affluent part of God’s world, have a responsibility to care for others and for the world around us.  This may be done through charitable giving, but it also means we have to mind how we live our own lives, so that our demand for oil, food and other resources does not end up impoverishing the world for others or for future generations.  Our thankfulness for what God has given us must lead to positive action to further justice and peace around the world for those for whom a rise in the price of bread is not just an inconvenience, but a matter of life and death.