Haiti, transformation and the safety of my cheque book

“As long as there are people, Christ will walk on earth as your neighbour, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes demands on you.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As I noted in an earlier post, I’ve been thinking about Haiti – how we should respond and what our response would mean.

First of all, I think that there is an imperative that we do actually respond – in cash and in prayer.  We should meet the immediate humanitarian needs that arise from the impact of the earthquake, which has hit an already poor country.  And while there is an inevitable feeling of helplessness (“Can my few quid make a difference?”), we should follow Mother Teresa’s guidance:

“If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one.”

BUT (and, if you read this blog regularly, you knew there was a ‘but’ coming!) there has to be more than just a cash commitment in the face of catastrophe.  I liked what Jim Gordon said about working out theological response in the community of faith.

My thinking has taken me down the track of engagement: deep, long‑term, community‑to-community, transformative engagement.  For a long time now I’ve argued that churches, my church, should get involved with one or two projects and embrace them.  I’m talking about getting to know the people and the faces, about making connections that are informed by personal contact, not just by satellite technology. 

I’m talking about giving to help, and learning in the process.  This type of transformative engagement will encompass social, economic, moral and spiritual dimensions – for both giver and receiver.

It’s too easy, in my view, to wait for the next disaster to come along, then respond and forget.  We need to be involved in a deep and enduring way.  As an example, Tony Campolo has been involved in Haiti for many years.  Are we – am I – willing to get so close, to establish long-term commitments with all of the associated frustrations and disappointments?  Or will I hide behind the safety of my cheque book?

G20 - after the dust has settled

What to make of the G20?

It would be easy to rant about 'too much talk, too little action'; or about the agreed package being balanced in the wrong way; or about any number of other things depending on your own particular hobby-horse.

On Thursday morning, David Arnott was talking on Good Morning Scotland's Thought for the Day, and he posed the question:

"Does anyone believe that our leaders can set aside their differences and prejudices and actually find a global solution to this recession?"

He wasn't being unduly cyncial. I think he was highlighting the difficulty that the leaders faced - with a range of competing issues to address and desires to be met.

One of the interesting facets of the G20 summit (at least the bits of it that I saw/read) was the efforts that were being made to work collaboratively. There was Gordon Brown's world tour trying to establish a workable framework for the summit, and also Barack Obama's string of meetings to work out issues and to establish relationships for the future.

I think that this is one of the hardest dimensions to leadership in our complicated, inter-dependent world - to establish a collaborative, partnership approach which avoids the loss of anyone's principles but doesn't allow for brinksmanship and 'rule by veto'.

In November 2008, Dawn Spalding wrote in Human Resources magazine:

"Barack Obama has been described as a leader with vision, who ignites passion, brings people together and wins hearts and minds."

These qualities seemed to be in evidence during his time at the G20.

BUT

If this is the high point of achievement for the G20 - and therefore for the world's economy - it will be a failure.

If it marks a new way of doing business on the global stage AND it materialises in concrete action to make our economic activities just, sustainable and legitimate, then it will have been a success.

Thomas Merton wrote:

"The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little."

Let's hope that our leaders aren't victims of this temptation.

There is no more urgent time than now ... (2)

... to feel optimistic.

Suspend cycnicism. Hold on to hope. Pray.

[Robert] Zoellick [ president of the World Bank] said world leaders should learn from previous economic crises in Latin America in the 1980s and Asia in the 1990s and not repeat the mistake of ignoring the plight of the most vulnerable. Developing countries needed to be part of the global solution to the global crisis.

"Isn't it time to institutionalize support for the most vulnerable during crises, especially those not of their own making?" said Zoellick, who has proposed that developed countries allocate 0.7 percent of the stimulus packages to a fund for developing countries.

"A commitment to put in place structures to support and fund safety nets for those most at risk would go a long way to show that this G-group will not endorse a two tier world, with summits for financial systems, and silence for the poor." he added, calling for market economies with a human face."

There is no more urgent time than now...

... to act justly.

Let's remember what a difficult, invidious job the world's political leaders are trying to do as they meet in London over the next couple of days. And let's hope that the influence the Christian leaders might be evident in the outcome.

From the Tearfund's Global Action campaign, pray:

• For wisdom and courage for world leaders to move beyond narrow self interest and old ideas and respond together to this crisis.
• That the voices of the poor and vulnerable would be heard and listened to, and the church will continue to speak out on their behalf.

What do I mean by prophetic?

In response to yesterday's entry That Hideous Man asked exactly what I meant by prophetic. It's a good question, and I thought that rather than post a long, rambling comment in response, I'd post a long, rambling entry in response.

I suppose that what I had in mind was John Stott's 'double listening':

"... we are to listen carefully (although of course with differing degrees of respect) both to the ancient Word and to the modern world, in order to relate the one to the other with a combination of fidelity and sensitivity... It is my firm conviction that, only if we can develop our capacity for double listening, will we avoid the opposite pitfalls of unfaithfulness and irrelevance, and be able to speak God's word to God's world with effectiveness today."

(emphasis mine)

The Tearfund prayer diary for this week talks about keeping 'one eye on the newspaper and another on the Bible'.

But to be prophetic we have to go beyond an awareness of the issues to a position where we speak out about them and challenge others to think about them too. We may propose a course of action, or we may simply indicate that we are prepared to join in a dialogue about the issues. In many ways, I think it's more about raising the right questions rather than having all the answers.

Other factors that are relevant to the prophetic role include the willingness to:

• speak for those who have no voice (or, at least, their voice isn't listened to);
• provide an honest critique of the issue in the light of God's teaching and love for us;
• set the agenda proactively, rather than simply responding to the prompting of others;
• combine a concern for justice with a call for responsibility and accountability;
• follow through to service as appropriate.

To use a phrase that I first heard from Stuart Blyth - it's also about being relevant not trendy.

Those are my thoughts, I'd love to hear what others think!

Where is the prophetic voice of the church?

Another child’s death filled our headlines for a day or two this week. This time it was Brandon Muir from Dundee – killed by his mother’s drug-using boyfriend. As he was dying from his injuries, his mother was prostituting herself to fund her drug habit.

The details of the story fill me with horror and rage. If you have the stomach for it you can read more on the BBC website or in The Herald.

For once, our politicians seem to have responded to this tragedy in a mature way. Dare we hope that they’ve learned that something needs to change in our society?

Annabel Goldie talked about the “tragic exposure of Scotland’s broken society.”

Adam Ingram, the Minister for Children, said:

“We need to … break a vicious cycle of poverty, deprivation, substance misuse which is all too evident in our society.”

And:

“You’re never going to get a 100% fool-proof system and that’s why we have to tackle the root causes of the problems, not just the symptoms.”

Researchers have estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 children in Scotland live with at least one drug-addicted parent. (That doesn’t take account of those living with parents who misuse alcohol – and there’s not exactly a shortage of them in Scotland!)

And the churches said… NOTHING! At least, I haven’t heard or read anything from any of the churches.

This seems to epitomise what I referred to in my entry on the U2 lyrics. Is there a more important social issue in Scotland right now?

What are the root causes that Adam Ingram was talking about? Poverty, deprivation, community responsibility, hope for the hopeless - amongst others?

Who - in the churches - is doing the thinking?

How do we get a conversation going about this?

Where should we be raising a prophetic voice?

How should we be demonstrating Christ’s love?

I genuinely don’t know the answers to any of these questions, bit I am convinced that if the church is to be relevant, we must tackle this type of issue - sensitively, openly, courageously and biblically.

“We do, of course, need to be wise in deciding what we should get ‘prophetic’ about, and how to pitch it… well-informed and courageous challenges to values that are inimical to the gospel and damaging to our society, will strike a chord in many people’s heart.

And we must show, by word and by life, that there is – however unfashionable – a different and better way.”

- Helen Parry (LICC)

The Great Stink

Today is World Toilet Day.

According to Tearfund:

The figures are overwhelming, almost 900 million people without access to clean water, the majority of them women and children. While over 2.5 billion, a third of the world’s population, are without a clean and safe place to go to the loo.

In 2000, world leaders signed up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targets that could transform the lives of millions around the world.

We’ve only got another 7 years to go until the targets are meant to be met, and progress on water and sanitation is the most off track, with experts predicting that the goal on sanitation is unlikely to be met until early in the 22nd century, more than 80 years too late.

You can find out more here.
This is potty! (OK, no more silly puns from me.)

How can this be? What are our leaders doing about it? It’s simply not good enough.

But hang on a minute – what am I doing about it? Moaning about it on this blog isn’t likely to help very much. One of the problems is that the numbers are just too big; and the problem is too far away. Maybe that means it’s time to make it personal.

I often think that we respond to the latest crisis, give a few quid (or bucks), then forget about it. What’s stopping us focusing on one or two issues that each of us can contribute to and stay in touch with? Dare we get deeply involved with any social justice issue? It doesn’t have to be toilet-related, but if that ‘pulls your chain’, it’d be worth checking out the WaterAid site.

“We cannot tell what part in God’s plan our little moments play.”
Margaret Killingray

Chances and choices

“Where you live should not decide
Whether you live or whether you die”
U2 – Crumbs from your table

Last week the World Health Organisation published a report on life expectancy and some of the factors that influence it. The report was headline news here because of one startling statistic that emerged – male life expectancy in Calton, Glasgow is a mere 54 years; eight miles away in Lenzie it is 82!! A difference of 28 years in 8 miles.

Obviously this degree of divergence is appalling and begs many questions.

The WHO report states:
“The toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics is, in large measure, responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible… Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale.”

The issue of Calton/Lenzie has sparked a predictable and lamentable round of political point-scoring. The reality is that significant investment has been made in places like Calton, but change on the scale that is required is long-term. It’s easy to get all high and mighty about these kind of situations. But the reality is that we live our comfortable lives in blissful ignorance of the situation right on our doorstep. I don’t know what the comparative life expectancy is for communities in and around Perth, but I know that poverty and hopelessness exists alongside middle-class affluence and consumption.

So before I criticise those responsible for social policy in Calton, I need to take a long, hard look at myself first.

On the day that the WHO report was published, there was another story in the headlines here. The Duke of Sutherland needs to raise some cash, so he’s planning to sell some paintings from his collection. The thing is, he’s been kind enough to lend them to the National Galleries of Scotland, who don’t want to lose them. So the Duke is prepared to sell two Titians for the bargain price of £50 million each.

To be honest Titian isn’t my ‘cup of tea’ anyway. But I’m horrified that the Scottish Government is planning to make a significant contribution (about £10 million) towards buying these paintings. How can this be justified?

My solution would be to let the Duke sell his paintings at market value (£150 million each!), then he can make a donation of say £50 million towards the development of arts related projects in Calton and other deprived areas of Scotland to provide some hope and stimulation for those whose life expectancy is somewhat less than the typical gallery viewer who would see the Titians anyway. At the very least, the government could divert their, actually, our £10 million to what in my view is a better cause.

Giving it up for Lent

I've never been too sure about Lent. It's probably because of the common association with "giving something up for Lent". Usually the 'something' is a self-indulgent luxury like chocolate or alcohol or tobacco... you get the idea.

I don't recall ever giving anything up. It's not due to a lack of willpower, just that I don't see any point.

But this year, I'm going to try something. I'm going to fast throughout Lent. Not a food fast (as those who know me would already have guessed!).

No, I'm going to join in with Tearfund's Carbon Fast. While I think that I'm quite aware of my impact on the environment, it'll be a good way to look at various aspects of my lifestyle and see how it really stacks up. It'll also be a good way of recognising the effect that climate change has on the poorest people on the planet - and thinking about the justice agenda associated with that.

City hall came calling

His Girl Friday's recent post reminded me of the music of Capercaillie, and particularly of one of my favourite songs. It's called Outlaws (see lyrics below).

It's a beautiful song, beautifully sung by Karen Matheson. And that would be enough for it to qualify as a favourite.

But there's more to the song for me. I really feel an emotional tug whenever I hear it. It seems to me to be very Scottish in nature, conjuring up images of clearances and declining primary industries, but I guess that the picture is more universal than parochial.

The line "Till city hall came calling... " haunts and challenges me. As someone who works in 'city hall', it reminds me that behind the policies and reports and performance information there are real lives - affected by what I do and say. It's easy to forget sitting behind the bureaucratic desk, but I need to be reminded regularly!

She stands at the window
Proud Mary, bad news
Demands from the credit
And the sheriff's men too
The wife of a fishermen no longer at sea
She can always find him where whisky flows free
She never called it poverty, the doorstep was clean
Till city hall came calling to show what it means

Have you seen it before
The names of good women and men
Decreed by the sword and the pen
To be outlaws all over again.

The names in the churchyard are long overgrown
Still she came kneeling with flowers of her own
They're watching you Mary
In hard times afraid
As counsel finds guilty
For charges unpaid
And even as the last hope is labelled and sold
We're all for one, Mary
Outlawed for gold.

Christmas carbs - addendum

Following on from my last entry, I thought I'd refer you to the paperless advent calendar again - Day 23. Somehow the pictures and voice add a poignancy that my words can't match.

Christmas carbs (not a typo!)

Festivities in full swing now – we had our first family meal today at the in-laws. Over the next few days we’ll be doing a fair bit of travelling to see family. All of our journeys will be by car, so adding to our carbon consumption (first ‘carb’). I’m not trying to be a killjoy, and have no intention of reducing family visits to somehow salve my eco-conscience. But it’s still worth pausing for thought. During Lent 2008, Tearfund will be suggesting ways to reduce our emissions as part of a Carbon Fast, that might be a time to take action and change some of our ingrained habits.

In addition, the usual manic supermarket binge-shopping is upon us again. A quick walk round tonight looking for a few things made me think a wee bit about the air miles that our food clocks up. More pertinently, I heard a lunatic statistic yesterday that on average we put on 8lbs over the Christmas period through over-eating/ drinking (second carb – as in ‘carbohydrate’!) and under-exercising. Maybe there is a need for radical action here. A degree of self-restraint would eliminate the need for all those New Year resolutions about diets and exercise that will be broken anyway. And if the shopping bills are reduced, there are plenty of good causes working with hungry people around the world that could use the money!

Uncomfortable God

Following yesterday’s entry, I came across this prayer from the Iona Community.

The poor… the broken-hearted…
the prisoners… the mourners…
We can make it a reverent and irrelevant litany,
like counting cherry stones:
Tinker… tailor… soldier… sailor…
Rich man… poor man… beggar-man… thief…
what has this got to do with us God?
Sailors… children… merchants… pawnbrokers…
When will it come to us?
This year… next year… sometime… never…
Yet we remember that when Jesus read these words
he added ‘Today – here and now –
these words are coming true.’
Come true for us, uncomfortable God,
here and now!

A coming Christ in Advent #3

The highlight of this morning’s church service was the new song from Lins Honeyman.

"The splendour of Christ in a bed of straw

Almighty God in human form"

The contrasts contained in the song got me thinking a bit.

What does the Creator of everything want from us? What are we expected to create?

My mind flicked to the Magnificat and the picture expressed by Mary of the Kingdom of God. It’s essentially a kingdom of justice. Given that we are charged with carrying the good news through all the world, does this mean that we are called to bring the values of the kingdom into reality – to create a just world?

I think so – but I’m challenged about my role and where to start. Once again, I’m drawn to Morningside’s Just Christmas.

To create a just world – do something, do it now, do it with all of your creativity, and do it expectantly!

AIDS and advent - sinful absence and puny efforts

What’s the connection between World AIDS day and the start of advent?

It’s not a riddle – but could the answer be realisation and hope?

I’d like to point out 4 articles for you to consider:

1 - Tearfund’s December reflection
2 - Reuters’ article about Kay Warren
3 - BBC article on World Aids day – including George Bush’s attempts to double funding for combating the disease
4 - British Red Cross campaign to raise awareness and understanding

Contrast the “sinful absence and puny efforts” that Kay Warren talks about with the joyous, hope-filled presence of advent and the supreme efforts that Christ made for us.

As weak as water

For reasons that will keep for another entry, I was thinking about the Tao de Ching, in relation to HIV/ AIDS.

“In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing that can take its place.
That the weak overcomes the strong,
And the submissive overcomes the hard,
Everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice.”

Topsy-turvy thinking? A bit like ‘blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …’

The weak and the strong. HIV/AIDS stricken Africa and the affluent West?

The church solution

Yesterday in church we watched a DVD produced by Tearfund for their Global Poverty Prayer Week (albeit it was a couple of weeks late!). The Tearfund materials are fantastic.

So to avoid being tardy, I thought I’d highlight the equally amazing resources that they have in relation to HIV/AIDS – in the lead up to World Aids Day on 1 December.

“People were suffering and nobody was caring for them.”

Take a look at the film – then think carefully about how to respond. Is the church part of the solution? Do we help or do we judge – or even worse not care?

Life after death

This will be the last entry for the time being about our visit to London. Originally we planned the trip to see the Terracotta Army exhibition at the British Museum – but we couldn’t get tickets. So we decided to go to the Tutankhamun exhibition instead.

Having paid quite handsomely for the tickets, we then read some reviews that were less than glowing! I thought it was fantastic and fascinating. There’s a photo essay at the Time website which will give an impression of the exhibits.

I was intrigued by the extraordinary lengths that the Pharoahs went to model this life in the next. Apart from the elaborate coffins and containers for mummified organs, they also included models of fruit and everyday household articles (jugs, bowls etc). They also (in a similar way to the Chinese emperor) provided servants for the afterlife. The Egyptian shabti could perform any required work in the afterlife.

In ancient Egypt the Pharoah was seen as an intermediary between man and the gods in his earthly life, who was destined for divinity after death. I didn’t know (or had forgotten that King Tut’s dad had reformed their polytheistic religion, and introduced worship of one god. These reforms were reversed by King Tut.

So what else intrigued me? Well, at the time I was struck by some curious things that may reflect prophetically in ways that are beyond our comprehension. (What am I talking about?)

The hieroglyph that means ‘life’ is called ‘ankh’ – spot it in the middle of King Tut’s name! The cross as life – interesting?

Also, the symbols of power that the pharaoh carried (equivalent to the orb and sceptre of our monarchs) were a flail and a shepherd’s crook. Seems to be some resonance here too.

This week I’ve been reading some of the passages from Exodus about the priestly garments and paraphernalia – there are some parallels in terms of the intricate detail of the breastpiece etc., although I’m not sure what conclusions to reach – if any – about this.

Of course, I couldn’t ignore the incredible injustice that must have existed in ancient Egypt – with so much wealth and activity consumed by the preparations for the Pharoah’s eternal well-being. Forced labour, exploitation and greed aren’t a new phenomenon – nor are they only in the past!

Any negatives about the exhibition? Well, there were no queues thanks to timed tickets, the exhibition wasn’t too crowded after the first room or so as we managed to spread out. There was an exquisite beauty about many of the exhibits. However, inevitably the exhibition concluded by forcing you into the shop. Filled with overpriced King Tut tat, it was a disappointing end to a well presented, intriguing and (for me) thought-provoking event.

Trafficking #2

We’ve just become aware of the BMS ‘In Transit’ campaign. It’s about human trafficking, but is aimed specifically at trafficking from Albania, where it is a prevalent practice. This strikes a chord with me because our link missionaries and friends are working there, and told about some of the issues. When they first went to Albania they were based in a coastal town, and in the evening fast boats would come in to take away the human cargo – usually women and girls.

I like the way that BMS are approaching this campaign. They are asking individuals to sign postcards (it’s not too late – you can send an e-card), which states:

• Personal opposition to trafficking;
• Supports the Christians in Albania who are tackling this issue; and
• Requests that the Albanian Evangelical Alliance is invited to join the Albanian government’s anti-trafficking committee.

This seems to me to be a positive and constructive approach, as opposed to soapbox campaigning.

Obviously there are issues for us all to face up to and tackling it at source is important. To put this into perspective (for me), Dolly D would be a prime candidate for this appalling activity if we were Albanian.

There is also a need to tackle the end users – and it’s chilling to think that it’s men like me that are abusing these women. I mean, relatively rich Westerners with disposable income. Clearly there’s a role in this arena for the church in this country as well!

Doesn't do what it says on the tin!

This week we’ve had a bit of stooshie (several steps short of a stramash) over a legal ruling in relation to the policy of Free Personal Care in Scotland. Now I accept that this is the field that I work in, and therefore, my musings here may be of interest to no-one but me. Two key issues emerge for me from this week’s events.

Firstly, the Scottish Government was criticised by the judge (admittedly in very polite, legal code) for not accepting his invitation to attend the hearing and explain the intention that lies behind the legislation. This criticism was seized upon by political opponents as a dereliction of duty etc, etc.

I’m glad that the Government didn’t send a representative to the court. As I understand it our legal system is built around an independent judiciary, making judgement on the basis of the legislation passed by Parliament. Any move toward Government explaining its intentions in court seem to me to be a dangerous erosion of the process and could be exploited for all sorts of political purposes. Instead, the legislature should make sure that the statutes that they pass are carefully worded to ensure that the policy intentions are adequately and competently described.

In other words – politicians should do their jobs properly, then the courts can do theirs.

Secondly, and something that I’ve been concerned about since this policy was introduced. Free Personal Care is not new and it’s not free. It’s not new since the provision of social care in this country is based on assessed needs, not ability to pay. The amount that anyone is asked to contribute towards the cost of the care provided to them is then (and only then) assessed according to their financial situation. For the poorest people this means that care has (generally) always been free. The advent of the current ‘flagship’ policy has meant that the more affluent users of care services have received more subsidy from the state. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing in itself, it’s just that the language used in this area is misleading.

For my tuppence-worth, I’d like to see our politicians refraining from political ambushes and one-up-manship and asking the big questions about the provision of care.

• Do we want to be socially progressive in this area?
• If so, should all care be truly free?
• How does this interact with the welfare benefits system?
• How will it apply as the demographic composition of our population changes in the next 20 years?

Then, when we’re clear about the way forward, we can amend the legislation so that it does what it says on the tin – without the need to explain the underlying intentions.