Parish Magazine, April 2011

This is my leading article in this month's magazine.

Dear friends,

As I write this article, the world is anxiously waiting to see if Japan's nuclear reactors can be kept safe after the terrifying earthquake and tsunami of 11th March.

Less than three weeks before, shocking pictures of Christchurch in New Zealand showed us the devastation wrought by another earthquake.

Back in December, a 26 year old man by the name of Mohammed Bouazizi, who made a living selling vegetables in Tunisia was asked for a bribe by officials because he lacked the necessary permit. He refused, had his stock confiscated, and was beaten. A simple example of the casual cruelty and corruption that is commonplace the world over.

But Mohammed's reaction was not commonplace. He doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire. People's anger at what happened to him sparked the protests that led to the fall of the Tunisian government, and, seeing these events, protesters in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and several other countries have followed suit. Some regimes have toppled, others have fought back with brutality.

So the political world has been convulsed, just as the earthquakes shook the physical crust of our planet.

At the moment perhaps, our world feels more fragile and vulnerable than it did before. We're seeing things through different eyes.

Jesus saw the world of his day in quite a similar way – beneath the goodness and kindness that was undoubtedly there, he saw sickness, jealousy and hatred. “A crooked and perverse generation,” he called it. What would he say about us? I hardly think we are any better. Looking ahead to the future he said, “When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth-pains. You must be on your guard.”

Be on our guard? How? Against what?

Against the tiny sparks that set a forest on fire.

Against the small cruelties that cause a man to snap, and commit suicide.

Against the cracks in the earth that shiver and jolt, spilling our glasses of wine, spilling the cooling water around our nuclear reactors, spilling terrifying waves over our coasts, picking up our boats, our cars and even our houses, and tossing them into a heap.

Let's be on our guard. Let's live lives of honesty, fairness and compassion.

Let's avoid trusting entirely in ourselves, because we are not big enough or strong enough to cope without help.

Let's turn to God.