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The Cross and the
global financial crisis |
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Living here in Manama, Bahrain, I am reminded daily of the centrality of money and finance in the life of the world in 2009. The great concrete and glass towers of the modern day cathedrals tower over our modest little cathedral built to the glory of Almighty God in 1953. But it seems the great god of money has fallen! The world’s economies are in recession. The air is full of gloom and doom. Many people around the world are suffering as a result of the economic crisis and no one, not even Bahrain, will escape. Members of our own congregations, people with ‘good jobs’, have been made redundant. Others are holding their breath. Quite recently, out of the blue, I was reminded of the horror which overtook the ‘Herald of Free Enterprise’ 22 years ago off Zeebrugge on the night of the 6th March 1987. In this terrible accident the bow doors of the ‘roll-on roll-off’ car ferry had been left open after departure. Water flooded the car decks and the ferry sank. 187 people lost their lives. The ensuing enquiry concluded that there had been a “disease of sloppiness" and negligence at every level of the company's hierarchy. My understanding of the current world financial crisis is that we are in the wake of mismanaged ‘free enterprise’ in an overriding climate of negligence and greed. Could the night of 6th March 1987 have been a prophetic moment which the world ignored? Life went on after that night, even for the families devastated by the loss of life. Today we are reassured the world will bounce back from the current crisis in the next two or three years and, no doubt, despite new measures put in place to govern the world banking and financial institutions we shall go on much as before, negligence, greed, mismanagement and all. It’s the human condition!. In his commentary on St Mark’s Gospel, Bishop Tom Wright tells the story of one man on the Herald of Free Enterprise on the night it sank. ‘All at once one man - not a member of the crew - took charge. In a clear voice he gave orders, telling people what to do. Relief mixed with panic as people realised someone at least was in charge, and many managed to reach lifeboats they would otherwise have missed in the dark and the rush. The man made his way down to the people trapped in the hold. There he formed a human bridge: holding on with one hand to a ladder and with the other to part of the ship that was nearly submerged, he enabled still more to cross to safety. When the nightmare was over the man himself was found to have drowned. He had literally given his life…...by which many had been saved.’ That dramatic picture of one man taking, and exercising, redemptive authority, then giving his life that others may live evokes the whole ministry and message of Jesus and his death on the Cross. As the world looks to future remedies for its current financial global plight perhaps it is time for Christianity to proclaim once again loudly, clearly and confidently that we have a Saviour who has authoritatively and comprehensively shown us the way forward in this and every human crisis. As we approach Lent and Easter we must listen again and follow with confidence His tried and tested way for every aspect of human life. Alan Hayday |
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