Right Rev Dr John Inge - Bishop's diary (From Worcester News)

Right Rev Dr John Inge - Bishop's diary

8:43am Wednesday 5th November 2008

• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

WE’VE had some pretty unlikely headlines these past few days and weeks. Of all the things that might have brought Worcester into the national news, who would have predicted that it would be an earthquake?

However, our earthquake is small fry compared with the earthquake that has been affecting global financial markets.

We have read how governments across the world have spent hundreds of billions of dollars buying up the banking system.

Who would have thought that mighty institutions like Lloyds TSB would be partly taken over by the Government?

The idea would have been thought laughable only a few months ago. For a while it looked as though this earthquake would bring the whole financial system crashing down – and with it the entire economy of the world.

All that has transpired since the credit crunch first began will continue to cause anxiety, pain and distress for some time to come but I hope that good will come of it, too.

At the very least it should prompt us to ask where true security is to be found. The common phrases ‘safe as houses’ and ‘safe as the bank of England’ sound somewhat ironic in the present environment.

The parable Jesus told about two men building houses is a pertinent one in the present context.

One dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on rock.

When the river overflowed and hit the house it could not shake it because it was well built.

The other, a foolish man, built his house without laying a foundation and when the flood hit the house it collapsed.

It is so easy, when times are good, just to jog along without giving much thought to the values that underpin our lives.

That is true for us as individuals as it is for our society. Perhaps all that has been going on will give us pause for thought, enable us to take stock and consider the question behind the well known parable about the houses built on rock and sand.

Where is the solid ground on which we can build our lives?

Have we dug deep enough to find a firm foundation?

Are we building them on something solid and secure, on what is reliable, good and true?

Sometimes it takes an earthquake, even a financial one, to ask the questions that really matter.