After work last night, I spent an hour in the sun with a friend, mulching over some of the apects of our current times...and what we had been observing. One feature which we dicussed was the way people here in the UK ( and elsewhere) are becoming so disillusioned with leadership from the top down. Whether one is talking about religion, politics or health issues - there is a growing lack of trust in those who are supposed to be offering leadership. .. a growing sense that they do not really have the interests of the people at heart. Nowhere is this more clear than in politics...where self interest and keeping themselves in power seems to be a major driver. We were talking about the possibility of change being effected from the 'bottom up' rather than 'top down' - not as a revolutionary, reactionary sort of force which history has often shown to be destructive, but as an evolutionary pro-active participation in finding genuine new ways forward.
It has been much quoted this week that the Pope in his final speech had said that he had sometimes wondered whether God had been asleep on his watch. What an extraordinary thing for any Pope to say and indicative of just how extreme are the goings on in our time. It struck me as a very brave thing for him to say ... and I admired his frankness. Struck me too how strange it is to reflect the mess which humans can make, back on to God ...perhaps a more sensible way to think is that God, the universe and humans too ... are all in a growing situation .. not perfect ..but with the ability to grow and refine and to move forward ....surely this is the greatest gift of all ... and in a world which is so full of problems...perhaps one simple goal is to be a positive player within this unfolding situation..whatever our race or creed ?
I went to a lecture recently on sustainable issues. In relation to climate change, it seems scientists have a chart which goes from grave, very grave, runaway to irreversible ... and their current assessment of our situation sits between very grave and runaway. If we don't take urgent action now, it will be in the irreversible category by 2050. The forecast being that without strong steps being taken within 20 years, the climate will be 4-5 degrees hotter by the end of the century. Pretty serious situation, especially when so many governments are what he referred to as sustainable illiterates! It's a strange thing .. and I've felt it myself at times, that one can hear the facts ...yet they don't really register in real terms of evoking a response. Why is that ? Are we just so flooded with information and imagery .. often horrendous things like violence and famine...that we've developed this ability to shut off from the impact of the truth staring us in the face?
