"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do the good I want but the evil I do not want is what I do." So wrote St Paul in his letter to the Romans, acknowledging a failing common to all. It is a timely reminder of the difficulty we face in these days of protest as millions are demanding governments deal with Third World poverty and the serious environmental issues that threaten us and future generations.
The important question to be addressed by all who demand action is to what extent they and we are prepared to become part of the solution to the problems that properly cause concern. It is simple enough to know the good we want for our world and its peoples; it is much more difficult to detach ourselves from the selfish benefits we enjoy, which are a major part of the problem.
We don't have to look for some futuristic solution to these problems. There has long been an awareness of ecological and economic justice issues in Judaeo-Christian thinking, coupled with real action. In the agrarian economy of the ancient world the Hebrew farmer was given clear instructions. At harvest time he must not reap to the edges of his field, nor go back for any odd sheaf left on the ground. He was not to strip his vines or olive trees completely. Why? "What is left shall be for the alien, the orphan and the widow. I am the Lord your God." In other words he was to remember the kind of God he worshipped and the world of human and ecological relationships on which he depended.
In our modern world, too many people are obsessed with unrestrained profit and have little regard for anything or anyone else. We have made a virtue out of scraping the barrel and squeezing the last drop out of everything and everyone. We have lost the ability to appreciate the importance of respectful balance between humankind and nature and between human beings themselves.
It is remarkable how advanced those ancient people were in their respect for the environment and their workers and neighbours. The soil was not to be over-exploited. The vines were quite enough for the vineyards to cope with; there was to be no extra planting between rows. Every seventh year fields were to be left fallow and olive trees unpruned. Any fruit produced was the property of the poor by right. And every person and working animal was entitled to a day of rest.
These glimpses into a bygone age remind us that issues of economic justice and care for the environment have long been with us. What is new is the scale and urgency of the problems and our reluctance to release the resources to address them. Those vast crowds at the Live 8 concerts passionately demanding action need also to participate by revising their own lifestyles.
For the Christian Church it is important to recall that the ideal given the ancient people of Israel was intended to create shalom, a model community of peaceful and purposeful living, which could in the end be enjoyed by all peoples. It continues to be part of the church's task to promote that ideal, which relates to what we understand the Kingdom of God to be. It is something we pray for every time we say the Lord's Prayer.
John Ruskin offers a word of caution: "If you do not wish for his kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it." Is this the missing link?
G.L.