The Guild

Thought for the Day
April 2008
Tuesday 15 April
The tributes  paid over the last few days to the young people who died in the bus crash in Ecuador at the weekend have been very moving and the grief of their families must be beyond expression.  When young lives end, the messages of sympathy naturally dwell on what might have been -  they had their whole lives ahead of them; they had so much to offer; they showed such potential.  But for those closest to them, they have already given immeasurable joy and delight, and their relatively short lives may have more resonance than they could ever know.

I read a message posted just last week by one of these young people, Indira Swann.  Sent from the Cotapaxi volcano to a social networking site, it said : “There was a few minutes when I sat all alone at this height. Nothing around but snow, wind and darkness. I was the only living thing I could see. I’ve never felt so small, but it was amazing.”

That seems to me like wisdom beyond her years.  To be so aware of the miracle of the universe and to be at ease with one’s own fragile place in creation shows a depth of understanding which many people, supposedly older and wiser, fail to grasp. 

Take Robert Mugabe, for instance, a morally bankrupt man who last week presumed to call Gordon Brown, a much better man, “a tiny dot on this world”.  Unlike Indira Swann, Mugabe has no concept at all of his smallness in the great scheme of human existence, and has a world view skewed by the need to see himself as the dominant force in his universe. Jesus taught that those quick to see faults in others are blind to their own, while those aware of their own weakness can demonstrate great strength.  Regardless of age and experience, it is in accepting our own smallness that we can, like Indira, be lifted above it and be inspired by what is intrinsically majestic and beautiful and good. 


Tuesday 8 April
That was quite a bumpy ride the Olympic torch had in London at the weekend, and judging by its reception in Paris yesterday, its troubles aren’t over yet.  So many strongly held views were being expressed in the media, from those who believe that politics should be kept out of sport, to those who see this as an ideal opportunity to protest at China’s treatment of Tibet , and then those for whom words are not enough and who advocate direct action against China’s human rights record.  And at the centre of it all, a symbolic flame representing the ideals of international brotherhood and peace.

I find myself left with some unresolved questions and in some sympathy with democratic governments over the dilemma of how to react to this situation.  Should we withdraw or engage? Is the more effective response to boycott the games altogether, or to participate and take the chance to challenge what we abhor in the host nation?  There’s a saying that we are known by the company we keep – a view held by those who condemned Jesus for consorting with the wrong kind.  He was criticised for spending time with sinners, talking to prostitutes and eating with liars and cheats – but he persisted.  How else, he argued, was he to engage with them and show them a better way?

Another symbolic flame was mentioned on the radio last week.  The BBC’s Alan Johnstone was speaking about the strength he drew when in prison, from a message sent to him by Brian Keenan, himself a hostage for four years in Beirut.  Keenan’s message said “We have lit a candle for you and we will not walk away.”  The lighting of a noble flame, symbolising high ideals, is something worth celebrating, but gestures alone can be too easy.  If we honour the flame we must  then take a step further and decide exactly what it means not to walk away from those who are being denied all that the flame stands for.