Thought for the Week: First things first
Ken Aldous considers how Friends can approach the problems of economy and ecology
‘An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth – in short, materialism – does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited.’ EF Schumacher
The economist EF Schumacher wrote Small is Beautiful forty years ago. In the book he identified the great illusion of modern mankind – that, through science and technology, we had mastered the problem of production. We now have the necessary skills and instruments to control nature. It is an illusion, because it sees the finite resources of our earth as an unbridled source of income, rather than a capital resource that must be valued and conserved.
The effect of this is that everything is looked at in terms of money. Profitability – and its servant cost effectiveness – is the essential goal. The theory is that as wealth spreads throughout the world so will wellbeing and we will have the means to tackle all our major problems.
Forty years on, we are confronted with the manifestation of Schumacher’s prediction. Try as we must to deal with all the problems of the economy and ecology, we are not in control.
So, within the Religious Society of Friends we give priority to sustainability. Necessary as this is, it is also part of our great illusion, for it is focused on the consequences of our ideas and actions, rather than on the cause.
If we look at our Christian roots we see that Jesus was acutely aware of the problem of poverty and the great divide between the rich and the poor. It was one of his temptations to solve this issue. In the Lord’s Prayer he acknowledged the need for ‘our daily bread’ – but it did not take first place. Prime importance was given to the values by which we live, move and have our being.
The temptation for us, also, is to give primacy of place on our carbon footprints to lead the way; whereas our first message must be to tackle the cause. This, however, is difficult to face up to, as the cause lies within us. The earth has the resources for our needs but not our greed. So, we have to start where the Lord’s Prayer ends, to pray for forgiveness for the trespasses of our smug complacency.
Then we can move on to a ‘purpose’ based on the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer. A new world order, ‘Thy will be done on Earth’, is viable if we acknowledge our illusions, incompetence and pride and find ways in which we can live in partnership, through prayer and action, so that the all encompassing will of ‘Our Father’ may be done on Earth.
However, we cannot simply rely on the Lord’s Prayer for God to come and sort us out. The manifestation of God’s will on Earth involves our participation. This, as is written prior to the Lord’s Prayer, requires that we, ‘Go into a room by yourself, shut the door and pray to your father who is there in the secret place.’
It is in the practice to ‘bring the whole of your life under the ordering of the spirit of Christ that God’s will may be done’. The Lord’s Prayer is a universal prayer, but first and foremost it is a petition that ‘this love may grow in us and guide (even) us.’
Schumacher concludes Small is Beautiful as follows: ‘The guidance that we need for this work cannot be found in science or technology, the value of which utterly depends on the ends they serve, but it can still be found in the traditional wisdom of mankind.’
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