For and Against

I knew when I started this Lent Challenge that I would evoke a response in people. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't one of the points in doing it. Already, two starkly different types of response have begun to emerge. Put simply; For and Against.

My MP, Mark Garnier, was asked for his comments by The Shuttle when they carried the story of this Blog and its challenge. I have to hand it to him that he didn't take the disengenuous option of commending my efforts and thereby win himself brownie points with the Churches and other campaigners. Although, being truthful, I wonder whether that actually occurred to him, put on the spot as he was. I sense an irritation in his sweeping aside of my efforts with what appears to be a patronising comment. I suppose it is irritating when the Vicar does something that shines a negative spotlight on your Government's policies and you have to respond to it.

A few others have followed suit; apparently, I belong to the 'chattering classes' -whatever those really are - and I don't have a clue about the reality of those living in poverty. They clearly haven't read my Blog or they'd know that this is irrefutably untrue. But we live in an age where the knee jerk response is uttered immediately without time for reflection or research. The problem with this is that words once spoken are very difficult to take back and eating one's own words is an unpleasant experience. I know this from personal experience; in my twenties I was given to speaking out in a rush of anger before I'd checked my facts and on a couple of occasions had to give a grovelling apology and the experience taught me well!

There is a deep seated human reaction lurking beneath those who feel the need to belittle or denounce what I am doing. It is a response arising from discomfort. This discomfort comes from guilt.  Those of us who live privileged lives have to engage in a certain amount of self deception and intentional ignorance in order to avoid the pain and guilt caused by acknowledging the huge imbalance in the share of wealth and resources in our world (and I include myself here). When someone points out the injustice of the situation, the comfort we derive from practising avoidance is unsettled and we come out fighting with justifications, attacks...anything that will help us re-establish the status quo as quickly as possible. The emotion I would ascribe to this reaction is Fear. 100% human, and one of the most frequent drivers of human beings.

What of the other response : For?
I have been really moved by this response because it comes from a sense of humility and generosity. Let me give you an example: I had a lunch time meeting this week in a local pub with two members of our Diocesan Staff; it had been planned for some weeks. Because of my Lent Challenge, they quietly picked up the bill. Rationally, they know I'm not in a financial pickle; I had explained how I could make it possible to pay for my lunch but they still responded with this discreet and simple act of generosity.

There is this other deep seated reaction that sees a fellow human being in need and reaches out and is prepared to sacrifice ones own interest for the sake of another.  It is as instinctual as the defence mechanism described above but it emanates from a sense of ones own acceptance and value, not from guilt and shame.
We see this reaction around us all the time, too. Raising funds for charity, sharing with neighbours in need, campaigning for the good of the planet and so on. The emotion I would ascribe to this reaction is Love. 100% human and one of the most frequent drivers of human beings.

And Jesus said 'Perfect love casts out fear'.

Eva