DEPENDENCY

The celebrations of Harvest, as appropriate as ever this Michaelmas-tide, are tinged by the events of the recent fuel-crisis; the economic and political fall-out of which are not the purview of this column, but the nature of dependency, shown by our lack of free mobility, perhaps is.

In time of plenty, how little regard we pay to conserving our scarce fossil-fuel resources!; in time of dearth (to the point where the country nearly came to a standstill), how much did we all feel a sense of powerlessness and a creeping anxiety? Would the 'tiger-in-my-tank' last longer with less "roar"? Would there be food in the shops? Somehow we expect the infrastructure of the public utilities (privatised or not) to always be there; the possibility of restriction of personal freedom in choice and movement is something we have not often needed to face; we have made gods of choice and mobility, and pretended that we are in control. It takes a fuel crisis like this to startle us into an understanding, not of God's bounty in creation and harvest, on which we may rely at least here, but on our mutual dependency.

We need to respect afresh our interdependence - the heart surgeon needs petrol for his car, and his dustbin emptying, as much as we need the skill of his hands. Our society needs to honour all work with appropriate levels of pay, but above all, needs to protect the weak and vulnerable in society, not least those in rural areas.

The undignified rush to top-up petrol tanks already 2/3 full, and to clear the bread-shelves of loaves that will often just clutter up the freezer, has rightly led to forms of imposed rationing. How sad that our confidence and trust in an early and equitable solution to the current crisis has been destroyed, and we resort to forms of selfishness which seems to care less for others whose needs may be greater than our own.

Ultimately, being "safely gathered in" needs the work of human hands, yet the providence which overshadows the world is still beyond our control - we must surely still be in awe of the majesty which sustains life. Some like me, therefore, still want to thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all His love, on which, in the final analysis we all depend, and without which we have no hope at all.

Your Parish Priest,