As promised I've uploaded some photos from Edinburgh. Hopefully some more to follow from Zoe! As these eight men decend upon Edinburgh, I find myself very much undecided on my take on the whole thing. On the one hand part of me thinks that if the world is going to change then these guys need to be involved... the kind of Geldof/ Bono stance, but on the other hand i feel a bit more pessimistic about the whole thing.
Essentially it is a a completely exclusive holy huddle. Eight powerful men decide they are going to meet together. We don't ask them to meet, nor do we say which of them meet. They just meet, with no constitution, no charter and few rules. They meet and with their interests at the heart of the agenda, they make decisions that effect the world yet ignore the interests of its poverty stricken majority. Moreover, it seems that the decisions made are always pro-multinationals; promoting free-trade not fair trade, and insisting on privatisation and deregulation (if you doubt that that is a bad thing check out this article or this video by Naomi Klein)... I hope my cynicism is disproved over the next seven days and if trade rules are changed i will issue an apology, but with multinationals holding a gun to the head of George W i doubt that will happen!
I'm reading 'In The House of the Lord' by Henri Nouwen at the moment and in the midst of my thinking about the G8 and justice and charity and all that, this really challenged me this morning, i leave you with it- happy reading...
"When we come to a clear understanding that we are all brothers and sisters in the house of God --whatever our race, religion, or nationality --we realize that in God there is no distinction between haves and have-nots. We all have gifts to offer and a need to receive. I am increasingly convinced that one of the greatest missionary tasks is to receive the fruits of the lives of the poor, the oppressed, and the suffering as gifts offered for the salvation of the rich.
It is a tragedy of history that we have proved more eager to steal the material fruits of the labor of the poor than to receive the spiritual fruits of their lives.
We who live in the illusion of control and self-sufficiency must learn true joy, peace, forgiveness and love from our poor brothers and sisters. Martin Luther King Jnr. considered it just as important for blacks in the United States to convert the whites as to gain equla rights, it is as important for the rich to be converted by the poor as it is to share their wealth with the poor. As long as we only want to give and resist becoming receivers, we betray our desire to stay in control at all costs...
What if we could see our southern neighbours first of all as people who pray with great devotion, who love their children and families deeply, who write lovely poems, and who have a spirit of joy and gratitude? Wouldn't we want to receive these gifts, we who have become too busy to pray, too lonely to keep our families together, too pragmatic for poetry, and too preoccupied with ourselves to be joyful or grateful?"
Comments