Feet of Clay
Tiger Woods, Irish priests, Climate scientists, Gordon Browns grasp of the G20 membership, Barack Obama’s inability to decide exactly when to fly to Denmark, bankers, MPs, this has been Letdown Week in Letdown Year.
Or perhaps we ask too much. Like Anthony Gormley, do we see an empty plinth and automatically want to fill it? From the days when we wore Spiderman underpants, heroes and idols are the furniture of our fantasy worlds, but is the need for a Messiah nature, nurture, or a bit of both? ‘The market’ loves idols as brand leaders, an idea milked to the maximum by the English 2018 World Cup bid this week. At the same time, Clive Anderson pointed out on Question Time that the latest Gillette ads feature Thierry Henry and Tiger Woods, so maybe it’s just a matter of time before the third member of their trinity of sporting gods (Roger Federer) comes a cropper too. When a person becomes a brand, they need to check whether they’re still standing on real earth, or something more precarious.
The phrase ‘feet of clay’ has quite a pedigree, going back roughly 2500 years to the Jewish prophet Daniel, interpreting a dream for the Babylonian king. A great statue, with head of gold, chest of silver and body of bronze, but feet of iron and clay, which is struck on the feet and crumbles to dust. It’s a warning to any great empire, and the rapid disintegration of Woods’ reputation in the last few days echoes at a personal level what nearly happened to global capitalism last year, and what actually happened to global communism 20 years ago.
The Copenhagen Summit, whatever you think of the science, is at least asking the question – is what we’ve built sustainable? Does this system have a future? Again, that’s a question with as much resonance at the personal level as at the global level. As Agent Smith puts it to Neo in the Matrix “one of these lives has a future, and one does not”.
Within the Christian year, the Advent season normally looks way past Christmas, to the goal and direction of all human history. It asks ‘does this life have a future’, and (ironically, at what’s become the busiest time of the year) challenges believers to stop and think about what pattern their habits are weaving, and whether they synchronise with God’s future, or whether they’re building with clay.
It’s striking to read the words of John the Baptist, and of Jesus, and realise that the most challenging and critical stuff is reserved for the religous, for the folk who already count themselves ‘in’. You may be busy polishing that golden public halo up top, but check what your feet are made of.
Some of that self-examination gets lost, saved up for Lent, now we have a series of mini-Christmases in the lead up to the 25th itself. Celebration is vital, but sometimes parties can be the loneliest and hollowest places too. Consider the future, says Advent, check what destination is actually keyed in to your personal SatNav. Is it made of something better than clay? Is that really where you want to go? 2 yeses? Then party.
Categories: Christmas, Columns, Touching Base
How is it possible to get out of synch with ‘God’s future”? It seems to me that the whole idea of all history having a “goal and direction” works against our taking action to influence our future. If there’s a divine plan, then how come God doesn’t stop climate change? is it some sort of test? Or could it be that God actually wants the climate to change, and trying to limit carbon emissions is acting against his plan (which might be to bring about the end of the world and all that because of homosexuality, shaving, women bishops or whatever).
I reckon the healthiest and most helpful view (as well as the accurate one in my opinion) is that there is no such plan, goal or direction, and that it really is up to us.
.-= Carl Gardner´s last blog ..Review: I’m scared, Harry =-.
I’d agree entirely that it’s up to us, what I meant by ‘God’s future’ was a shorthand for the kind of world Jesus told his followers to work towards. I hope that the people at Copenhagen have a vision of the way they want the world to be, and are working towards it. Jesus sets out a vision, invites people to share it, and then leaves us with the responsibility of getting on with it.
Whether we like it or not, most of the powers that be are working with some kind of plan, goal or direction, and act to bring that about. Most of us would want to say that there are some visions of the future which are better than others, so where there isn’t a ‘goal’, we create one. I’m not that fussed whether or not people are working to a vision with God’s name attached to it, as long as it’s just, fair, loving, and generous.
.-= David Keen´s last blog ..Good News on Mental Illness support =-.