Chapel

Thought for the Week – 3rd July 2024 – The Art of Choosing. 

It seems that there has never been a time when decision making and choosing a party for a General Election has been so challenging, with so many personalities, policies and political problems to navigate. Do we vote tactically to remove a seeming undesirable? Do we latch on to a policy which appears to take overriding precedence? Or do we simply opt for a party that will be less confrontational concerning our preferred way of life? This dilemma seems not to be the preserve of the United Kingdom only but is a quandary in which a number of democracies find themselves at present – the United States, France and other European countries. By contrast, in countries under totalitarian regimes, the facility of choice is removed: the leader who may be termed a dictator simply engineers their power to continue in office, with a machinery in place that shores up those above them.

This is all familiar to us, but the question in our situation is: ‘Can I personally make a difference?’ Is the entitlement to cast a vote and for it to be fairly registered and acknowledged at the ballot box, something which spurs us on to get involved with politics? For many, apathy and indifference are rife and have a disenfranchising power within the individual and whole communities.

When the prophet Elijah held a mass meeting atop Mount Carmel, the issue of power at stake was a spiritual and moral one epitomised by the conflict between the prophets of Baal and one prophet of God. Elijah challenged the people gathered around: ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ It was tested with fire, and the prophets of Baal were found wanting, with an overall majority switch in allegiance as the crowds recognised supernatural power made tangible and accessible. For all of us there is power that is vested within us to change the immediate things in front of us: the championing of the underdog at our place of work; speaking up for injustice as we see it in classroom and playground; and going to help those who are crying out for a listening ear.

As we recognise that each person is made in the image of God and carries a value which the stamp of the Almighty has placed upon them, so we can choose… choose to endorse those values in our neighbours, choose to stifle attempts which violate them and choose to honour the God who has ‘given us all things (and people) richly to enjoy.’ These are then values which are worth disseminating in our communities and wider, so it is possible for each of us to make a difference, as leaders choose to listen…and that’s another art altogether!

Rev Alex