Day Seventy Two - Never Again!

How many times have we heard the expression, ‘Never Again’ after an atrocity has been committed? And how many atrocities or outrageous acts continue to be committed despite the best intentions. A heated reaction to a blatant injustice has been known to be the spark that lights a fire that burns and burns until the injustice has been purged. Often it can simply be righteous indignation which peters out to be forgotten in the blaze of the next atrocity.

It may be that structural change which prevents the atrocity happening again does take place, but often this is only because wronged individuals fight and fight to make sure it does. Recent examples of systematic failures resulted in the loss of lives at Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017 and the disastrous Grenfell Tower Fire of 22 June that same year. Both buildings when they were opened, one as a concert venue and the other for residents, were no doubt welcomed by their local communities. Where the systems seemingly broke down was in the lack of oversight in adapting procedures to cope with new threats or a failure in basic safety checks. Whether down to greed, mismanagement or simple oversight, whatever the cause the implications of failing in a duty of care have monumental consequences.

We all place our trust in things beyond which we have control. We assume that someone is monitoring and checking to ensure things are working properly. This therefore is the trust we place in those who sit on time-consuming committees working hard to reach consensus, whether that be in our local councils, in government departments, across churches or even in the corridors of power of our sporting organisations.

How very refreshing it was this month to see that when that trust was being abused by financial backers of successful football clubs people stood up, from prince to pauper, from north to south, there was a resounding No. Whether you are interested in football or not, the principle of the people versus the powerful, I hope will not have gone un-noticed. It is now up to those multi- organisational systems to ensure this will be a Never Again moment.

As Christians we are acutely aware of the embodiment of humility, respect for others, as well as righteous indignation that our Saviour Jesus represented. Whether that was in elevating the marginalized by healing them or even simply speaking to them; whether it was in crossing the Lake to minister to the ‘foreigner’; whether it was being angry at the way that the commercially savvy were milking the profits of the temple sacrifice structure or even the way the religious leadership used knowledge to keep power, Jesus was saying No – it is our responsibility to make sure it is Never Again.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for all those who serve us on committees, enable them as they dedicate time and personal energy to find solutions. Bless those who courageously fight against systems which have wronged them – sustain them in their struggles.

Thank you, Jesus, for setting a good example as the Chief Executive of the Church and Saviour of the world, may we always lead as you did and work diligently to prevent situations arising which are unjust.

Amen.

Elisabeth Sweeney-Smith