Well done Brendan Barber!

"Horrible to say, in a manner, I am a Communist.  England has grown hugely wealthy but this wealth has not reached the working classes.  It is a dreadful thing for the greatest part of a very rich nation to live a hard life without dignity, knowledge, comfort, delights or hopes in the midst of plenty." - Gerald Manley Hopkins

"TUC leader Brendan Barber is to urge the government to "learn from the Olympics" in creating policies to boost the economy." - BBC News website

I am grateful to Brendan Barber. We are the 6th wealthiest economy in the world (UN Statistics). Hopkins' words are more true than ever. Yet we are like the rich fool whom I preached on yesterday (Luke 12).

The passage is not about guilt. It is about God in his grace coming to us and saying, You fool, see what you have done to yourself. You have lived for Self and now you are alone, without friends or family even to pass your wealth onto. Christ bids us go the way of radical trust in the Father (see the rest of the chapter), where we find our wealth in, amongst other things, relationship with others.

I wonder whether the difference between Brendan Barber and government policy is Hope. For the government, there is economic 'reality'. For Brendan Barber, there is the thought that together we might do things differently. Perhaps he is the bringer of Hope, the one who unknowingly perhaps is calling us to trust in God.

It would involve rises in tax for the middle class and wealthier. The Games were funded by the regressive Lottery Tax (a sleight of hand that). So it comes to whether there are those amongst the more well off who are willing to give the lead and say, Let's do it. In the case of the higher earner, George Osborne said it wasn't doable (by lowering the tax rate). So it will need leadership from higher earners to say 'Yes We Can'.

This summer has been amazing - the Olympics and the Paralympics. In all our rejoicing, let us be grateful to God for the weather. A record breaking wet summer, with rain virtually everywhere except during the games. In this we are reminded that all we enjoy ultimately comes from God our Father. The weather was a key constituent of the celebration.

As was the generosity of the Gamesmakers, the thousands of volunteers who made it all possible.

These things speak of how things can be better as we trust God and live sacrificially.

For my vote: Let's do it! For myself, please Chancellor, raise my taxes!

PS Many thanks to J John for his blog 'What legacy are we leaving behind?' (click here)