| The generous Father and his stressed-out children |
| Last week the Salvation
Army published a report about social trends and happiness
in the UK. They reckon that by 2010 all the signs are
that personal wealth will have increased even more for
those in work, and that fewer people will be out of jobs
than at the present. That's the optimistic side of things.
Unfortunately, the darker side is that increase in wealth
will be bought at the cost of greater personal insecurity.
Ever since the 1950''s the majority of people have been
noticing an increase in their standard of living. Our
homes now have central heating, double glazing,
telephones, fridges, carpets, washing machines,
dishwashers, several televisions, hi-fi and, in
increasing numbers, personal computers. Mobile phones,
pagers and other communication devices like e-mail make
us instantly available. Unfortunately, many working
people find that they are much too available. When you
are annoyed by the articulated lorry overtaking in the
middle lane on the M6, spare a thought for the driver who
has just received a threatening call from his boss about
the time he needs to make up. Our labour-saving devices only seem to free us to be used for more work. Ask any doctor, accountant, lawyer or teacher and they will tell you that the hours they are expected to give to their jobs have gone up steadily over the last few years. So some working couples actually find that they don't have time to have children. Others hardly see their offspring (who, in any case, often retreat to their rooms and play on the computer or watch television) because they are working all the hours they can. Our half-century of increasing wealth also has been a time when the pressures of individualism and working for gain have caused many to struggle with alienation and loneliness. And much of this pressure is caused by our drawing comparisons with others around us, being led to feel that we are "unsuccessful" or "not achieving our potential" or, most corrosive of all, "not being valued enough" for the work we do or the people we are. Jesus' parable about the labourers in the vineyard reminds us that the work we do that matters is for the Kingdom. Resisting all of the pressures outlined above, sowing kindness and gentleness among all the competition and mistrust, is the vital mission of the Christian. And, in the generosity of the owner of the vineyard, we see just how stupid it is to look at others and be jealous of them. God our Father will be generous to us and fair to us, no matter how much we think we have achieved or that we fear we have not done. God loves us and values us. Even the men who had been thought "useless" and "unemployable" (so that they had been left standing around all day) had a place in the vineyard. So do you and so do I. And the reward that we will get for our efforts to follow Jesus will be both just and generous. When all is said and done, it will not matter how many units you have sold, customers you have serviced or documents you have processed. The eternal "works" of kindness, compassion, generosity, honesty and love will be the things that matter. Fr. Colin SCJ |