Praying for the victims of the spending cuts

[Patrick Torsney]

A prayer for Ash Wednesday

Church leaders have urged those responsible for the cuts to reflect on the consequences of decisions that will hit the most vulnerable members of society hardest

So said Patrick Butler in the Guardian today. He continued:

The moral dimension to public spending cuts rarely gets much coverage. So it was interesting to note that church leaders in West Yorkshire have written a prayer for the "victims of public spending cuts" (which was read out at Leeds St Anne's catholic cathedral on Wednesday). I'm not a religious person at all, but I find it an incisive and, at points, moving piece of work.

The prayer is in part an appeal to people with responsibility for making cuts to reflect on the consequences of their decisions with humility and wisdom. That could be the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, I guess, or the chancellor George Osborne.

You can read the full prayer, here:

www.wyec.co.uk/

You can read the full blog post on the Guardian, here:

www.guardian.co.uk/society/patrick-butler-cuts-blog/2011/mar/09/church-leaders-pray-for-victims-of-cuts

[nickd]

Interesting find Esper. I'm sure the church have a role to play in many things but it worries me if they start to stray into the world of advice. I recall having a chat with a local insolvency practitioner not so long ago, he relayed a concern over a church set up which had started to offer money advice advice. He went onto say how one of his clients had come to him for advice; - the client having come away from the church group;- less than convinced they'd found him a solution.

What did the church group advise?

Pro-rata offers?
Challenge the debts?
Debt Relief Order?
Individual Voluntary Arrangement?
Bankruptcty?

Er....No their solution to the debt ridden client was a whole lot more straightforward. You 'go home and pray' they said; - oh well I suppose sometimes it might just work!

Keep these stories coming folks!

[nickd]

I couldn't resist posting the prayer, it's right what they say here. These politicians would do well sometimes to remember how law is based on morals, the origins of which are to be found in the ten commandments.

Here's the prayer

PRAYER FOR ASH WEDNESDAY 2011
WYEC is a registered charity, number 1108691

"God of compassion and justice"

We offer our prayers for the communities of West Yorkshire;
We give thanks
That they are places of belonging and welcome
And for the countless ways in which the needs of each person are met through the commitment, gifts and skills of others.
Forgive us we pray,
When we take the work of others for granted;
When we diminish the value of human life;
When we fail to treat all people with the respect which they deserve;
When we forget our need of one another;
When we forget the needs of the poor among us;
When our own desire for status or security dulls our senses,
closes our ears, blinkers our sight;
Gift us with vision, we pray,
To see the world around us with new eyes;
To recognise the light of your presence in every person;
To discern Godly wisdom in the midst of hard human choices;
Attune our listening, we pray,
To hear the cries of those deprived of work,
and of those bearing the burden of working long hours;
To know the anger and the angst of people who feel pushed to the margins by those with wealth and power;
To catch the whispers of our neighbours who feel they have been silenced,
whilst others shout more loudly;
Give us courage, we pray,
To stand alongside those in greatest need;
To challenge easy solutions and false assumptions;
To work in partnership with others where we can make a difference together.
God of justice and compassion,
As, on this day, we face the truth
that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return,
Re-mind us of the common humanity that we share;
Re-kindle your compassion in our hearts;
Strengthen our resolve to live more generous lives;
Re-tune us to your deep wisdom amidst the responsibilities that we hold and the choices that we make,
That we might seek to walk in the way of Christ,
and remain true to our calling, even through the wilderness.
We ask this, and all our unspoken prayers, in the name of Christ,

Amen.

It would be disrespectful to meddle with these fine words. Have a read of them and note the prominence of the word justice - the poor - and those who help - that's us folks, we're the ones who stand alongside those in greatest need.

It's good to see different perceptions coming into this. If we do away with the spirit of helping those less fortunate, we just contribute to a greater imbalance between rich and poor. Let's not be too easily led by those who make materialism their master. For all their efforts they'd do well to remember that we all come into this world with nothing and exit the same; the time between just shows up those who are greedy and those who are not.