Thought For The Day - radio 4

copyright BBC

Rob Marshall
27th May 2008
Good morning
The French are even more furious than the British over the escalating price of fuel.
There were more police than usual as my ferry arrived in Caen on Friday. Burning rubber tyres lit by striking fishermen blocked several roundabouts. Large neon motorway signs advised motorists that the Port of Cherbourg – was simply blocked.

The political consequences of these price hikes are blatantly obvious throughout the developing world; the economic ramifications even more serious.

The British Government, it seems, are to at least consider the introduction of personal carbon credits, where we could exchange what we don’t use with others who need them more as we look more carefully at our priorities.

Only months ago, reducing our carbon footprint and having a sustainable lifestyle were trendy options based on ethical choices: now, people, simply and quite suddenly, have no choice. The need to adapt is essential.

Sociologists will point out that human beings need to make journeys. It is an inherent part of our make up: we leave our home and do what we have to in order to live the rest of our lives. We visit family and friends, change the scenery, enjoy ourselves, do business.

In the Ancient world, journeys to the market and to see family were amongst the highlights of people’s lives. Some of the oldest stories in the Bible concern people going on significant journeys – where the main intention is usually to pass on an important message, greet others, spread the word.

The combination of financial necessity and environmental concern is a new and potent one as we re evaluate our priorities and our travel plans. We all know that many of the journeys we make are not really necessary. National and local government can only do so much.

Those burning tyres on the Normandy coastline really made an impact on me. In one way, they are a genuine cry for help and for economic improvement. But they are also a symbolic smokescreen because just about everyone of us is being forced to face the kind of realities which we don’t like to face and which, after decades of relative affluence, are more about the journey inward than the journey to anywhere else.

Ironically, it is the French spiritual writer Michel Quoist, who in trying to adapt modern living to theological principles suggests that many human beings spent most of their time pursuing and therefore wasting different types of energy, which will always run out in the end. Instead, he suggests that a respect for creation and a genuine concern for and love of one’s neighbour is, paradoxically, the only form of energy which actually costs nothing in material terms and it lasts forever.