Recent Radio 4 TFTD - Recession

So it's official. Today is the first full day when we actually know that we are in recession. Not that yesterday's Office of National Statistics data would have come as a surprise to anyone who has lost their job, can't sell their home, if they still have one, or is simply feeling an almighty pinch. But now, at least, it's official.
The question is: how do we respond? Across Europe - in places as far afield as Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, Greece and Iceland - people have taken to the streets. Social unrest and rioting are causing concern to European leaders.
But in Britain, which has a tradition of a stiff upper lip and often proving that it is stronger when in the midst of a crisis, we are only just beginning to seriously reflect on how long this recession might be, to what depths it will plunge us and what we are going to do about it.
Any kind of depression or loss, whether individual or shared, inevitably consists of a series of distinct phases or stages. The five classic stages of bereavement, for instance, are denial & isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. And you can see how with this recession we have already, or are currently, in the process of going through some of these.
But the acceptance stage will be the most challenging, and then the resolve to do something about it.
The French Jesuit, Jean Nicholas Grou, suggests that spiritual resistance is as important as physical or mental resolve. He wrote: "the chief pang of most trails is not so much the actual suffering itself as our own spirit of resistance to it."
The communities to which Paul wrote many of his letters in the first century were all obviously buffeted by the constant struggle to get the balance right between earthly riches and possessions and the need to be free to be the kind of people God wanted them to be. There is parable after parable about this in the Gospels too.
A resistance to earthly tribulations is rooted in our constant ability to resurrect our spirits out of depression (or recession) and to look for new opportunities to be positive and creative. This is the challenge of these times for everyone of us: asking what is really important, getting a real perspective on things.
Such confidence and positive creativity isn't going to be easy. It's about faith, in many things, rather than doubt. As Julian of Norwich's famous refrain underlines - what is wrong and sinful in the world is worrying and challenging, "but all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."
Her reassurance is a challenge to the human spirit in these uncertain times.
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