“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Luke 16:9
The saying from above comes after the parable of the ‘dishonest’ manager who after being summarily fired by his master, acted shrewdly (and with great speed) in order to make friends of the master’s debtors, who, it was hoped, would cushion the blow of being fired. In the parable the manager is commended by this ‘shrewdness’, and it appears that Jesus is encouraging his followers to do the same!
During the recent Cop26 meeting in Scotland, scientists were overheard saying the following:
‘….up to 1.5°C (increase in global temperature), the Earth is our friend. Beyond that, Earth might not be in a position to be our friend.’
It could be argued that far from ever considering the Earth our friend, over the last couple of centuries, humanity has considered Earth to be at best a commodity to be used, at worst an enemy against which war needs to be waged.
“Making friends with the Earth” would seem to be the least we could do – but even this may not be possible as we learn to live with the results of the dishonest wealth we have pulled from the Earth – it’s seas, sky and land.
Should the path to Net Zero, rather than being seen as costs reluctantly spent in order to appease our conscience, be instead OUR act of faith in ‘shrewdly and with rapid speed’ spending this dishonest wealth in order that Creation and every inhabitant can live into a future, which otherwise may not be available to welcome us?
Food for thought indeed with this intriguing parable.
Ceri
