Faithfully yours - Lessons we must not forget - Part two
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- Published on Sunday, November 1, 2015
By Neil Strohschein
The Neepawa Banner
One brief announcement was all it took to send North American economies reeling. The man making the announcement was sitting in an office half a world away; but his announcement had an immediate impact on people who live very close to you and me.
The man was speaking on behalf of the Oil Ministry in Saudi Arabia. His message was simple: “Decisions regarding Saudi Arabia’s oil production will be made in Saudi Arabia by Saudi officials. We will not bow to any pressure to reduce our levels of production, even if it means we have to sell our oil at a net loss.”
We all know what has happened since this announcement was made. Oil refiners instantly opted for cheaper Saudi oil. Demand for domestically produced oil, specifically from the shale beds in southwest Manitoba, southeast Saskatchewan and the northern United States dropped overnight, resulting in reduced exploration, production and significant layoffs. All it took was one brief announcement made by one man who lives half a world away from you and me.
The events described above should remind all Canadians of just how vulnerable we are. We cannot live in isolation from the rest of the world. Events that happen in one country, wherever on earth it might be, will affect us—maybe not immediately, but they will effect us.
We learned that lesson in 1919 and again in 1939, when events that happened in central and eastern Europe triggered world wars in which thousands of Canadians fought and died.
We had few options when those wars began. In 1919, when Britain entered WWI, they did so knowing that Commonwealth nations (especially Canada) would send troops and supplies to help out—and we did. We did the same in WWII and again in Korea when our help was requested.
Never once (even though we might have felt like doing so) did we tell our Allies that we would not join them in their fight against tyranny and oppression. Never once did we arrogantly suggest that “this wasn’t our fight” so we were keeping our troops and supplies at home.
Yet this is what some Canadians would have us do today—act as though we can isolate ourselves from the rest of the world and shield ourselves from the political, economic and social effects of decisions made by people who live half a world away. One brief announcement by an official of the Saudi government has shown us just how flawed that suggestion really is.
The opening words of the United Church’s “New Creed” read as follows: “We are not alone. We live in God’s world.” Not God’s Canada or God’s America—we live in God’s world. You and I are part of a huge global family that God has created and placed on this planet. He asks only two things of us—look after the planet and take care of each other.
We must never think that we can live in isolation. We must never turn a blind eye to the needs of people—even if they live half a world away. We must never plug our ears so that we no longer hear their cries for help. Our hearts must never become hard and calloused—we must be willing to allow them to be broken with the things that break the heart of God. Those who seek our help aren’t strangers. They are part of our family. Their fight is our fight, whether we like it or not.
That’s a lesson we must never forget.
