成人快手

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Dr Rachel Mann

Good morning.

When I was a small child I was fascinated by the different shapes, sizes and feel of coins. I couldn鈥檛 grasp why some were bronze and others silver or why old pennies from pre-decimal days were so much bigger than their modern equivalent. I was also rather fond of the tiny little modern half-pence piece, perhaps because our local corner shop sold ha鈥檖enny sweets. One could get a serious haul of goodies with a handful of the tiny coins! Apparently, I was in a minority for on this in day 1984 the Chancellor announced that the half-pence piece would be withdrawn by the end of the year.

Society鈥檚 relationship with money evolves over time and the changes since the 1980s have been huge. Just as I find it hard to believe that the UK ever had a non-decimal coinage system, I imagine my grandparents would be staggered at the emergence of the cashless society. I鈥檝e lived through so many changes but am blown away by my ability to pay for things using my fancy smart watch. Who knows where the future lies?

We live in a complex ecology of money and finance, where there are radical disparities in wealth and growing levels of unsecured debt. Whether we use cash or digital or online, money presents great opportunities to exercise personal and community responsibility as well as temptations to be selfish and greedy. Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve God and Money and If money does make the world go around, on its own it cannot make it the loving and hopeful place we need it to be.

Living God, grant me wisdom to use my financial power and opportunities responsibly and generously.

Amen