Thought for the week

A NEW scheme has launched in the latest attempt to improve air quality in our cities. Starting in central London, cars which don’t meet certain emission standards will be liable for a new charge – that’s on top of the congestion charge already payable!

The cynic might call it another stealth tax that does little to tackle the problems caused by pollution or fails to address our modern obsession with travel. A scheme with noble aspirations perhaps, but London seems no less congested for it. Pollution is a largely invisible hazard, and for that reason not uppermost in our minds when driving our vehicles, though its effects are measurable and significant. Trace a heat map of the exhaust when in use however, and the evidence is both shocking and undeniable.

It reminds me of the biblical notion of sin, not terribly fashionable these days but at least a representative way to explain the flaws in our human nature. We make mistakes and ‘pollute’ the atmosphere with unhealthy attitudes, thoughtless actions, improper motives which are not always easy to identify, but in equal measure the effects can be significant and destructive, morally and socially. The Bible is just like that heat map, showing up every hidden fault when we dare to engage with it. In thoughtful reflection and action it can lead us to purity and wholeness of character. As we read in 1 John 1 ‘if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done’. Purity, cleanness, wholeness, isn’t that what we want for our world? Gareth Williams