Dear Friends,

Picture, if you can, a fleet of Triremes (the `battleships` of the classical world, with large sails and three banks of oars manned by slaves).  Their captains decide to have a race, going with the wind, until suddenly they find themselves far from home and becalmed.  Nothing for it, but to row back again.  So the captains retire to their cabins for a meal and a drink.

Think how the slaves feel.  No incentive to row hard, other than being far from home.  They mutter, and feel mutinous  - "Who got us into this mess, anyway ?  Why should we row hard to make up for their mistakes ?  They've got their food, but ours is back in port."

That's rather how it feels at the moment for most people in the current financial situation.  Guess who's going to have to row hard to get us back to where we ought to be ?  Us.  The wind has gone out of the sails, as far as global finance is concerned; nothing is working; no-one wants to lend to anybody else;  the sails hang limply on the masts.

And the danger is that no-one wants to row, either.

Now, I don't know about you, but I get sea-sick.  And a boat that's not going anywhere tends to have the sort of motion (unless it is absolutely flat calm - and the financial markets are certainly not that) that makes me queasy.  We need to get under way, please…  But that won't be easy.  To do that, we have to pull together on the oars; we need to have some-one (preferably with ability) at the helm; and then we shall have to put our backs into it, and pray that there isn't a storm coming our way.

So playing safe is not really an option.  The next person who says to me "I think we'd be safer putting our money under the mattress" is going to get Matthew 25: 14-30 quoted to them - especially verses 24-30 !  The only way to get out of the doldrums is to row.

It's all right to be cross about it - even mad about it.  That's entirely understandable - reasonable, even.  But we have to use that emotion to drive something more useful than impotent rage.  And, Yes, we shall all be leaner at the end of the voyage - but hopefully fitter, too !

When I shared some of this `word-picture` with an evening congregation, one person said afterwards that they thought they could see the boat sinking.  I didn't; I don't.  But again, if we don't get under way - and under our own `steam`, as it were` - then we are more likely to get swamped by the swell.  Drifting, whether we are idling or bickering, is not a good idea.

So go to the Sales - it'll help put wind back into those other sails.  Trust in God, not the money-markets; put your `talents` to work, and don't bury them under your mattress.  And together we shall get through this unscathed.