Problems, Problems, Problems

It is striking how much of our private and public discussions are complaints about problems we have. As they say, "good news doesn't sell" presumably because we don't like to hear it.

It seems to me that there are some shared characteristics about these complaints:

• my problem is very important. It may not be the worst in the world, but it seriously affects my well-being
• I know what I would like to happen so my problem disappears, even though I may not know how to achieve this
• there is someone else who could solve my problem, if only they wanted to

A popular problem being discussed lately is the coal mining communities which disappeared under Prime Minister Thatcher. There were of course also other problems at the time, such as sky-high inflation, high unemployment, violence in the streets and unprofitable coal mines. The solution we hear from some people is that Mrs Thatcher should have refrained from closing the mines. However economics is ruled by arithmetic and mines closed in other countries around that time (eg Belgium where I was living). There is a limit to the power of governments to defy arithmetic, for example the Soviet Union. The collapse there happened later, but it might have been worse because of the delay. I visited Russia after the Wall came down, and I remember seeing elderly women standing in rows on the  street selling breadrolls and empty plastic bottles to get a few more pennies. They had problems.

Lately I have been reading some books about The Great War, the centenary of which starts next year. A striking image is the infantry soldier moving up to the front,  passing the screaming, broken bodies of the wounded being carried back from the front and knowing he would soon be walking into machine gun fire himself. The alternative would be to turn around and refuse to go to the front and be shot by his own side. He had a problem.

Yesterday I heard of a person who had learned "touch sign language" so she could communicate with a friend who was born blind and deaf. He had a problem.

Then, a couple of days ago there was a noisy, aggressive meeting of residents of Devonshire St in an inner suburb of Sydney. They are complaining about the plan to put a tram line down their tree-lined street. They have a problem, they will soon have too much access to public transport.

I think that most of the problems we see for ourselves are the ones that stop us living the lives we want or see others living. In "first world countries" we sometimes have to look really hard to find our problems, but we always succeed. Maybe we can't travel much, can't have children, can only have a civil union and not a gay marriage etc. If these were solved in the way we want them to be, no doubt we would then find other problems.

The traditional Christian view, which is viewed less often these days, is  "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."

As I understand it, this means that in the long run (ie eternity!!!) what happens here matters not one jot. What matters is holding fast to the hope offered by Christ.

In the absence of that, there are people who are very brave in adversity, but of course they can't help worrying. The best we can hope for is a little perspective in looking at our problems and a bit more recognition of our blessings.