The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was rather busy at the end of last month. He participated in Trinity Institute’s conference on “Building an Ethical Economy: Theology and the Marketplace,” held January 27-29 at Trinity Church in New York City. There, in that historic setting on Broadway at the head of Wall Street, Williams gave a presentation that was later adapted into an article for Newsweek magazine, which begins with this theological preface:
It is quite striking that in the gospel parables Jesus more than once uses the world of economics as a framework for his stories – the parable of the talents, the dishonest steward, even, we might say, the little vignette of the lost coin. Like farming, like family relationships, like the tensions of public political life, economic relations have something to say to us about how we see our humanity in the context of God’s action. Money is a metaphor like other things; our money transactions bring out features of our human condition that, rightly understood, tell us something of how we might see our relation to God.
Williams then traveled to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he had been asked to lead the closing session with a discussion on “Being Responsible for the Future.” Perhaps the invitation carried more significance than usual in light of this press release from the World Economic Forum, which cites a public opinion poll that includes these two interesting findings:
Over two-thirds of people believe that the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values. . . . Almost two-thirds of respondents believe that people do not apply the same values in their professional lives as they do in their private lives.
The closing session was introduced as a reflection on values and begins at 1:00:00 on the YouTube video of that discussion at the end of this post. So be sure to skip ahead unless you also want to listen to a panel discussion about “A Roadmap for a Secure Future.” The panel for the final discussion includes not only the Archbishop of Canterbury but also six young people, ages 16-19, each of whom are making a significant difference in their communities through social action. A short video, beginning at 1:02:47, focuses on those young people and is followed by some of their comments before Williams offers his opening remarks at 1:09:33. Here’s an excerpt of what Williams had to say to this remarkable gathering of world leaders:
The best thing we can do for the future, to show our reponsibility to the future, is living responsibly in the present. Now sometimes when people say, ‘We’re living in the present,’ it’s as if they’re saying, ‘We live as if there were no tomorrow; we live for the immediate moment.’ But actually, living responsibly in the present, really being aware of the kind of world we’re in, the limits it imposes, the wisdom it suggests, that ‘living responsibly’ is the best gift we can give to the future. It’s a kind of realism. It’s a kind of truthfulness about who we are and where we are. And the worst thing that has emerged out of the economic and ecological crises of the last few decades is, of course, our failure to live in the real world. We live in a world of fantasy, a world where there’s endless material resource to be exploited, a world in which it’s possible to change the destiny of millions of people by financial transactions happening in mid-air. That’s not the real world. And I do take some offense when some people say, ‘Oh, you theologians and people who talk about ideals and values don’t live in the real world.’ I see plenty of evidence of others, other decision-makers, not living in the real world in that sense. And I think what my colleagues here on the platform have been talking about is the real world.
The very last question – asked at 1:32:49 and answered by Williams at 1:40:19, if you would prefer to skip ahead – was a rather interesting one to pose at an economic forum: Do you believe there is something beyond humanity, something transcendent? In other words, is humanity all there is in this world, or is there something more, something divine? As you might expect, the young people on the stage from various parts of the globe were all over the map, so to speak, in terms of their response to this question. But the Archbishop of Canterbury got to have the last word. It was a kind of benediction, I suppose, and a wonderful reflection for which I give thanks as someone whose journey of faith has been so richly nurtured by the grace of God within the Anglican Communion. Take a look for yourself. If you don’t watch any other part of the final discussion, watch this last word.
