Who’d be a leader?

Why would anyone want to be a leader given the rough ride they are often given? Yet this Saturday Australian voters will choose who will lead their new government, and there seems to have been no problem in getting anyone to stand.

Whether the winner is current Prime Minister Julia Gillard – the first woman in the role – or Opposition leader Tony Abbott, it’s clear that neither can have any real idea of what will face them. Did US President Barack Obama realise before he was elected that swimming in the oil affected Gulf of Mexico would be part of the presidential role?

Pakistan’s President Zardari also had an encounter with water last week. Following criticism that he should have been at home instead of on a foreign visit, he made his first visit to the scene of the massive floods. Sadly, the scale of suffering shows no sign of reducing.

On a lighter note, the FA announced that the next England manager will be English. Is that a promise of better things to come or an attempt to ensure that English managers will experience their share of pain too?

Still, if luck is what leaders need most of all, there is a boy in Lowestoft who may well be pondering a career in politics. The 13-year-old was struck by lightning on Friday 13th at 13.13 – and survived.

This week’s WordLive readings have an altogether different take on leadership. A king loses his role because of disobedience to God. His successor is chosen for his inner qualities not his outward image. Are our leadership choices based on those standards?

Emlyn Williams

Paying the piper

In Britain this week all eyes have been focused on George Osborne’s budget. Well, all except the millions who watched England recover some semblance of respect by beating Slovenia and then throw it all away on Sunday. (Or did they?).

But back to the budget. Reaction has been varied. But the vox pops all seem to have one theme – we need to do this, but it shouldn’t affect me.

The bulk of the developed world has been living on borrowed money and borrowed time. The good times have rolled, and now the bill has been presented. It is larger than we would like.

In Greece crowds have taken to the streets to protest against the austerity measures and it may well happen elsewhere. But, like it or not, the piper has to be paid.

The letters to the churches, set in the context of the whole of Revelation, remind us that Christ is in control of human history. This gives us a positive message in troubled times.

But there is another side. The poor can end up paying the heaviest price. George Osborne has tried to avoid this, but there are questions – only time will tell.

Hannah and Mary celebrate a God who cares about justice and will bring equity. If we do not see it now, is it because we are not that bothered about kingdom values?

Who will speak for the woman I met recently in a Nairobi slum; over 70 with no income and struggling to bring up five great-grandchildren? Who today will dare to sing of a God who will bring down the rich and exalt the poor?
John Grayston