Pride in perspective

This week London will host the G20 summit, a meeting of leaders from the world’s most powerful nations who between them represent 85 per cent of the world’s economy.

It is hoped that the summit will yield initiatives to tackle the current global financial crisis, and also agree measures to prevent a future crisis. There is a real sense in which those who sit around the G20 table hold the world’s economic future in their hands, so they should certainly take their responsibilities very seriously.

And yet, formed in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis back in 1999, the very existence of the G20 constitutes an acknowledgement that our economic powers can be rendered powerless by events, and so seek strength in numbers and cooperation.

Both Obadiah and Nahum would want to remind G20 members that it is ultimately God who holds the destiny of nations in his hands and ought to be acknowledged as such.

Like the G20 countries, Lewis Hamilton knows what it is to experience a downturn in fortunes. The defending Formula 1 world champion started Sunday’s Australian Grand prix back in 18th place on the grid, his McLaren car being woefully off the pace in qualifying.

Nevertheless, Hamilton eventually finished third, and commenting on the race said, ‘by the grace of God I managed to bring the car home’. Obadiah and Nahum would applaud his perspective, and the complete absence of arrogance that characterises Hamilton’s approach to his achievements as a result.

This in stark contrast to the arrogance of the now disgraced financial traders who once proclaimed themselves the ‘masters of universe’; the irony of which would not be lost on Obadiah or Nahum!

Nigel Hopper