Diocese of Liverpool

Thought for the Day, 13 May 2004

The Rt Rev. James Jones

Good Morning

Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, is to have his own British coat of arms. If you find yourself with an idle moment today you could fill it by wondering how you would design your own. A coat of arms says something about your history and your character. His has been designed by the Heraldry Society of Scotland in memory of his Father and of his Scottish roots.

It depicts two crossed swords to mark his military career, a lion and an eagle that signifies America, beneath a motto which reads, 'Devoted to Public Service'. Judging by the latest political commentary from Washington, where speculation is rife that General Powell will stand down if President Bush is re-elected, you'd have thought he'd have chosen a Dove rather than an Eagle. His has been the voice of moderation in the administration.

The Eagle on the heraldic shield is fierce-looking and if this signifies America there'll be some in the world who'd agree. Which will disappoint the General and many other Americans who find it hard to understand why the world is so against them.

I was in America last year, made many friends and travelled from Alabama through Atlanta and Virginia to Washington, arriving on the eve of America declaring war on Iraq. The closer I got to Washington the greater the head-shaking bewilderment as to how America had come to such an isolated position in the world.

There's no end of analysis of American foreign policy, but what only a few people have picked up on is that you will only really understand their policies when you understand their religion.

When the first American Settlers read the Bible, and heard Jesus tell his followers to go 'to the ends of the earth' they believed that they, the Pilgrims to the new world, were fulfilling this command. America's attitude to the earth, to the future, to the Middle East, to the environment is shaped by how they read the scriptures. So much so I‘m surprised there's no Bible in the General's coat of arms.

As we know, there are many different ways of reading the scriptures, where one of the striking images is also of an eagle. But here it's a symbol not of a country but of God. A bird that's not fearsome, but motherly. 'See' God says, 'how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.' A picture which Jesus painted in even deeper colours when he said, 'as a bird gathers her brood under her wings, how often have I desired to gather you. But you were not willing.'

His motto would have been the same as Colin Powell's ‘Devoted to Public Service' but the wings of Jesus were broken before he could then fly again.