26th April 2005
Bishop James on the moors recording an Advent series for BBC TV in December 2004
The Rt Rev James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool
Like everybody going into hospital for an operation I recently signed a consent form. The surgeon and the anaesthetist both came separately and patiently explained to me what would happen, and what the risks were. I listened, I confess, very nervously, signed the form and put my trust in them - and God!
This is a live programme, and 3 months on I'm delighted to say that thanks to the NHS I've lived to tell the tale!
Being in hospital and undergoing surgery bring into sharper focus the truism that, day by day, we live by putting our trust in other people. The milk on the doorstep, the water in the tap, the time given out on the radio - all these things we mostly take for granted and live our lives by them.
Trust is that invisible adhesive that holds our common life together and without which we simply couldn't function as a society. A point the Archbishop of Canterbury will make in his sermon today on international trade.
So it's not surprising that trust should emerge as an issue in a General Election as politicians enthuse about why we should vote for them. Although it's worth pondering the bucket of cold water poured out by A J Balfour who warned: "It's unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm rules the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth!" Of course, not all people in public life are enthusiasts in the way that Balfour meant.
However, when a politician stands for public office, with or without enthusiasm, the appeal to vote for them is nothing less than an invitation to trust them.
That's why in the end you can never divorce private life from public office. The personal quality of all candidates' trustworthiness is a legitimate electoral issue. As with anyone in public life, if a person is known to have deceived those closest to them in business, the community or the family how do we know they won't deceive those at a distance?
This is not to say that politicians have to be perfect, nor is it to say that the media and the public should not be more forgiving when politicians acknowledge their mistakes.
Christianity is utterly realistic about the flaws in human nature and equally idealistic about the power of God's forgiveness . Jesus himself had a pretty shrewd idea about how far you could trust people with power and the Psalms of David, who was a great but fallible leader, contain the line 'Put not your trust in princes'.
Nevertheless, it is trust that lies at the heart of a democracy ands hould that trust ever evaporate the residue would be the bitter salt of cynicism.