My Way Word on the Week 12th December 2020
The week of Brexit negotiations which have continued in stalemate could be summed up by the title of the song the presenter signed off with on breakfast radio today! In fact, both the EU and the UK negotiators could have sung it. The duet is the only thing they have in common. Each side wanted to have their way.
Of course they would not have rivalled Frank Sinatra. Ol’ Blue Eyes made it his own. It exceeds the ever popular “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” which will no doubt be sung at regular intervals over the next couple of weeks. With global warming there is little chance of the dream being realised!
There also seems to be little chance of Boris Johnson’s “Let’s get Brexit Done” coming to fruition as the three sticking points, which have been present all through the 4.5 years of bargaining, remain unreconciled. Trust is in short supply. Sovereignty, a word which has seldom been used, now looms large. It helps to disguise the smallness and dependence of the UK on its need to trade with the EC post Brexit.
“And now the end is near, I face the final curtain” the opening line of “My Way” could perhaps be applied to the negotiators. In the song the singer reviews his life. In his view he has done some good things and some not so good but what makes it right for him is that he did it ‘my way’. It is of course the atheist’s anthem. Man has become the measure of all things.
The Bible offers a different measure. The Apostle Paul follows Christ with single mindedness (Philippians Chapter 3 verses 7 to 14). He bids us do likewise. He describes those others as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their mind is on earthly things. There is not the love of neighbour that reciprocates love in others and makes agreement possible.
When the sovereignty of man clashes with an equal and opposite sovereignty it can only end in deadlock. On the other hand, if the sovereignty of God is embraced the common good overcomes greed and trust is the hand that signs the agreement. My way becomes Thy way (St John chapter 14 verse 6).
There is an old song which speaks of a better way: –
Have thine own way Lord, Have thine own way. Thou art the potter I am the clay. Mould me and make me after thy will, While I am waiting yielded and still.
So I went down to the potter’s house, …Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand. (Jeremiah Chapter 18 verses 3 to 6.)