Turn around

Repent (1:15) 

On 2nd April 1982, the military Junta that ruled Argentina launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands. The Islands' proximity to and reliance on Argentina and their distance from Britain had made them a target for the Argentine rulers for years. Negotiations had not produced a solution and the foreign office had come up with a leaseback proposal, a little like Hong Kong. This was soundly rejected by parliament as a betrayal of the Islands' residents, so tensions were high. The withdrawal of HMS Endurance, the British patrol vessel, on economic grounds, was seen by Galtieri and the Junta as a green light, and in they went. The response was savage. Parliament felt it as a humiliation of the British people and turned on Thatcher's government. Lord Carrington then did something very unusual. He resigned for the sake of the country, on principle, taking the blame for decisions he had opposed, on the grounds that, as Foreign Secretary, he was responsible. It had the affect he wanted. The heat was taken off the government and they were able to put together a plan to recapture the islands. 

It is hard not to admire Lord Carrington's choice to resign. His actions provide a timely challenge to many of our politicians today, when it seems the idea of resigning as a matter of honour is vanishingly rare. This is not just a change of culture. There is an argument that you should stay and sort out your own mess, rather than drop it and run. No, the difficulty is this: without taking full responsibility for what went wrong, it is very hard to change direction and get it right next time. The delay in our first lockdown may have cost 30,000 lives and no one has taken responsibility for it. It is hard to feel confident, then, that we are choosing well this time.

Repent, says Jesus, but how often do we really take that to heart? How often do we admit we got it wrong, change our way of thinking, stop turning our back on God and face him. Of such wisdom hope is born.