Repair

Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo. (Zechariah 1v1)

There's something wonderful about having a good heritage. CH Spurgeon writes with great affection of his grandfather, whose preaching was also of great renown, just locally not globally. Zechariah likewise was grateful for his ancestry. His grandfather was a prophet like him - though the Book of Iddo is sadly lost to us. 

It is worth asking if this works the other way. Gratitude for a fine ancestry is one thing, but shame for a poor one is another. My distant cousin was responsible for the British armed forces in the Boer War, and thus for the internment camps that led to so many deaths. Should I feel shame? 

Well, it's a good question. I am obviously not responsible for his choices, but maybe I have some responsibility for making good on his actions? Personally I don't think so. I very much doubt that there is any possible chain of logic that could link a specific harm of his to a specific person today, so it makes no sense to try and pay anyone back for it.

What I can do is to live a little differently, to, if you like, learn from my personal history not just our shared one. In my case it makes me value the connection to our armed forces, and to remember how hard their choices are when faced with conflict, as well as giving me special thought for the people of South Africa, and to hold that nation dear in all its troubles.

Maybe that's what the discovery of slave money in the Church of England's coffers should do. Not inspire us to try and make reparations - for without specific harm it can never be more than a gesture - but instead it should act as a call to bond more closely with our African brothers and sisters, to take their views into account more immediately and more persuasively in modern matters, to be humble before them as one who has learned from a very grave mistake. Now that's a thought.