It is a time when environmental concerns are paramount, when employers look to employees for partnership rather than just their labour and when employees look to their employers for gestures of equality and for acknowledgement of their worth. It is time for religion to come out of the church, the synagogue, the mosque, the temple and to create bonds between people which, while it is recognised that all religions have their own truths, and these shall be unassailable, there is a sense of a spirit which soars above all else and which, if harnessed, could contribute to the creation of caring societies as nothing else could. But this movement cannot be imposed from on high by theologians, academics or scientists. There is no spiritual injection which can be given by doctors, no pill to obtain from the pharmacy. It must start with those of us who are out there in the daily world in the world of business.
Business is a staple part of the social order.
It feeds, clothes, creates the wealth which can be applied to the common good and has the ability to ensure the efficient use of scarce resources. It must also be able to harness faith as a great river of goodness which flows throughout our world, which touches every land and invigorates every soul.