Apart from any political considerations I have some sympathy for Theresa May. Much has been said about her stubbornness, her inability to listen and her general frostiness of demeanor. All of this may be true but I’ve often wondered what it must be like for her as a ‘Remainer’ to wake up every morning knowing that here was another day in which she will be dealing with issues around Brexit. She didn’t want it but now she has a duty to see it through. More than anything else it is that sense of duty that seems to motivate her.
Concerns have been expressed about her mental and physical resilience. Notoriously private about her personal life she has however been quite open about her health problem. She suffers from Type 1 Diabetes which involves four daily injections of insulin and constant vigilance with regard to diet. She has insisted in interviews that none of this need stand in the way of a wholehearted engagement with her work and enjoyment of leisure pursuits which often includes vigorous walking up mountains.
She has begun to seem more fragile in recent days with the loss of her voice and a general air of harassment. The Sunday Times yesterday reported a ‘cabinet minister’ as saying: ‘Her judgement has started to go haywire.‘ And further: ‘Officials in parliament were so concerned about May’s welfare they drew up a protocol to extract her from the Commons if she collapsed at the dispatch box.’
She is not the first politician having to cope with ill-health while being in high office. David Owen, the former leader of the SDP and a doctor, has written a book entitled In Sickness And In Power. It is a study of illness in heads of government over the last 100 years and includes David Lloyd George, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Ronald Reagan and Tony Blair. What is of particular interest to Owen are those who were not obviously ill and who actually seemed to function very well but who developed what he calls a ‘hubris syndrome’. This is when someone becomes excessively self-confident and contemptuous of advice that runs counter to what they believe.
This is probably one of the great temptations of power and the rock on which many formidable political careers have perished in democratic societies. We should remember this when we obey the New Testament injunction to pray for those in authority over us, that they are conscious of their limitations and acknowledge that over them stands a Higher Authority to whom they will give an account of their stewardship of power. In this respect I find Angela Merkel a refreshing presence on the global political stage. She is one of many people in Nick Spencer’s book called The Mighty And The Almighty: How Political Leaders Do God. Mention is made of an address she gave in 2010 to the Ecumenical Church Congress in Munich where she said:
‘ . . . here in Germany it’s very clear that we came to our values system through Christianity. That means we know that freedom does not mean freedom from something, but it means freedom given by God through His Creation to commit oneself to help others and stand up for causes. This may be the most important source of social cohesion.’
This is quite a radical statement in that it recognises that the survival of a modern secular state depends on values which flow from Almighty God. Later in the midst of controversy over the influence of Islam in Germany she made the point to her party that Germany suffered not from ‘too much Islam’ but ‘too little Christianity’. She went on to say that there were too few discussions about the Christian view of mankind and that more public discussion was needed ‘about the values that guide us (and) about our Judeo-Christian tradition.’
Spencer comments that sentiments like these mark Merkel out as a leader. ‘After all, such sentiments would be impossible in France and improbable in the UK.’
We seem to have come a long way from how political leaders cope with ill-health but if we take up David Owen’s point that one of the biggest problems of ‘disease’ in politicians goes deeper than physical well-being then we are still on track. Remember he writes of the ‘hubris syndrome’, excessive self-confidence, contempt of any advice. This is actually a spiritual problem. The same attitude that led Nebuchadnezzer to set up his golden statue and demand that it be worshipped. (Daniel 3) It is encouraging therefore to know that there are politicians who recognise their own fragility and point to Almighty God as the ultimate source of truth, justice and love.
Politics can be divisive, people are defined on where they stand on a single issue, delight is taken in the misfortunes of others, relationships are fractured in disagreement. In the end, however, it is in the political arena that decisions can be taken on behalf of the poor and marginalised in society, where freedom of expression is guarded, where visions of greater social cohesion can emerge. So our prayers for our leaders should not be half-hearted or merely motivated by a sense of duty. Pray that among the ‘mighty’ throughout the world there will be increasing acknowledgement of the ‘Almighty’.
