Cutty Sark

I toured the Cutty Sark at Greenwich during my recent trip to London. I thought the £22 admission a little steep, but reasoned that there was little chance of it reducing over the next few years, so I bit the bullet. Perhaps discovering that this beautiful clipper was designed with the intention of transporting tea (it imported 1,305,812 pounds in just one trip in 1870) made me warm to its cost. Tea was not its only cargo, however; spices and woollens it also carried. Cutty Sark briefly held the record for being the swiftest merchant ship in the world, but, alas, the age of the steamer had already begun.

Trade is so vital to nations, which is why talk of American tariffs has set the world economy all aflutter. Natural resources and products are not evenly distributed around the globe and are often piled up where they are least needed or valued. Therefore they are sold to people in other places where they are required, or swapped for something the first place lacks. God in His good providence determined that scattered humans would form nations which would trade the earth’s resources with each other. That way we benefit from each others' existence, without combining into one united, Babel-style civilization which God apparently detests. We may no longer employ the Cutty Sark to exchange our English goods for China’s treasures, but trade is still a vital part of humanity’s existence.

As Christians, we have things to trade. We receive from each other, and give back in return. What we have, we can share; what others offer, we should receive with gladness. There are some who only like receiving and give nothing back, while others enjoy blessing the rest but are too proud to be blessed in like manner. It is more blessed to give than to receive, but receiving is still a blessing. So go and trade. And if the other has nothing to give in return, give anyway. He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord.