Promises

Last week I wrote about the CoP test I did to become a member of the BACP. Turns out it’s not the only COP Test that’s going on right now. The BACP CoP test stands for Certificate of Proficiency test. I had to prove to the BACP that I am a competent counsellor. Someone designed a test you can take on a computer that apparently proves someone as competent or not! Apparently I am. The promise that goes with the test is that if you pass, you can become a Registered Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Now, because I am competent, I can access all the training, resources and help the BACP gives. They will help me find clients should I wish them to. And they give me credibility. After all, if you were looking for a counsellor, wouldn’t you want to know they are in some way competent? I also have to be accountable to the BACP. They can, and will, audit me. I have to keep up with CPD - continuous professional development. When I passed the CoP I had to sign up to this. I had to promise I would keep up with 30 hours of CPD a year. They promise things to me and in return I promise things to them. We have to keep our promises to each other. The other COP is COP26. You’ve probably heard about it. It the 26th Conference of Parties. It’s being held in Glasgow and according to the hype, it might be the last chance we have of saving our planet. It’s about climate change and trying to prevent it. It is full of promises. Nations have already made huge promises to reduce their carbon emissions. The UK has done just that. And we’ve already promised £290 million to help poorer nations tackle the impact of climate change. All we have to do now is deliver on that promise. And all the other ones we make. And that’s all any nation has to do as a result of COP26: deliver on their promises. And there’s the rub. It all sounds great. But making the promises is the easy bit. Keeping them will be the challenge. Barak Obama spoke at the conference yesterday. He urged young people to carry on being angry about climate change. He stated that his generation hadn’t done enough to combat climate change. He said we’re not far enough along the road of the promises already made in reducing carbon emissions. He may well be right. The thing is though, as one young person pointed out after his speech, back in 2009 Barak Obama, when president of the USA, promised $1 billion towards fighting climate change…and failed to deliver it. Evidently he didn’t keep his promise. Delivering on the promises made at COP26 will be anything but easy. But then delivering on promising to do 30 hours of CPD a year isn’t easy, believe me. I have to make an effort to do that. A real effort. And isn’t that always the way with promises? I once promised to follow God as best I know how. I’ve discovered that’s really hard too. It’s not that my intentions are faulty. They’re not. I really do want to follow God as best I can. But I don’t always keep my promises. God, it turns out, also makes promises. And it seems he is quite good at keeping his. He has promised that whenever we turn to him, he is waiting. The story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) teaches us that. COP26 is a out saving the planet. And that’s a good thing. But one day, there’ll be a new heaven and a new earth. That’s a promise! The promises made at COP26 are important. And they need to delivered on. Maybe though, some promises go far beyond promises made in Glasgow in 2021. One day we will have to account for our promises. The good news is that we can trust God to keep his.