The new date for the Pilgrim Walk is 10th October. I’m afraid this time I’m going to have to insist on people signing up if they intend to come. If I need to cancel for any reason (e.g. very bad weather) then I need to know everyone who is wanting to come.
You can sign up now using this form (click on this link to view)
The Chinese just put on a big show to remember the end of WW2 and they chose to show their own military might for the occasion (story on BBC here). I suppose maybe they felt that it was a military occasion and so required the military to march in force. I think differently. I do accept that the military have a part to play – they will wish to remember the cost as much as anyone and I also accept that the military are all still people and part of society (maybe this goes without saying). However, world history has shown that countries celebrating military might does not often end with good feelings and surely any war should be remembered but not celebrated.
You know in medieval times when people went to war they had to pay a religious penalty to help offset some of the wrong that was done. This itself went wrong with the church trying to profit from it financially (that is about greedy people not greedy religion by the way) but the idea was a sound one. Going to war is always going to be wrong because in war people kill each other. Sadly in some circumstances we don’t seem to have any other option but that failure doesn’t make war right – ever. A knight would go to the Holy Land on Pilgrimage for killing others or a King might build an Abbey and pay the wages of some clergy to pray for forgiveness. Surely this is a better response than marching your military might around as if going to war was a good thing.
We remember the ends of wars to be thankful for those who stepped forward to pay the price and to be proud of them for doing so but also to remind us that if we are not careful these things can happen again – as indeed they do. Let’s remember but never celebrate.
What are your views on this?
I think if you went back in history far enough you would discover than everyone has a link to immigration somewhere. Can we really blame those who wish to seek a better life for themselves and their families – especially those fleeing violence? Of course, we feel a need to protect ourselves on the grounds that too many people in a small area can make life very difficult.
However, what is the reality of the situation? Are we just over-reacting? Will this number of new people really destabilise our country? Can we afford to be welcoming and generous? Should we be, even if we can’t afford it? Surely we need good information so we can make the right decisions; instead of over-reacting with bad information?
The church is trying to support a more informed investigation into what is happening and have produced a statement – you can read them here …
[Response to some comments posted]
I received a few comments on this post – but I felt unable to display them because of their content. I was saddened by the lack of appreciation that the word immigrants is just another name for people and usually people trying to avoid being killed or looking for a better life.
A common theme in the posts is one of an Islamic plot to take over Britain through immigration. It seems to me this misses the point that the people fleeing conflict come from an area that is largely Muslim (do we want to insist they convert before we let them in?? – I do not think so) and that the immigrants from Europe are mainly Christian anyway. Shame on those who are so prejudiced. Our way of life is not threatened by a few thousand newcomers but by the millions who have been bought up in this country and yet seem oblivious to what being British means (and I might add those who foolishly turn their back on their Christian roots – mainly out of ignorance).
Another was the often quoted “charity begins at home”. Of course it does and no one ever said it didn’t! But note the word “begins” – that means something starts with and not that it is limited to the word home. It was once a very British thing to feel the need to support people who are not as well off as we are. This ideal went rampant through the British Empire and we ended up doing some things that we should not have – in the name of being helpful to others (of course there were also those British people who were willing to exploit others for their own personal gain – but that is whole other subject). The saying “charity beings at home” does not mean that we just help our own but instead means that we help those who are close to us and we then extend our help out to others – begins not ends! We should help our own.
Then this theme extended into we can’t afford to help our own so how can we help others. But if we can’t afford it (one of the wealthiest countries in the world) then who can? There is plenty of money in this country to do both but sadly a good bit of that money is used in purely selfish ways (anyone want to buy a football club for laughs?). The idea that we can’t afford it is a notion put about by the wealthy to stop the poor from asking for help. Just convince the poor folk that we can’t afford something (this is pretty easy to do by the way because they can’t afford anything themselves) and they stop moaning about wanting better (even though they are confused by the images of very wealthy people on the TV – but then let them buy a lottery ticket – even though they can’t really afford it – and they get the chance to be one of those rich people too). Then create the perfect system by convincing those in the middle (who are often the voting majority) that the poor only squander what you give them anyway and they will maintain a nice buffer between the obscenely rich and the very poor as well as keeping their career politician chums in power. We are not too poor to help – although I admit it may mean the rich have to stump up some more cash to pay for it. Maybe Bill Gates could help, he seems to have more money that lots of countries do anyway? I refer you to the Oxfam report:
Really sorry but I’m cancelling the Pilgrimage walk set for 22nd Aug. It seems that the holiday season is once again a bad time to try and do anything. I will re-think and maybe pick a date more suited to the church calendar.
I want to talk about a sensitive subject today – trousers (well ticks really but please bear with me). As most of you know I like to wear shorts (if anyone knows of a clerical shirt that works with shorts please let me know). However, when I’m out walking on the hills I always wear long trousers. This is a nuisance to me and I’d much rather be in shorts and have the breeze cool off my hairy wet legs (sorry, probably too much info). The reason I always wear long trousers walking is that I want to avoid ticks. Of course, if I was really careful I’d wear long sleeves as well but this is my compromise.
Why be so worried? Because of Lyme disease. Knowing what the consequences from the disease are and how hard it is even to identify the disease when you have it – until it is too late – I choose to wear long trousers when I walk.
Of course we must all make our own choices and to help you here are some links to articles about ticks and their removal. And as you brought up the subject of removal the recommended method is with a tick remover, tweezers or as a last resort fingernails. It is better to leave bits behind than leave the tick on (any bits left behind might cause a minor infection but will most likely just work their way out like a small splinter with no repercussions). Anything hot (matches, flames, etc) will distress the tick and might very well cause it to regurgitate into your blood which is the very thing you are trying to avoid (apparently if they get engorged or alarmed they regurgitate and this is what can cause Lyme Disease – which is why you wan’t to get them off but not in a panic). Vaseline (or anything else to smother) can take 24 hours to work, which may be too late and might also cause regurgitation. Yuck!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22468181
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bites-insect/Pages/Treatment.aspx (tick removal at bottom of page)
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/hill-skills-tick-alert (they suggest keeping arms and legs covered but we all make our own choices – I compromise at just my legs.)
http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/tick_removal.html
Here are some tools to remove ticks:
If these links don’t work then use the name to search on Google.
If you get a tick don’t panic! The chances of getting Lyme disease is slim (1 to 3%) so you will probably be fine, however the consequences are such that I think it is worth a few precautions. If you develop flu like symptoms after finding a tick bite please go to your doctor without delay and tell them that you have been bitten by a tick.
I have said for a long time that any ministry the church gets involved in starts and runs with having someone who is called to lead that ministry. Too often we sit in committees seeing needs (we can all do that) and then insisting we as a church address them. This usually results in new committees and already hard pressed people undertaking something that they are only doing out of duty (or because a persuasive Clergy person insisted they should – and they don’t like letting the Vicar down).
This article by Rick Warren (founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church – a church now so big I’ve lost track of its size) says what I try to say very well:
http://pastors.com/never-start-a-ministry-without-a-minister/
Let’s let God do the leading for a change.
P.S. It is one of my bugbears about meetings that people turn up and think they are being helpful by making suggestions for all the things others (especially the clergy) should be doing. Sometimes God does prompt us in this way but my experience tells me that He usually doesn’t. We can all come up with a list of things we could do (I am often overwhelmed by the opportunities I see around us) the real work is in listening to and supporting those who feel called to undertake a particular work.
Blimey! I can’t believe it has been so long since my last blog entry, sorry. Life has been very busy with the usual church stuff and the DofE season is in full swing.
I’ve been put with Haygrove School in Bridgwater and Heathfield School in Taunton. I am always impressed with the young people I meet on these events. Of course, there is the occasional silly one but most are just very nice people – I wish every newspaper editor in the country could see what I see when I’m out on the hills.
It seems to me that time and energy invested in our young people is time and energy well spent.
Spent the weekend on Dartmoor supporting Heathfield School with their 10 Tors teams. Very enjoyable for me and brought back some good memories. I felt a little jealous of the young people walking on the moors all weekend. I did spend the day walking with some young people from Heathfield doing the Jubilee Challenge. We did the long route of 22km and we all managed to finish in a reasonable time. One of the Ten Tors teams ran out of time and I feel very sad for them that after all the effort they put in over the two days they will just feel like they didn’t succeed. In my view they are still winners and should be proud of themselves, it takes a lot of effort even to get to the start line and no one who puts themselves up for such a challenge should have any sense of failure. There is always another challenge to take on. We sometimes learn more from our disappointments than we do from our success.
I’ve always been proud of the way Britain has preserved its national parks in the past. On an Island with a high population density we have protected areas that give us the chance to experience some wilderness. However, our recent obsession with austerity (coupled with a near pathological fear of tax) is having some large effects on many areas of British life.
Did you know, for instance, that the budget to our national parks has been drastically cut? So much so that some are now being forced to sell off some of the nationally owned land just to make ends meet. It is claimed that this will not effect access to such land but given the slippery slopes that we seem to be good at stepping out on these days I can’t help but wonder if the assurances can be wholeheartedly believed.
I think we will all want to get such cuts into a perspective of other cuts made to our social services (not least cuts to youth work provision) but given that our National Parks generate far more income for local economies and the nation than they ever cost to run (see research on this here) and that research now backs up what Christians have always said – wilderness is good for the soul – forcing land sales by cutting meager budgets is a false long term economy.
If you would like to support the campaign to support our national parks you can sign a petition at
http://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/42
Is this the end of our National Parks?
I have a love/hate relationship with technology. At times I love all that button pressing and flashing lights stuff but at other times I hate it (especially when it won’t do what I want it to). So it’s always a relief to get out into a wilderness and leave it all behind. But, I don’t leave it all behind. I usually have my mobile phone (important for emergencies) and when I am not familiar with an area I usually use a SatNav/GPS thingy, does a compass qualify as technology? Then again instead of button pressing I have catch releasing as I open my state of the art backpack and put on my technical wet weather gear.
But surely it isn’t actually the technology that is the problem. My phone is just a collection of various metals, minerals and plastics put together to perform a function; it is the function I am wanting to escape from. It isn’t the technology itself that is a distraction it is the way it is used, if I turn off my phone it is as though I didn’t have it with me. The problem with modern life is that somehow we have become so enamoured with our technology that we sometimes find it really hard just to turn it off.
So I’m not going to get hungup on what I carry with me but instead focus on not letting it distract me. Instead I’m going to remember to enjoy what God has made rather than letting what people have made be my focus.