Weblog of a Country Priest

As an old copper it is good to see the police in London and other places actually doing the job each of them has sworn to do.  Perhaps some dramatic social good will now come from the appalling carnage of all the innocent people caught up in the effects of bombing, failed bombing and the poor Brazilian  shot as a possible bomber.  No wonder he looked terrified as he was shot.  All, including him, are the victims of the terrible human weapons called suicide bombers.

Speaking about doing the job, I was reading the scriptures at a funeral during the week.  The passage was from St. John's Gospel, chapter 14, the one which contains the promise of Jesus to prepare a place for each of us in His Father's house. The bit that hit home was His additional promise to come for us, so that we will be where He is.

I have claimed that His promise be met for all the dead resulting from the current terror.

 

The beloved and I cleaned, polished and vacuumed the bedrooms this morning;  then I officiated at the burial of the ashes of a much loved mum, sister and daughter; finally I interviewed a beautiful elderly man, ex- soldier, working man and the husband of, as he describes her "my lovely lady.

Her death, at 84 ended a love-match which began when they were both 16, on the dodgems at a pre-war fairground.

Somehow all these hang together and exemplify the words "who sweeps a floor as for His sake makes that and the action fine..."

Who was Mary Magdalene?  Was she posh and pronounced her name "Maudlin"? Was she the prostitute Jesus forgave and rehabilitated?  Was she the mentally tormented soul Jesus healed?  Was she the woman who wasted good ointment on His feet, when it could have been sold and the money used for a good cause?

She was at the cross when He died.  She was first at His tomb on a Sunday morning, saw angels,  thought the risen Jesus was a gardener, and when she realised what had happened became the first witness to His resurrection and His messenger to the Apostles to proclaim the fact.

But no matter who she was - who are you? Who have you been?  What message do you carry?

Or put another way, who are you?  Everyone really needs to know.

My connection is down to 14kbps so this has to be short.

Another outrage in London town, and a man being pursued is shot 5 times, just to make sure?

The weather matches the mood, overcast and showers.

I passed by a man of african origin outside the bank.  His companion, a white woman, said to him, "If you get yourself arrested - then I'm leaving you"

Cheery sort of day, innit?

I've not written much recently.  My computer decided to misbehave; and it has taken a lot of work to get it under control.  It seems to be in order now.  Hooray!

In addition I have had to decide about starting with Methotrexate as a remedy for rheumatic arthritis. The consultant was sanguine about it all but researching the manufacturer's warnings and recommendations caused a great deal of concern; some quite simple combinations of Methotrexate with other freely available drugs and other things like alcohol were flagged as possibly fatal.  All this caused tremendous family agitation and worry.

However, I've taken the plunge and with aid of folic acid and Actenalol all seems to be going well.  Well I'm writing thisssssssssssssss!

I'm dissatisfied with how I do things.  Other people contribute to this dissatisfaction by expecting better things of me.  I feel guilty, and thus unworthy to explain to others how they ought to behave or what to believe.

So my own performance is poor, and my preaching is made unconvincing; therefore I only pray.

Still as my late father-in-law often observed "If all these words so vainly spent; to heaven in supplication went; how oft then the cry would be; look what the Lord has done for me".

Oremus.

 

 

1) We've just had two wonderful days away in North Norfolk.  We stayed in an hotel called The Roman Camp Inn at Aylmerton.  The room was great.  The staff were brilliant, friendly, enthusiastic, professional and capable.  It was a lovely break away.

2) Did you know that with the implementation of the new doctor's contracts within the NHS  we now do not have a named doctor?  Apparently, unless it is a single doctor practice, everyone is registered to a practice, and you see whoever is about, even if it is a once only locum.  So what price continuity of treatment or building up any sort of doctor-patient relationship?

3) Have you realised that whereas the receptionists in a surgery can be as rude to you over any sort of period they choose, if you raise your voice to them or question their procedures they will complain immediately with the explicit threat that you will be removed from their practice list.

Four bombs; thirty three dead; three hundred and forty other casualties; should I go on? Or should I ask for forgiveness for those who caused this carnage? Whatever, I can only pray and trust, and pray....

One of the proffered reasons for hitting the meteorite with the "washing machine" was to learn about the bits of similar meteorites which go into making each of us.

So millions of dollars spent on knowledge about the make-up of human beings whilst millions of us starve and die.  A fair trade-off?

So will pop-concerts do it? Or G8 meetings? Or Clown faced anarchists demonstrating? Or the BBC having an Africa week? Or any other large scale organized event or effort? Or NGOs with their men in white suits descending from aeroplanes in exotic places and driving new vehicles (4x4s of course) specially imported for the purpose? Will any of these do it?

To borrow a phrase from the Lenny Henry show - "I don't fink sooo!"

 

Habakukk was the watch-tower prophet.

He stood on the platform on the top of his society's wall and looked into the heart of his people.  What he saw he knew was not in accordance with God's wish that they should love one another as they loved themselves.

He then looked out and saw the gathering forces of impending distruction.  The armies of evil massing to attack.  He saw that because of what they were doing and believing they were unable to prepare to withstand the enemy outside the walls.

He looked up and saw a vision of what could be; and he prayed, and then he warned.

Our own prophets still stand, and see, and pray and warn.

Listen... we may hear something to our advantage.

We are a hypocritical people.

We incarcerate, we humiliate, we deport, those who obey the rules and follow the system.

We don't even know the numbers of those who refuse to play the game, but it is estimated that they form 1 in 10 of the UK population according to provisional figures from our own government.

We applaud ourselves for being 21st century in our approval of and acceptance of the gay members of society, and we throw our hands up in horror when an older man or woman finds their security and comfort in the company of a 14 year old who reciprocates those simple human feelings.

We wring our hands when an infant is fatally flawed, or disfigured, or wanting some sort of replacement surgery, or dies in the womb and so on...

But we destroy about 250,000 embryos every year as a form of contraception...

Father, forgive us, even though we do know what we do...