The remaindered life

WE wonder rather
what our life is like!
Is anyone taking the slightest bit of notice!
or have we passed into the area that no one could care less





It is a problem that clergy, and other caring professionals face every day
who even cares about  what we say or do?

Personally it worries me a little that I am so easily discarded
I presume to think that I have quite a lot of important input to offer into the human condition.
Things like ......death is important.......kids must not be sacrificed......don't allow political  correctness to tells us that... this or that....is not important

I now have a  granddaughter....and to my mind she is the MOST important thing in the world
I think most, if not ALL, grandparents get this

More important  than my children (much as I love them),
more important than World Politics,
and more significant than theology, philosophy and any of the serious academic pursuits
If we don't get it right for our kids and grandkids
then we have most likely lost the plot!

I don't fully understand  this...but I know it to be true.

She (and her ilk) must be the focus of the world


The fact that many of us have the same reflexion is pretty great.
Our grandchildren are more important than anything


This might just save the world that is hell-bent on self-destruction

The Bells! The Bells!

I once thought that I would like to purloin the unused bell from St Barnabas' College and have it here at Blackwood.

However a number of things dissuaded me.One, the thought of being woken on Saturday nights by hoodlinks who just wouldn't be able to resist it. Two, my near neighbour, who finds our presence difficult enough.

So it was interesting to hear as ABC began their countdown of the top 100 symphonies that Rachmaninov 's Opus 35 The Bells Symphony-brought out a spontaneous lament from all over the country about the fact that bells have gone.

It is of course one of those things that gives some poetic coherence to community, links with the past; ordering of the day etc. etc....but we are so fearful about Christianity impinging on popular culture. Not so much the signs of the other religions, but another point at which Christianity as the 'religion'of the dominant culture is both patronised and compromised

Communing

I seem to have had a number of discussions this week which directly or indirectly have been about community.

I guess I function (or dysfunction maybe) in community so it is hardly surprising.

It is a bit strange in a world in which we can all live in each other's pockets, and be in almost constant contact with anyone telephonically...why would you want to phone people in the car or walking to the bus?....that we easily forget some community basics.

Like:

• community is not all plain sailing, and that we grow through conflict and disagreement as well as through hugs and kisses. In our consumerist mentality we forget that maybe we need to not just throw away our community when it doesn't seem to be working in the way we want.


• walking out of a community or a relationship when it gets difficult may deny us the opportunity of (as it were) moving to a deeper level. We throw away the very gift that is being offered just as the point where it is becoming valuable


• it is probably easier to walk out the second and third times, and gets easier as time goes on; and so the whole abandonment dynamic becomes an issue in itself. Instead of solving the problem it becomes the problem
  

This not a rationale for staying in abusive communities or relationships but a plea to give relationships a bit more attention