What's the Story in Dalamory » love

Boundaries

freda — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:22:00 +0000

You know how sometimes you have “those” moments when somehow things go wrong, and instead of cursing gently, you stop, think and reconsider. Well that has happened to me this afternoon. I found the appropriate photograph, tweaked the exposure and told a family story, which was quite sweet, but maybe not suitable for sharing online. That reminder about boundaries came along and scuppered the editing.

I’ve read too many blog posts from bloggers who are in the middle of a full-scale row over inappropriate posting or sharing, and don’t want to go there. Being careful is needed by all bloggers, journalists and writers. Of course all I am doing is to stir up people’s curiosity, and that is self-defeating. Sufficient to say that for today I am content to post a picture from 47 years ago and to say thank you for today being the 47th Anniversary of becoming engaged.

Didn’t we look young?

Eat Pray Love

freda — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:21:44 +0000

Good in parts but fails to hit its full potential…. You could view the story as one woman’s search for self-enlightenment, or as a self-centred gap year in middle age.

Having said that, Julia Roberts holds this 3 stories within 1 together with her usual skill, and there are some interesting moments. The film could be described succinctly in terms of sensuality, spirituality and new love.

So now you’ve got the plot, and a less than fulsome mini-review.

I’d love to know what others felt – after all, it could just be that I was having an off day, or rather that the plot goes off after a couple of days. Would I recommend watching it? Paradoxically – Yes. But more in hope that women are unlikely to be taken in. Perhaps the film does not do justice to the book

Riots in England

freda — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:52:32 +0000

It has been frightening watching events unfold over the last few days, even though there have been no riots/violence in Scotland. Here we are too busy worrying about floods and in Edinburgh, for instance, the Edinburgh Festival goes ahead as normal. The Prime Minister has acknowledged that the largest police force in Scotland has done a valuable amount of work in managing to diffuse gang culture, and that England can learn a lot from this.

As I write this the debate is going on in Parliament to look at policies and reasons for the looting and stealing. Such televised and accountable debates make me proud to be part of the UK. However, the sickening events shown on the news happening this week are truly worrying. There seems to be an underlying lack of citizenship amongst certain people, and the fact that the riots were excuses for mass acquisitiveness and a breakdown in civilised behaviour, is almost beyond belief.

I have only briefly seen news reports from around the world of how England is viewed – but it is pretty bleak. One interviewee spoke of the string of comments from within the UK and abroad, he is the only person I have heard who used the words: love and compassion. I can only wonder if English society – and to an extent Scottish culture too – is broken and sick because of the inequality in education, the lack of vocational work opportunities and the lack of understanding and respect between different strata of society. Some people have very little hope, and that filters through to those who are working and struggling to get by, as well as being endemic amongst the unemployed and seemingly unemployable.

It all makes me so sad. I am consciously trying to move from anger and fear to sadness in my prayers, then maybe there is the chance I can get nearer to the changing power of compassion and love.

Secretariat

freda — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:28:50 +0000

If you”re in need of some cheering up or even a good old dose of inspiration to keep going, then this is your film. I didn’t know the story of this horse so it was all a surprise to me. In fact, although I like horses, the world of horse-racing is pretty much an unknown. However, as the film came to an end I found myself in tears of joy. As I say, much needed these days.

The film has a lot to say about life in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s and does so in an effective and understated way. It’s quite a thought to realise how much the role of women has changed since then.

I can’t say too much without spoiling the story, though if you know about the horse, it will still give the same feel-good factor. I’ll give it 9 out of 10.

Transfiguration

freda — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 07:01:44 +0000

To make an act of worship,

we bring ourselves:

perhaps a little tired;
perhaps a little preoccupied;
expecting much, expecting little.
And we bring
our thoughts:
some thankful and happy;
some worried and anxious;
some trivial, some deep.
And we bring
our words:
the unexciting language of everyday;
the difficult language of belief;
the expressions of faith and fear, of doubt and hope.
All the ordinariness of our daily lives
we bring to this act of worship;
that with Christ we might climb
towards the mountain top to meet God
and find our human offerings
transfigured
by the glory of divine love.

Seasons and Celebrations NCEC

Dilemma

freda — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:56:06 +0000

So – today is 25 January – what do I write about? The Conversion of St Paul or Robert Burns? I have to confess to feeling somewhat iffy about Burns; I place the blame firmly on being brought up in London. On the other hand, it was a posh Grammar School and we did sort of study Burns and his poetry, but for some reason it never clicked with me. This in itself was unusual, for I lived my growing-up life as someone who felt like a Scot in England, and loved my yearly trips north each year. Then when I moved to Scotland on leaving school, I ended up feeling like an English person in Scotland. It took a good few years for me to feel comfortable in my own skin……….. and now I know that I am forever a mongrel (Scottish mother, English father.)

Come to think of it, I never did understand the language in Robert Burns and the English Literature teacher at school was somewhat out of her depth. However, this morning I heard the inimitable My love is like a red, red rose……… and felt the better for it.

So here’s Eva Cassidy in a beautiful version of it. A different kind of spirituality from Paul, but valid nonetheless.

The New Year

freda — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:11:59 +0000

At this time of year some bloggers post about New Year Resolutions, others concentrate on their most popular posts and some have even given predictions for 2011. It seems there is a common urge to make a significant impact at the start of a new year. I simply want to share a quotation with you and to wish you and all those you love, a very special New Year.

This is by Raymond Carver. He was an American poet and writer, much of what he wrote seems sad to me, but he chose this to be the inscription on his tombstone.

Late Fragment

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

A worthwhile epitaph, and one that reminds us of how important it is to accept one another and to share love. For those with faith, I like to think it gives the added bonus of always being loved and accepted in spite of our flaws.

It made me wonder what I would like on a tombstone (or book of remembrance.) What about you?

Avatar

freda — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 08:15:21 +0000

Hope your Christmas Day was as enjoyable as mine. All the usual ingredients: church, presents, a gorgeous meal and time with loved ones.

In the evening it was a case of flop before the telly. We had been saving up Avatar for just such an occasion and I was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about. I certainly wasn’t disappointed. It has got to rate as a 20 out of 10 for sheer ingenuity, imagination, special effects and gripping storyline.

The viewer was drawn into an alternative culture and planet in a compelling way. The director and main force behind the film is James Cameron, he says it took his life over for four and a half years. I’m not surprised – it took me over (in a good way) for 142 minutes of amazement and pleasure. I don’t want to say too much, just in case you’ve still got the pleasure of watching it to come.

What can you say about a film that gained so many awards and was surrounded in superlatives and hype? If I had to choose one thing, it is to say that there is a deep and moving case made for human beings (and all creatures) to be at one with the environment which nurtures them. Religious? Yes – but in the best meaning of being aware and connected to all beings and plants. In fact, a wonderful film to see at Christmas when we have been celebrating God’s love becoming at one with us.

A lovely way to finish off a beautiful day.
Every Blessing to you and all those you love.

My Bonnie

freda — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:41:01 +0000

I have spent the last couple of days engrossed in the story of Bonnie and John Suchet. In his memoir, My Bonnie, John writes movingly of his wife’s decline with dementia/Alzheimer’s. (It is in the nature of the disease that it is notoriously difficult to assess the root cause.) Alongside Bonnies’ decline, the author successfully interweaves the spell-binding love story of their 25+ years together. And this is a major success of the book.

Celebrities have a hard time when tragedy and illness strike their lives; not only is there immediate publicity, but there is often a call for them to become a figurehead or spokesperson for charitable work. John shares the tale of his ongoing work with Dementia UK whilst making us aware of his own internal struggles. Whilst he was the principal carer for Bonnie, his time was obviously restricted, but as time went on he had to accept help, so he was able to share some of his experiences through radio, TV and papers. I hadn’t heard any of these so the story was completely fresh to me.

You might rightly think that this is a dark, dark subject. After all, most of us have come across dementia in someone we know or are close to. As we get older ourselves, it is now the hidden fear….. the way cancer was usually a death sentence 50 years ago. Dementia is a slow killer, and is a series of terrible losses for surviving family and friends. I can’t imagine what it is like to be someone diagnosed with the disease, but the amazing thing about the book is that I ended up with a great fondness and liking for Bonnie herself.

This is not a book that is all about goodness and bravery, struggle and ultimate triumph. It tells the story sympathetically, but warts and all. For instance, John and Bonnie fall in love and each leave their existing partners and family. Whatever your thoughts on that, it is clear that they felt this was inevitable. John also describes his own weaknesses and the consequent guilt he feels. So all in all it is an epic work.

It is not for the faint-hearted, it tugs at the heart strings; but inevitably it also makes me remember my Granny. What is has done is to make me more determined than ever to support charities who help in practical ways and by funding research. Let me know what you think.

A Church in Crisis? or a Stitch up?

freda — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:51:10 +0000

Last night’s TV documentary was billed in the paper thus:

Reporter Reevel Anderson evaluates the benefits of the Church of Scotland and considers whether diminishing congregations are indications of the Kirk’s waning contemporary relevance.

Yet, early in the day I received an email from the Church’s media unit, it said:

Tonight on BBC One Scotland at 10.35pm there will be a half-hour documentary about the 450^th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation and the future of the Church of Scotland. Whilst no one in the communications office has seen the finished programme, we helped to facilitate interviews and filming at various locations including Orkney’s St Magnus’ Cathedral, Luss Parish Church on the banks of Loch Lomondand St George’s Tron in Glasgow.

Quite a difference in spin. I was too tired to do the programme justice last night, so recorded it to watch with coffee this morning. Oh dear – I don’t know if it was deliberately slanted editing or a fair reflection of most of those interviewed, but it came across in a mainly negative way.

The CofS has been in existence for 450 years and personally I would have thought that at the very least that fact could be celebrated. Instead, there were various attempts to talk about the historical legacy of the Church in Scotland today. For example they did mention that, the CofS is still the biggest employer in social care in Scotland today. Interestingly that is well known – indeed it was quoted to me when I was at a meeting for Learning Disability services in Oban this week. But this was stated as if it was a spin-off or irrelevance. As a Parish Minister I spent time visiting people who had been helped by the social care side of the church and I know that it matters that one of its core values is the Christian injunction to care for the weak and vulnerable in society.

The Minister from Luss, Loch Lomond was more upbeat and he spoke movingly about the internet ministry of his church. Good on him is what I say. It is true that overall numbers (bxxs-on-pews) throughout the national church have gone down in terms of adherents but the good news stories were not given air-time. In some churches there is vibrant growth.

A church where I was working had a special anniversary for the year 2000 and we were the subject of an in-house documentary. A team of three people spent 3 days with us – filming the area and interviewing people. I was given 9 videos as a memento; they amounted to 27hrs of recording time, which ended up as 10 minutes of finished movie. (Incidentally it was very positive and wisely edited thankfully!) I merely point out that there could have been much that was good news and encouraging in footage that was simply abandoned. I know that much from home movie editing as well.

So what am I trying to say? I am now retired and attend a church that is a part of a group of five little churches in the Scottish Highlands. Only this week I read some verses in the Bible where the church in Thessalonia was being encouraged because the members were growing in faith and love for each other and the vulnerable. It feels like that is happening with us, thanks to our hard-working, faithful Minister, energetic church leaders and caring helpers. That is real, it is happening now. Somehow I want to let people know that the CofS is at a critical stage because it is finding new ways to be church and to love and care for the people of Scotland and beyond.

Haven’t done a sermon for a while. Will that do God?

What's the Story in Dalamory » love

Boundaries

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Transfiguration

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My Bonnie

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