It has just hit me that my Sixtieth Birthday Year will soon be running out. It hasn't exactly been a great year healthwise, but I can still get a few wishes fulfilled.
So first off it is to be hunting out a new pen that will take the purple ink cartridges I've got stored away. Purple is the colour of spirituality amongst other things. But really, it and pink are my favourite colours. Not that you would ever guess from looking at the design of this blog.
It has been entertaining me to observe the rise and fall of news stories. Yesterday morning I was listening to the Today programme and heard John Humphries pushing the Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, to the limit of his patience. The infamous quotation and so-called “attack” on Prince Charles was picked up by the BBC and over the course of the day became headline news on the TV evening bulletin. In contrast the hunting debate appeared to be gaining ground as Parliament argued over procedures and dirty tricks, but by late last night it had all but fizzled out.
Nobody is going to convince me that the media are not responsible for a lot of what is called “news”. Not everybody realises that news is only news if there happens to be a reporter there at the time. Presumably that, as much as anything else, explains why the Darfur tragedy appears to have happened without world outrage and action.
Good on yer, Charles…… we may not be able to be king or queen, but we can work at being the best we can at whatever we choose. As for Prince Charles…… let's hope this has made him rethink his views on education.
I have finished The Handmaid's Tale and it is not just the new tablets causing the confusion (though I do feel a bit as if someone is hammering me over the head). The book is shocking in the most pervasive way. Atwood gets under the skin of the psyche and makes it crawl. What is so compelling is the way she illustrates how the compulsion to control leads people to dehumanise and oppress others. In other words she is a fantastic story teller, though her methodology is unique. I believe the book is a set text for A-Levels and that in itself gives me hope for the future.
The reader is led to believe that it is set in an indeterminate time in the future, but I can see that the roots of such a constricted society are with us even now. Sorry if I sound like a poor attempt at an examination answer. Just go read it!
Don't read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood if you are of a nervous disposition.
Not having finished it yet, I am disinclined to comment further. But watch this space.
I used to argue with one of my lecturers at college who said that the only thing constant about God was constant change. It seems that my life is all about change just now. I am not allowed to drive at the moment, due to further health problems. (TIA, or transient ischaemic attacks or mini-stroke.) And of course that means further investigations and tests to check out causes and sort out extra treatment, thus I am off work for the time being. A bit frustrating, given that I have only been back half in the saddle for two weeks.
The good news is that my voice continues to improve. (I hesitate to suggest it has been frightened into submission.) Also, all being well I should be able to get back to driving in a few weeks. Him behind the wheel is very obliging but it is strange to be without a set of wheels. Exercise is supposed to be good for the condition, but the doctor did not fall for my plea to be able to ride a bike. Ah well, at least I have not been playing squash or doing weight training for a while, so that is no hardship.
By the way, in case you are interested, the card shuffler really does work.
Did you know you can buy a battery-operated automatic card shuffler?
From Eddie Askew
Lord my mind can’t cope/
It’s hard to see a pattern in the dark.
Harder still to see an underlying purpose,
when suffering throws its shadow,
and hope’s eclipsed.
Christian cliches bring no comfort.
The candle flame of faith
gives little light.
And yet, Lord, still it burns,
the candle flame.
Live and persistent.
It may not seem a lot,
no floodlight glare,
no firework flash of coloured light,
but, somehow,
nothing seems to put it out.
Not quite.
It dems, dark edged with doubt,
struggles, then suddenly,
the very wind that threatened its existence
fans it to life.
The flame burns brighter,
and its glow sets light to other candles
I’d not thought were there.
Sound systems in churches have become much easier to deal with now that Maplin Electronics has shops in Scotland. It all used to be a mystery; but now it is possible to walk in off the street and buy spare bits ready made.
In case you are wondering, working sound systems are a must for one whose voice is volumely challenged.
It seems to me that the death of Yasser Arafat makes the world less stable. 75 wasn’t that old by Western standards, but because of the way he dedicated his life to the Palestinian cause it is not surprising he was worn out. The conspiracy theories are appearing thick and fast already.
All I can say is – Rest in Peace.
