Why do I let this thing stay
This slug-spirit
This ghost of damp duvet?
If only I could believe again
In the kindness of daylight
For here I lie
Photosensitive
And this monochrome morning
Can do all its developing
Without me
I was chuckling today-
I listened to this programme on radio 4 on my way round to Helensburgh- ‘Can pay will pay‘- examining the factors that seem to influence the amount that we earn.
I was slightly interested, as the whole wage slaving issue has been a theme of recent contemplation.
There were however some interesting facts. The average full time wage in this country is around £27K pa- but if you earn more, you will tend to overestimate this, and if you earn less, will underestimate. Only 10 per cent earn more than £50K pa. The old regional variations continue- the average in some parts of the country is around £15K pa.
Slightly more bizarre are some of the other things that correlate with earning more or less.
For every inch over around 5 foot 7 inches, you will earn on average around a thousand pounds extra per year. As you can see from the dine figure I cut on the photo above, I am 6 feet five inches tall.
Woohoo, my ship may yet come in!
Unfortunately, ugly people will earn on average 20% less. The programme quoted a study amongst prostitutes, where ugliness will clearly affect your earning power- but surprisingly, no more than the average for the rest of the population- still around 20%. Interestingly, beautiful people do not seem to earn more, the effect is only if you are ugly.
Ah well, you gain with one hand and loose with the other…
It has been wild here. Strong winds and really heavy rain showers.
Along the Clyde yesterday came a sight that must have once been common in these parts-
It anchored in the Holy Loch, like a thousand of it’s type before-
Before being replaced by paddle and screw…
Regular readers of this blog will know that I earn a living in social work- specifically, I manage mental health services, working mainly with vulnerable adults.
But the whole social work world has been hugely affected by the tragic circumstances of the death of Peter Connelly at the hands of his mother, her partner and a lodger.
And by the media circus that followed it.
It was interesting to hear Sharon Shoesmith, the former director of Social Work services for Haringey who was sacked following political intervention, speaking to a House of Commons Committee looking into the way we protect children.
She made the following points (some of which I had previously described- here.)
In her opening remarks to MPs, Ms Shoesmith said the statistics on child murders were shocking – and had stayed the same for more than 30 years.
The Baby Peter case had led to big changes in children’s social services, she said.
“For children, the impact has been far-reaching. Since 2008 the number coming into care has increased 30%. The number we have subject to a child protection plan has doubled. Yet this wider net seems to have had little impact on the number of children who die.”
She said in the year Peter had died – 2007 – a total of 54 other children in England had also died at the hands of their parents or other family members.
In the decade from 1999 to 2009, 539 children had died in this way, she said.
“These are shocking statistics and statistics that are not known. They are too abhorrent for us to consider,” she said.
She is right, I think, to point to the negative effect of the blame culture on those seeking to protect children.
The simple truth is that scapegoating obscures the real issues, and potentially real solutions.
Tonight in our houegroup we are going to listen to Richard ROHRRRRRR.
(Get it?)
He does not roar though- there is a gentleness about him which I like.
He follows in the tradition of a kind of spirituality of vulnerability, brokenness and woundedness.
And any other kind of spirituality too quickly gets caught up in power- of the earthly kind.
According to Christan Research, church attendance figures in the UK which have been falling for years, appear to have stabilised.
This follows on trends reported on previously- here for example.
This from the Telegraph–
The figures show that in the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, a long-term decline in weekly Mass attendance ended in 2005 and the figures have been broadly stable since. In 2008 there were 918,844 attending church each week, up from 915,556 the year before.
Within the Church of England the researchers found “fairly steady attendance” over the past decade, with 1.145million attending services each week in 2008, compared with 1.2m in 2001.
However this does not include the higher numbers who go to church at Christmas and Easter, nor those who have joined the Fresh Expressions initiative.
Here are some graphic illustrations, from The Church Mouse blog–
I am not sure how to read these stats. Church attendance numbers have fallen for so long in the UK that it almost seemed as if church as an institution was doomed here- but the reality is that there was always going to be a residual group who will continue to attend.
Does this mean that this group are to some extent the serious believers- and that the nominal attenders have been winnowed out? I am not so sure…
I think that church has a way to go yet in finding ways of engaging with our cultural context- a lot of steps forward, and no doubt a lot of steps backwards too.
But lest I become too maudlin, this is indeed a good story for the life of faith in these islands. Because although my concept of ‘church’ is much greater than buildings and institutions- they can be very useful, particularly in our climate!
I was asked to give a shout out about the Scottish Childrens Panel service- who are trying to recruit new members at the moment.
For Scottish based folk who might be looking for a way to volunteer and help protect and support the most vulnerable members of our society- this might be a life changing experience. Literally.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
I am just back from a road trip with a couple of friends- we drove down to Derbyshire in a rattly rented van to fetch a load of pottery equipment bought off ebay. A 7 hour drive each way, with an overnight at Michaela’s mums, and a few pints in the evening.
This included loads of glazes, clay, kiln furniture and not one, but TWO kilns.
Oh- and one of them weighed half a ton.
So there we were, Simon, Paul and I, along with two of Michaela’s uncles (The fantastic Ken and Phil- men who are used to hard work!) faced with a winding garden path, steps and low garden walls. Two previous potential buyers had taken a look and decided that fingers, toes and vertebrae were more valuable than the kiln.
But we were not to be so easily put off!
So about an hour of weedling, scraping, levering and hammering later, it was in the van and on the way up country. The unload was fun too (thanks Andy!)
We just need to empty our cellar of all the accumulated junk, install a new electrical circuit, and then people can get potting.
Not me- I have other gifts.
And anyway- I will be in traction for a few weeks…
So, Terry Jones has suspended his decision to burn a pile of Korans on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. (if you missed his madness- see here.)
His stated motivation for calling off the burning was because he had received assurances from and Imam that a planned opening of a Mosque close to the site of the atrocity was being reconsidered. Thankfully, this does not seem to be the case- after all, what better place would there be for a Mosque in this age of religious division and warfare?
In response to all this, Andrew Jones (alias Tall Skinny Kiwi) called for people to blog verses from the Koran as a way of encouraging understanding and tolerance between the faiths. A much better thing to do to commemorate the terrible loss of life that happened on September the 11th, 2001.
As a friend of mine said, there is some scary stuff in the Koran- as there is in the Bible.
But there is also much that is beautiful.
So here are my verses-
Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right (3:113-115 AYA).
And unto thee (Muslims) have We revealed the Scripture (the Qur’an) with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee.
Nearest among them in love to the Believers wilt thou find those who say, “We are Christians”: Because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant (5:85 AYA/82 MP).
What is going on here?
It is difficult for people outside a faith tradition to make pronunciations on Scripture, so all I will say is that these verses would suggest that followers of the Prophet are not placed in enmity of their Jewish and Christian brothers by the book- rather they are placed in a position of respect. Honesty, piety and humility are regarded as signs of the presence of God.
For those of you who have never read any of the Sufi poets, can I suggest that these too might be a way of engaging with the rich traditions of searching for the Divine that forms the bedrock of Islam.
This is ancient poetry that flowed around a culture as a source of spirituality and wisdom.
There are a few hints of this beautiful tradition below-
Say who I am
I am dust particles in sunlight
I am the round sun.To the bits of dust I say, stay.
To the sun, keep moving.I am morning mist,
And the breathing of evening.I amwind in the top of a grove
and surf on the cliff.Mast, rudder, helmsman and keel.
I am also the coral reef they founder on.I am a tree with a trained parot in its branches.
Silence, thought and voice.The musical air coming through a flute
A spark off a stone, a flickering
in metal. Both candle
and the moth crazy around it.Rose and the nightingale
lost in the fragrance.I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift
and the falling away. What is
and what isn’t.
Streaming (excerpt)
When the path ignites the soul,
there is no remaining in place
The foot touches the ground,
but not for long
The way where love tells its secret
Stays always in motion
And there is no you there, and no reason
The rider urges his horse to gallop
and so doing, throws himself
under the flying hooves
In love-unity there’s no old or new
Everything is nothing
God alone is
The Newborn
Muhammed spoke to his friends
about a newborn baby, “This child
may cry out in its helplessness,
but it doesn’t want to go back
to the darkness of the wombAnd so it is with your soul
when it finally leaves the nest
and flies out into the sky
over the wide plain of a new life.
Your soul would not trade that freedom
for the warmth of where it was.Let loving lead your soul.
Make it a place to retire to,
A kind of monastery cave, a retreat
for the deepest core of your beingThen build a road
from there to GodLet every action be in harmony with your soul
and its soul-place, but don’t parade
those doings down the street
on the end of a stick!Keep quiet and secret with soul-work.
Don’t worry so much about your body.
God sewed that robe. Leave it as it is.Be more deeply courageous.
Change your soul.”
On the eve of the Pope’s state visit to Britain, I thought it might be helpful to give some thought to an overview of the Roman Catholic church in these islands…
It has not been an easy time for the old Church- child abuse scandals, involvement of priests in terrorism in Ireland and some rather difficult pronouncements by the Pope, who appears to be intent on winding back a lot of progressive forces within the wider church.
There was a really helpful programme on Radio 4 yesterday morning, which I tried to listen to on my drive to Bute. I say ‘tried’ as you lose radio signal at different parts of the route.
However, you can listen to it all here.
The programme is particularly helpful as it was clearly made from an inside perspective- through discussion with real people- lay and clergy- who represent the wide spectrum of positions within the Church.
Well worth a listen in particular for those of us who are not familiar with some of the tensions present within this venerable old institution- from those who would take the Church back to before Vatican II, right through to those who see the future of the Church as needing to respond to a changing world on all sorts of issues, from homosexuality, to woman priests and a change on totemic issues like contraception.
Incidentally, there was great hilarity in our house this week, as we realised that our wonderful 10 year old son had been mishearing our pronunciation of the word ‘Pope’. Somehow whenever he had heard the title of the Pontiff, he had thought that the word being used was ‘Poke’. Chuckle.
this fragile tent 