Category Archives: Uncategorized

In the English subsoil…

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I have just watched this film on BBC 4.

English folk dancing- it’s a joke up here in Scotland. The Celts celebrate their folk traditions- their cultural heritage, their dancing and their music- but the English have tended to wrap theirs up in a veneer of slightly embarrassed politeness.

But it is still there- folk traditions that go back through the industrial revolution, down into the apple growing and corn harvesting middle ages.

Some of it is decidedly weird (check out the Britannia Coconut dancers of Bacup, Lancashire) and to most of us, Morris dancing will always raise a few eyebrows along with the smile…

But I am very glad that in the streets and hills of England, these traditions are still alive, because these islands would be a poorer place without them.

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A few alternative Christmas links…

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The Christmas madness is fully on us- particularly now the weather has turned for the better.

Most towns have a few houses like the ones above, which always cause a little incredulity, but at the same time serve as a metaphor for what this season can often become- overly consumptive, tacky, competitive and rather vacuous.

But there I go again, sounding like a bit of a misery monger.

Because Christmas is lovely- not just for the kids either. The simplicity of the stable, a family staying together through the mess of mixed loyalties and the strange feeling that everything- everything– is about to change…

But if like me, you are looking to find ways of celebrating Christmas in simpler way more befitting the story we remember, then you might find some of these things useful-

Generous have a list of suggested actions/activities to here.

Then there is the rather hard core buynothingchristmas

You might like to check out the film What Would Jesus Buy, featuring Rev Billy, mentioned on this blog last year…

You might like to think about a fair trade Christmas, courtesy of Traidcraft.

And you could also come over to join Aoradh at their mass sky lantern launch in Dunoon at 5PM on Sunday- a great way to make some prayers of hope visible.


Songs of Praise: carols in a pub…

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I know I know, it’s a bit early for all this carol singing, but it is the second Sunday in Advent…

Sorry folks, but I think this video clip will only work in the UK, as it uses the BBC i-player, but I loved this episode tonight. The long running BBC songs of praise programme is a bit of a joke over here- often ultra traditional and a miss-match of the vaguely religious with secular awfulness.

But it often make me cry.

Because in the middle of all the mush, there will often be a story full of grace, or a hymn that takes me back to childhood, or a moment of delicate beauty.

Tonight features Kate Rusby, one of my favourite singers- who could sing the words of a phone book and still be worth listening to. She describes a tradition of singing carols in pubs from the end of November up to Christmas, in the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire area of the UK- not far from where I grew up.

It is where Michaela learnt music by playing cornet in brass bands that grew out of the mining communities now long gone.

So if you are not moved by choirs and organs, skip this clip forward to around 22 mins into the show (but the hymn before is lovely too…)

It is worth it.

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“Madness is a full and legitimate human experience”

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This is a quote from Mary O’Hagan, user of mental health services in New Zealand, and Mental Health Commissioner.She was the keynote speaker at last year’s Scottish Recovery Network conference.

Her speech was one of the best summaries of ‘recovery’ as it applies to mental ill health, mental wellbeing and service developments that I have heard for some time. Recovery has been a theme on this blog for a while- here and here for example. You can listen to it all below.

All the more important at a time when nearly all media portrayals of mental illness are negative and dangerous to others, according to this report.

And if you think that this stuff does not apply to you- then consider this- mental ill health comes to all of us directly or indirectly. And even if the shape of your life keeps periods of crisis at bay, then I would contend that we learn far more for the human condition through coming to an understanding of mental distress than we do from a lauding only of success.

For those of us of faith, the hope of recovery is saturated with that most precious thing-

grace…
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The insatiable moon film trailer…

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We were discussing a book by Mike Riddell that I loaned to our friend Pauline the other day- called ‘Sacred Journey’. It is a good book for those of us long on the road, and still trying to make sense of the spiritual nature of this life of ours.

And I remembered that one of Riddell’s other books, a novel, had recently been made into a film.

I went searching, and discovered the trailer…

I am trying to decide whether to read the book or wait for the film- anyone seen/read either?

It seems to be about the two issues closest to my heart- mental illness and God- and looks great.

Perhaps need to wait for it to be released on DVD, I can’t imagine it coming to our local flea pit…

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Shelter from the snow…

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The snow is here.

It has been smothering the East of the country for the last few days, but the cold winds blowing in from the heart of Europe have found their way to the West.

It is lovely, but everything has stopped. We have a car full of rubbish for the tip that we can not move, and the snow shows no signs of stopping.

The chickens are a little freaked- this must be their first experience of snow.

I spent some time in my workshop clearing it out and blocking off some of the open side- what keeps the rain out is not as effective against drifting snow. And the chickens were keen to join me.

I did not have the heart to kick them back out into the snow.

It is still one of my favourite places to be…

Ashes to Ashes…

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William was ill last week, and watched some DVDs of England’s win in the 2005 Ashes series repeatedly. He has become a bit of a cricket fanatic (and of course, as a fellow sufferer, I am proud of him!)

William decided we needed our own trophy, and so burnt a wooden stump in the fireplace, and put the ashes in a jam jar. (I could explain why he did this, but if you do not know already, then you are probably not interested in cricket history…)

Genius!

So far, it is one match each in a five match series. Played in poor light on dodgy monoblock with a hard plastic covered full size ball that hurts when it hits you.

I thought it worth mentioning as England play Australia in the first of five Ashes tests tonight. England are the current holders, but have not won in Australia since the early 1980’s and start this time as marginal favourites, with an Australian team in disarray.

To whet the appetite, I thought it appropriate to share a Freddy Flintoff story. In 2005 after an incredibly close match which was narrowly edged by England, Australian cricketer Brett Lee collapsed to the grass in tears. In what was hailed as a piece of great sportsmanship that could only be seen in the sport of cricket, Flintoff went up to him, put a supportive arm around his shoulder and whispered some words in his ear.

Here is Flintoff describing the incident, which tells a rather different side to the story-