In a lengthy piece in my local newspaper this week, Justin Welby, the bishop of Durham, gave some suggestions for new year's resolutions. Right at the top of his list was the plea that we should all tithe 10% of our income. Respect due, he did not insist that the money should go to the Church but stated that any charity would be an appropriate recipient of our tithes. I fully agree with him that being charitable is a human duty. That humans give to others is empirical proof of our claim that we have the ability to empathise with others and so is part of what makes us human. Not to give to others makes us less than human. Where I disagree with him is with his insistence on charity being linked to a percentage of income.
Percentages of income no doubt seem perfectly logical to a person who has an income in excess of what they need to live on. However, to those who struggle to survive it is just another burden placed on them by the rich and privileged.
You see, the real value of a percent of something increases the smaller it is. A pensioner in England receiving £100 per week is living on the breadline. If she gives away 10% of that £100 she will be left with just £90 and the loss of £10 will make her life even more miserable and hard. A company executive earning £2000 per week will be enjoying a life with no financial worries and will have plenty of money to spend on luxuries. If he gives away 10% of his salary each week he will be left with £1800 and will still be enjoying a life with no financial worries and he will still have plenty of money to spend on luxuries. The pensioner will have made a huge sacrifice. The company executive will not have done.
Jesus threw out the tithing system and replaced it with the recommendation (warning) that, as long as there are people who do not have enough money to live on, we should give all our wealth in excess of what we need to live on to those who live in absolute poverty. Very few Christians follow this system of true tithing. We hope that Christ will be merciful when he returns to judge us. A rich person who demands that poor people should give more, in effect, than himself would be testing the Lord's mercy to the extreme. Instead, a rich person should secretly give a percentage of his income far in excess of the traditional tithe and never insist that anybody else gives anything. He should certainly not insist on others tithing a percentage as any taxation system based on a fixed percentage being demanded from all favours the rich and further oppresses the poor.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Friday, 6 January 2012
A FACEBOOK CONVERSATION
I received a message asking me to become friends with someone on Facebook. I said yes, of course. The person concerned immediately contacted me on my message board. This was the conversation.
It's a shame, but my correspondent will never read my last piece of good advice because within the 30 seconds it took me to write and send it she had unfriended me.
The truth might set some people free but there are an awful lot of people out there (especially within the evangelical wing of the Church) who are so scared stiff of even thinking about what may be true and what may be false that they bind themselves in chains of ignorance, preferring bondage to freedom.
It's a shame, but my correspondent will never read my last piece of good advice because within the 30 seconds it took me to write and send it she had unfriended me.
The truth might set some people free but there are an awful lot of people out there (especially within the evangelical wing of the Church) who are so scared stiff of even thinking about what may be true and what may be false that they bind themselves in chains of ignorance, preferring bondage to freedom.
WORSHIP AT ST. LAIKA'S
MASS ON THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
All are welcome to join me in taking communion. There are no exceptions.
The order of service is posted beneath the audio file so that you can join in with the service. The words in bold type are the ones we say together.
If you want to physically partake of communion you will require a small piece of bread and a small amount of drink (preferably made from grapes and containing alcohol). How you view the nature of this part of the service is completely up to you.
Click on the arrow on the player to stream.
Download via the MP3 icon below the player.
Download podcast via iTUNES.
MP3 File
Thursday, 5 January 2012
OH BUGGER! THAT'S CHRISTMAS OVER
This will be absolutely the last Christmas record from me until next December. But I've chosen a real goodie. A brilliant, soulful performance from Frederick "Toots" Hibbert that's simply oozing with misery. Enjoy.
BLOG NOTICE
My apologies.
I have switched comment moderation on for a while as we've had one particular troll being particularly vile recently. He not only tried to get under my skin over Henry but also attacked other commenters, and I won't have that.
I never thought I'd ever say this but thank God for Facebook. At least you can have a decent conversation there without having to worry about the socially deviant crashing the proceedings.
I have switched comment moderation on for a while as we've had one particular troll being particularly vile recently. He not only tried to get under my skin over Henry but also attacked other commenters, and I won't have that.
I never thought I'd ever say this but thank God for Facebook. At least you can have a decent conversation there without having to worry about the socially deviant crashing the proceedings.
A BITTER SWEET PAIN
Thank you.
Thank you to everybody who has sent in messages of sympathy over the last twenty four hours following the death of my good friend, Henry the Cat. I am extremely grateful for your concern and have been comforted by your words.
Henry was never a noisy cat and wasn't one to run around the house or play with toys. But my house seems unusually quiet today. The two Mad Dogs have even been quiet for a change. They didn't even tell me when the postman came this morning. But the atmosphere here is one of bitter sweet sadness at the loss of a friend rather than overwhelming grief. As far back as I can remember I have believed that God will not let anything which he has created disappear for ever, not people, not animals, not flowers and trees, not even rocks and stones, not anything. I believe that Christ will return and usher in the Kingdom of God where all that has ever been will be once again in the peaceable kingdom where the cat lies down with the mouse.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
TILL WE MEET AGAIN MY FRIEND
HENRY THE CAT
1st. April 1995 -
4th. January 2012
You never bit or
scratched a human.
You sat on laps.
You never got run over.
You were the perfect cat.
You were my friend
and will be once again
when all is made well.
MADPRIEST IS CRYING
My cat, and best friend, Henry, is very poorly. He hasn't eaten for five days.
We spent all yesterday evening at the veterinary hospital. Blood tests aren't showing up anything obvious and physical examinations are drawing a blank as well.
Henry spent the night at the hospital and is now on a drip.
I fear I am about to lose my friend of nearly seventeen years because we simply cannot afford to do anything else. The man who made me redundant better hope that God is a dog person.
We spent all yesterday evening at the veterinary hospital. Blood tests aren't showing up anything obvious and physical examinations are drawing a blank as well.
Henry spent the night at the hospital and is now on a drip.
I fear I am about to lose my friend of nearly seventeen years because we simply cannot afford to do anything else. The man who made me redundant better hope that God is a dog person.
COMPETITION TIME
This is a photograph of Grandmère Mimi causing trouble as usual. I've removed the original slogan as I hadn't a clue what it was about. It's your task to come up with a new slogan. And don't worry, Mimi has sworn never to leave another comment at OCICBW..., so she can't get you. I will, of course, accept anonymous entries from those of you who take the Voodoo thing seriously.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
GONE UP TO HEAVEN IN
TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN
PART ONE
1st. October 1929 -
4th. January 2011
Singer
Led Grady Chapman And The Suedes.
Was a member of The Robins.
"Don’t Blooper"
- Grady Chapman And The Suedes
13th. April 1933 - 22nd. January 2011
Singer and Guitarist
"Rock And Roll Record Girl"
- Bobby Poe and The Poe Kats
16th. January 1941
- 12th. January 2011
Guitarist and
Banjo Player
"The Devil Went Down To Georgia"
- The Charlie Daniels Band
30th. May 1945 - 26th. January 2011
Singer with The Marvelettes
"Please Mr. Postman" - The Marvelettes
25th. December 1945
- 8th. January 2011
Singer
As well as a solo career he worked with
100 Proof Aged In Soul, The Holidays,
The Jaywalkers and The 8th Day
"Keep The Faith" - Steve Mancha
24th. July 1958 - 4th. January 2011
Sang and played bass, flute,
keyboards, saxophone and oboe
Member of Japan
"Life In Tokyo" - Japan
16th. April 1947 - 4th. January 2011
As well as a solo career he was a member
of The Mavericks, The Humblebums,
Stealers Wheel and The Fifth Column.
"Stuck In The Middle With You"
- Stealers Wheel
20th. September 1952 - 15th. January 2011
Guitarist
Member of The Party Boys
and Sherbet
"Howzat" - Sherbet
7th. July 1927 - 26th. January 2011
Singer - Member of The Louvin Brothers
"Must You Throw Dirt In My Face"
- Charlie Louvin with George Jones
15th. August 1945
- 3rd. January 2011
Actress
She sang, "Cabaret" and "Don't Tell Mama" in the original cast of the Broadway musical "Cabaret."
"Cabaret" - Jill Haworth
OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
From THE LOCAL (Norway):
TV viewers in Norway were left laughing their posteriors off after a serious nightly news show inadvertently used an eye chart teeming with internet slang. The visual blunder accompanied a segment about eye treatment for senior citizens on Dagsrevyen, national broadcaster NRK's evening news programme.
Newsroom editor Solveig Tvedt conceded that she and her team hadn’t properly examined the chart before going to air.
TV viewers in Norway were left laughing their posteriors off after a serious nightly news show inadvertently used an eye chart teeming with internet slang. The visual blunder accompanied a segment about eye treatment for senior citizens on Dagsrevyen, national broadcaster NRK's evening news programme.
Newsroom editor Solveig Tvedt conceded that she and her team hadn’t properly examined the chart before going to air.
FRENCH SCHOOLCHILDREN TO HAVE
ONLY SLIM CHANCE OF PASSING EXAMS
From THE LOCAL (France):
Popular diet expert Pierre Dukan, whose books have sold millions around the world, has written an open letter to the future president of France with advice on how to curb the country's obesity problem.
One of Dukan's proposals is that pupils preparing for the Baccalaureat exam should be able to gain extra marks by sticking within a specified body mass index range.
The Baccalaureat is the end of school exam taken by most 18-year-olds in France.
Popular diet expert Pierre Dukan, whose books have sold millions around the world, has written an open letter to the future president of France with advice on how to curb the country's obesity problem.
One of Dukan's proposals is that pupils preparing for the Baccalaureat exam should be able to gain extra marks by sticking within a specified body mass index range.
The Baccalaureat is the end of school exam taken by most 18-year-olds in France.
FEMALE BURGLAR FEELS
FULL WEIGHT OF THE LAW
From THE LOCAL (Norway):
Per Bratteberg, who had recently retired after 37 years in the Norwegian police force, was awoken by his wife early on Wednesday morning when she heard strange sounds coming from the kitchen of their home in Mandal.
Leaving the bedroom to investigate, the 100-kilo ex-cop found a woman standing in the middle of the kitchen, having already helped herself to wine and cash.
“Wearing only my underpants, I broke into a run and pounced on the uninvited guest. She was pretty rabid, and tried everything to break free,” Bratteberg told local newspaper "Lindesnes Avis."
As the struggle brought the pair from the kitchen to the hall, the woman suddenly realized that their paths had crossed before. She began calling Bratteberg by his first name and even offered him a drop of cognac, which she assured him was her own.
When the police finally arrived at the scene, they found their one-time colleague sitting on the woman’s back in a state of near-total undress.
“They had a good laugh at the sight that greeted them,” said Bratteberg.
Per Bratteberg, who had recently retired after 37 years in the Norwegian police force, was awoken by his wife early on Wednesday morning when she heard strange sounds coming from the kitchen of their home in Mandal.
Leaving the bedroom to investigate, the 100-kilo ex-cop found a woman standing in the middle of the kitchen, having already helped herself to wine and cash.
“Wearing only my underpants, I broke into a run and pounced on the uninvited guest. She was pretty rabid, and tried everything to break free,” Bratteberg told local newspaper "Lindesnes Avis."
As the struggle brought the pair from the kitchen to the hall, the woman suddenly realized that their paths had crossed before. She began calling Bratteberg by his first name and even offered him a drop of cognac, which she assured him was her own.
When the police finally arrived at the scene, they found their one-time colleague sitting on the woman’s back in a state of near-total undress.
“They had a good laugh at the sight that greeted them,” said Bratteberg.
Monday, 2 January 2012
THE GRAND TUFTI'S NEW YEAR MESSAGE
OR THATCHER FUCKED THE KIDS
Quite a lot of the images we're likely to remember from the footage of the riots in the summer will be of young people out of control in the streets, walking off with looted property from shops, noisily confronting police and so on. It all feeds into the national habit of being suspicious and hostile when we see groups of youngsters on street corners or outside shops and bus shelters. We walk a bit more quickly and hope we can pass without some sort of confrontation.
The events of the summer were certainly horrific. They showed us a face of our society we don't like to think about – angry, destructive, lawless. But it's crucial to remember that what we saw on the streets in August was just one facet of a bigger and much more heartbreaking problem. The youngsters out on the streets may have looked like a big crowd, but they are a minority of their generation – the minority whose way of dealing with their frustrations was by way of random destructiveness and irresponsibility. Most people of their own age strongly shared the general feeling of dismay at this behaviour.
I've come to visit the charity Kids Company in London where today a lot of young people are joining together to pack food parcels for needy families in the neighbourhood. When you have a chance of talking to young people like this you really get a sense of how they feel about the society they're in and the challenges they face.
We have to ask, what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its young people? That doesn't provide enough good role models and drives youngsters further into unhappiness and anxiety by only showing them suspicion and negativity. When you see the gifts they can offer, the energy that can be released when they feel safe and loved, you see what a tragedy we so often allow to happen. Look at the work done by groups like the Children's Society or by the astonishing network of Kids Company here in London, and you see what can be done to wake up that energy and let it flourish for everyone's good.
One of the unique things in the Christian faith, one of its great contributions to our moral vision, is the way it has spoken about children and young people. Whether it's Jesus blessing children, or St Paul encouraging a young church leader, saying, 'Don't let people look down on you because you're young', or St Benedict in his rule for monks saying that you need to pay attention to the youngest as well as the oldest – Christian faith has underlined the essential importance of giving young people the respect they deserve.
Of course they're not infallible; of course they have a lot to learn. So do we all. But being grown-up doesn't mean forgetting about the young. And a good New Year's Resolution might be to think what you can do locally to support facilities for young people, to support opportunities for counselling and learning and enjoyment in a safe environment. And above all, perhaps we should just be asking how we make friends with our younger fellow citizens – for the sake of our happiness as well as theirs. A very happy and blessed New Year to you all.
Yes. But.
The problem is that what Rowan Williams sincerely suggests (suggestions that have come out of the mouths of canvassing politicians many, many times in the past) is just treating the symptoms, not curing the illness. Respecting, encouraging and keeping occupied young people who are either unemployed or taken advantage of by employers, who have no money and, therefore, no dignity or hope for a "traditional" future, is no more effective in the long run as sucking a cough sweet when you are suffering from bronchitis.
Children and young adults are primarily influenced by three factors: family, peers and society and the greatest of these is society for the simple reason that society influences their families and peers as well as being a direct influence - the influence of society on a young person is a triple whammy.
There have always been, and will always be, good and bad parents with most parents aspiring to an acceptable average. Rich kids, sent off to boarding school and looked after by nannies, are just as abused as latch key poor kids. Working parents with little cash can be much better parents than a Hooray Henry who even farms out his sons and heirs during the school holidays. And, conversely, many rich parents do a better job of raising their spoiled brats than crackhead single moms and absent fathers.
Young people are always influenced by friends and youth culture. Although a caring family background where morality is well defined usually enables a young person to avoid going completely off the rails, there will always be children of the most loving, responsible parents who end up as junkies.
However, bad parents and the wrong sort of friends will always be the exception to the general rule if society doesn't work against the common decency which is inherent in the vast majority of us. And, yes, it is inherent as recent experiments involving toddlers have proved. We are born knowing the difference between right and wrong. Unfortunately we are also born with a tendency for self-interest and, so, growing up is about learning to balance these two human traits.
The shit hits the fan when society becomes either predominantly immoral or amoral. We are all part of society. We are all influenced by it and we all contribute to its current nature. But some people have more influence than others. England became the sociopathic society it is today because of one person, Margaret Thatcher. Backed by her army of bobbies and her yes ma'am, poodle cabinet, she spouted out her Darwinian venom from 10 Downing Street, preaching dog eat dog, survival of the fittest, amoralism in a bid to turn Britain into Little America but without opportunity for all. She laid the rotten egg that was to give birth to the boom and bust, bail out the bankers, economy that is taking us all to hell in a handcart right now. Worst of all she gave employers permission to stop treating their workers as people and, instead, view them in the same way they would view a disposable asset. She changed the employment laws to make this possible. It was at this point that England stopped being a Christian country and became a machine without morality. Ironically, it was the young who jumped on her bandwagon from hell. The tragedy is that it is now the young who have no hope because of Thatcher's destruction of society.
Thatcher got rid of the concept of job security, a job for life, that had been part of English self-mythology for much of the Twentieth Century. This created an underclass of long term unemployed, poor people, many of whom did anything legal and illegal to stay alive or found temporary relief in promiscuous sex, drugs and drink. And these people started treating each other in the way employers treated them, as expendable. Couples split up as quickly and easily as companies downsized and sold off assets. There is no moral compass in England today because Thatcher brought her jackboots down on it and smashed it to smithereens.
It is the children and grandchildren of the working people Thatcher screwed who rioted in our streets last year. They are the young people joining gangs and killing each other. They are the drug takers and drug pushers. They are the thieves steeling lead of church roofs and mugging each other for cell phones. And why shouldn't they? We live now in a post-Thatcherism cesspit of of personal greed fed by new-atheists telling us that we are machines programmed with selfish genes. These young people have seen first hand that there is absolutely no point in being part of society because, as Thatcher said, there is now no such thing as society. There is no point saving for the future because when they throw you on the scrapheap the first thing they take off you is your savings. You might as well spend every penny you earn as soon as it hits your bank account and enjoy yourself now so at least you have some happy memories to look back on when you are queuing up outside the job-centre waiting for some patronising git of a civil servant to quiz you about how hard you looked for a job in the passed week.
No, respecting the young is not good enough. If we do not start respecting their parents and grandparents; if we don't start providing security of employment and decent wages for working people, if we don't stop rewarding the parasites and start rewarding the people whose sweat fuels the economy, then young people will just laugh in our faces because they are not stupid and they can see from what happened to their parents that there is no such thing as respect in our society anymore and no God-bothering, over-privileged schoolteacher, who would stab his best friend in the back and who obviously disrespects the whatever percent of our population who were born gay, is going to persuade them otherwise.
Oh, happy new year, by the way.
The events of the summer were certainly horrific. They showed us a face of our society we don't like to think about – angry, destructive, lawless. But it's crucial to remember that what we saw on the streets in August was just one facet of a bigger and much more heartbreaking problem. The youngsters out on the streets may have looked like a big crowd, but they are a minority of their generation – the minority whose way of dealing with their frustrations was by way of random destructiveness and irresponsibility. Most people of their own age strongly shared the general feeling of dismay at this behaviour.
I've come to visit the charity Kids Company in London where today a lot of young people are joining together to pack food parcels for needy families in the neighbourhood. When you have a chance of talking to young people like this you really get a sense of how they feel about the society they're in and the challenges they face.
We have to ask, what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its young people? That doesn't provide enough good role models and drives youngsters further into unhappiness and anxiety by only showing them suspicion and negativity. When you see the gifts they can offer, the energy that can be released when they feel safe and loved, you see what a tragedy we so often allow to happen. Look at the work done by groups like the Children's Society or by the astonishing network of Kids Company here in London, and you see what can be done to wake up that energy and let it flourish for everyone's good.
One of the unique things in the Christian faith, one of its great contributions to our moral vision, is the way it has spoken about children and young people. Whether it's Jesus blessing children, or St Paul encouraging a young church leader, saying, 'Don't let people look down on you because you're young', or St Benedict in his rule for monks saying that you need to pay attention to the youngest as well as the oldest – Christian faith has underlined the essential importance of giving young people the respect they deserve.
Of course they're not infallible; of course they have a lot to learn. So do we all. But being grown-up doesn't mean forgetting about the young. And a good New Year's Resolution might be to think what you can do locally to support facilities for young people, to support opportunities for counselling and learning and enjoyment in a safe environment. And above all, perhaps we should just be asking how we make friends with our younger fellow citizens – for the sake of our happiness as well as theirs. A very happy and blessed New Year to you all.
Yes. But.
The problem is that what Rowan Williams sincerely suggests (suggestions that have come out of the mouths of canvassing politicians many, many times in the past) is just treating the symptoms, not curing the illness. Respecting, encouraging and keeping occupied young people who are either unemployed or taken advantage of by employers, who have no money and, therefore, no dignity or hope for a "traditional" future, is no more effective in the long run as sucking a cough sweet when you are suffering from bronchitis.
Children and young adults are primarily influenced by three factors: family, peers and society and the greatest of these is society for the simple reason that society influences their families and peers as well as being a direct influence - the influence of society on a young person is a triple whammy.
There have always been, and will always be, good and bad parents with most parents aspiring to an acceptable average. Rich kids, sent off to boarding school and looked after by nannies, are just as abused as latch key poor kids. Working parents with little cash can be much better parents than a Hooray Henry who even farms out his sons and heirs during the school holidays. And, conversely, many rich parents do a better job of raising their spoiled brats than crackhead single moms and absent fathers.
Young people are always influenced by friends and youth culture. Although a caring family background where morality is well defined usually enables a young person to avoid going completely off the rails, there will always be children of the most loving, responsible parents who end up as junkies.
However, bad parents and the wrong sort of friends will always be the exception to the general rule if society doesn't work against the common decency which is inherent in the vast majority of us. And, yes, it is inherent as recent experiments involving toddlers have proved. We are born knowing the difference between right and wrong. Unfortunately we are also born with a tendency for self-interest and, so, growing up is about learning to balance these two human traits.
The shit hits the fan when society becomes either predominantly immoral or amoral. We are all part of society. We are all influenced by it and we all contribute to its current nature. But some people have more influence than others. England became the sociopathic society it is today because of one person, Margaret Thatcher. Backed by her army of bobbies and her yes ma'am, poodle cabinet, she spouted out her Darwinian venom from 10 Downing Street, preaching dog eat dog, survival of the fittest, amoralism in a bid to turn Britain into Little America but without opportunity for all. She laid the rotten egg that was to give birth to the boom and bust, bail out the bankers, economy that is taking us all to hell in a handcart right now. Worst of all she gave employers permission to stop treating their workers as people and, instead, view them in the same way they would view a disposable asset. She changed the employment laws to make this possible. It was at this point that England stopped being a Christian country and became a machine without morality. Ironically, it was the young who jumped on her bandwagon from hell. The tragedy is that it is now the young who have no hope because of Thatcher's destruction of society.
Thatcher got rid of the concept of job security, a job for life, that had been part of English self-mythology for much of the Twentieth Century. This created an underclass of long term unemployed, poor people, many of whom did anything legal and illegal to stay alive or found temporary relief in promiscuous sex, drugs and drink. And these people started treating each other in the way employers treated them, as expendable. Couples split up as quickly and easily as companies downsized and sold off assets. There is no moral compass in England today because Thatcher brought her jackboots down on it and smashed it to smithereens.
It is the children and grandchildren of the working people Thatcher screwed who rioted in our streets last year. They are the young people joining gangs and killing each other. They are the drug takers and drug pushers. They are the thieves steeling lead of church roofs and mugging each other for cell phones. And why shouldn't they? We live now in a post-Thatcherism cesspit of of personal greed fed by new-atheists telling us that we are machines programmed with selfish genes. These young people have seen first hand that there is absolutely no point in being part of society because, as Thatcher said, there is now no such thing as society. There is no point saving for the future because when they throw you on the scrapheap the first thing they take off you is your savings. You might as well spend every penny you earn as soon as it hits your bank account and enjoy yourself now so at least you have some happy memories to look back on when you are queuing up outside the job-centre waiting for some patronising git of a civil servant to quiz you about how hard you looked for a job in the passed week.
No, respecting the young is not good enough. If we do not start respecting their parents and grandparents; if we don't start providing security of employment and decent wages for working people, if we don't stop rewarding the parasites and start rewarding the people whose sweat fuels the economy, then young people will just laugh in our faces because they are not stupid and they can see from what happened to their parents that there is no such thing as respect in our society anymore and no God-bothering, over-privileged schoolteacher, who would stab his best friend in the back and who obviously disrespects the whatever percent of our population who were born gay, is going to persuade them otherwise.
Oh, happy new year, by the way.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
WORSHIP AT ST. LAIKA'S
HOLY
COMMUNION
SUNDAY
1ST. JANUARY, 2012
NEW YEAR'S DAY
All are welcome to join me in taking communion. There are no exceptions.
The order of service is posted beneath the audio file so that you can join in with the service. The words in bold type are the ones we say together.
If you want to physically partake of communion you will require a small piece of bread and a small amount of drink (preferably made from grapes and containing alcohol). You eat the bread after I say “The body of Christ,” and drink the wine after I say “The blood of Christ.” How you view the nature of this part of the service is completely up to you.
Click on the arrow on the player to stream.
Download via the MP3 icon below the player.
Download podcast via iTUNES.
MP3 File
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