Our two minutes of "fame"!

I must say happy though I am for the predictable recognition that Eddie Redmayne received on Sunday night for best actor at the Oscars - and the dedication he made to people with MND/ALS in his acceptance speech, I am disappointed that no recognition was afforded to Felicity Jones for best actress, portraying Jane Hawking. As I've commented previously his was a bravura performance of a bravura role. Her role was far from bravura and demanded a subtle contained performance, and that was exactly what she gave it: beautifully nuanced, tracing the patterns of shade and light in the highly condensed account of a relationship of more than forty years. I would have dedicated her Oscar to all the unheralded carers of us who have the disease in one form or another. As one of our friends whose wife had a frighteningly fast type of MND said to me after watching the film, "I thought it was brilliant but, oh, how painful it was to be reminded of that journey!"

On Sunday the BBC Songs of Praise team decided to base their programme round the Oscars. They interviewed Jane Hawking in Cambridge and filmed her singing in their church choir conducted by her present husband, Jonathan. She was great, very articulate and clear about her faith. Someone in the BBC had seen my previous post about the film, and thought that an interview with my Jane and me might fit in as an added extra. I suppose the parallels of my having MND like Stephen Hawking and our both having wives/carers named Jane worked nicely. So nine days previously, before we went on a short break, the film crew arrived with the presenter, Claire McCollum - loved her Ulster accent! - , and all their equipment. They certainly knew what they were up to. While Nick, the cameraman, Lindsey, the researcher, and Karen, the producer, worked away at setting up the equipment, removing the ticking clock (!), and arranging the shots, we relaxed and chatted to Claire. I suppose the actual filming took under an hour, mostly in one take - for which I was grateful as it's never easy to repeat exactly what you said (unless you're an actor, I suppose).

Anyway they soon packed up and zoomed back off to Media City in Salford, and next day we went off for a break in Devon. I put Songs of Praise on to record - of course. But we were actually able to watch it live, but it wasn't until half way through the programme that we were sure we'd appear. In what was a rather good programme over all, ours was, I think you might say, a cameo performance - being a minute or two long - but I must say I thought Karen had edited all my waffle very skilfully. As I've said elsewhere, there always things you wish you had added. When Claire asked me something about my strong faith sustaining me. My answer was something like, "I'm not so sure about it being 'strong'. Sometimes it feels I'm hanging on by a thread…". That's when I wish I'd said, "But I've discovered that God keeps holding on to me firmly."  However our bit ended positively with Jane talking about hope and then an upbeat contemporary worship song.

Afterwards it was fun following the Facebook comments which dribbled in that evening and the next day. One of the nicest comments, on Twitter, was from Claire McCollum herself:

"Feb 22: @mwenham you and Jane were just brilliant! So glad u enjoyed it. A pleasure to work on this one! Take care. Btw really enjoyjng ur book. C" (Which reminds me, you can get discounted copies of My Donkeybody by contacting me on michaeltwenham@gmail.com!) 

So I'm happy on this occasion both to compliment the BBC for a job well done and to congratulate the Songs of Praise department on a nicely crafted programme. And finally I must say how good the film crew were and of course how lovely Claire the interviewer was!

Cross about palms

What a lovely week it's been so far! Almost unbroken sunshine. I know we're only having average temperatures by Sydney standards - but it is only April. However farmers, gardeners and water-power generators could do with some rain.

Sunday brought some good news with Lewis Hamilton winning an exciting Chinese Grand Prix - and both the Williams' cars completing the race, for the first time this season! Maldonado, their new driver, was lapped, but at least he made it. I enjoyed too the Palm Sunday 'Songs of Praise' with some good interviews and a new song I'd not met before, The Light of the World (Stuart Townend's, not Tim Hughes' version) sung by Cathy Burton - Cathy Burton singing 'The Light of the World'.

Talking of Palm Sunday I was alerted to the almost unbelievable story of Colin Atkinson who has been moved from his electrician's job with Wakefield District Housing for displaying a small Palm Cross in his van - for the past 15 years. One account I read said: "... following a complaint from a tenant, who suggested that the cross might offend other faiths, Colin has been put under huge pressure to remove the cross from his van, and company rules have been amended since the dispute to ban personal items. So far Colin has refused - and he is now being investigated for his alleged failure to comply." I can't believe the complaint came from an adherent of any other faith than atheism, as, in my experience, people who are passionate about their own faith seriously normally appreciate others who are serious about theirs giving it expression. Burkas and phylacteries don't 'offend' me. In fact they provoke me to examine the depth of my faith. It's when power politics attaches itself to religion, as a perverse form of self-justification, that problems arise. The old-firm rivalry between Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow is to do with unhealed political wounds, not about different views of the eucharist. If there's anything that a palm cross represents it's Jesus' rejection of the way of power. The palm being waved as a banner in a victory parade is twisted into the cross - the symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation. 

Photo: St Giles' Church, Aintree

It's a myth vigorously promoted by enemies of religious belief that faith is the root of conflict. In fact, it has always been the same: the desire for power. As Andrew White has been showing in Iraq, the only route to reconciliation begins with understanding and sharing faith.

Advent

As Brian comments, today is Advent Sunday, and I'm watching a really rather good Songs of Praise, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wdb51. It's below freezing outside which is my today's excuse for not going out to church. Sorry, vicar! Stiffening muscles combined with end-of-day tiredness is not a good recipe, unlike the excellent lunch we went out to earlier - it was like a Christmas meal, and again the best of company.

From Douglas House website

Our hostess works at Douglas House, the hospice for teenagers and young adults in east Oxford. So I asked her about euthanasia, and she told me that the inpatients there never asked for "mercy-killing". They all want to live and to have a natural death. She also emphasised the importance of explaining the control of symptoms available in palliative care for patients facing death. Fear is a big factor in seeking a short-cut, and that fear, Liz explained, arises out of ignorance. And ignorance is also a major factor in the popular opinion in favour of euthanasia. If people realised that in this country we really do have the ability to control symptoms and pain in terminal conditions, she reckons far fewer people would support shortening life unnaturally. It was impressive hearing a senior practitioner in palliative care talking objectively and yet passionately about something in which she was highly expert.

Returning to Songs of Praise, which has now finished, there was an amazing interview with the Bright family. Their young son Edward contracted a rare strain of meningitis when he was 7, and only survived at the cost of his lower legs and forearms. His parents confessed to having not a great deal of faith but when you're desperate you pray, as his dad said. He has his own blog, in which they wrote: "As we reflect on our journey we have experienced deep despair and desperation, not knowing if our precious son would win the battle he had with death, but win he did, (and he recalls that when he was asleep (on the ventilator) he just knew he did not want to die and that God helped him (Edward's own words)). After the despair and desperation came hope, and with that, the optimism and inspiration we have gained from our son, Edward. He is now blessed with a true understanding of just how precious and fragile life is." In the programme, I think Edward said that in his coma Jesus came to him and told him he would not die. On the website: http://edwardbright.eu/default.aspx, you can see how he begins to learn to walk on his prosthetic legs a year later. On Songs of Praise we saw him playing football with, I think, his twin brother William.

I love the wisdom of that sentence, "He is now blessed with a true understanding of just how precious and fragile life is." What a great message of hope and faith for Advent.

Changing habits

Tuesday became Monday this week. It wasn't because the hot weather is meant to be finishing tomorrow - just because we'd arranged to meet my eldest brother and sister-in-law for lunch at The Bull in Fairford. They were having a break nearby and we extended our staycation to join them. It was good to be out of the heat! That sounds really ungrateful. It was a very pleasant occasion - no canned music, good company (including their dog) and conversation, and good food. Three of us had their 'Credit Crunch Lunch' which at under £5 was excellent value.

Talking of bulls we enjoyed our lunch on Thursday in the neighbourhood of a rather fine real bull keeping guard over his nuclear family, cow and two calves. We'd been to visit one of the saints of the Cotswold Hills, Judy, who lives near the Roman villa at Chedworth. She is an old friend from my vicar days. We had coffee with her and then headed south to have a picnic lunch. We thought we'd have it at a National Trust property, Sherborne Park's The Lodge. We ended up at Ewe Pen Barn, the old assembly point for the estate's sheep on the way to market. Where there are two conveniently placed picnic tables and the start of numerous walks. Over the wall as we drew up was a mare and its foal and the bull and family. I tried to persuade Jane to climb over and take a close-up of the bovine family, but she wouldn't....

While we were eating, we watched a couple of swallows flying in and out of the outhouse next to us. We couldn't hear any cheeping from inside - so guessed there weren't any chicks yet. On the other hand it wasn't very obvious they were bringing mud for nest-building.
I'm told dandelions are particularly prolific this year. In fact I think lilac is too, and hawthorn.... Perhaps it's going to be a hard winter. Or perhaps it's because it was.

Sunday was Pentecost - or Whitsunday, as some of my old parishioners used to insist. And the BBC excelled itself. I have to admit it and congratulate Mr Nagra. At 10 am on BBC1 there was the morning service from All Saints', Peckham. Some years ago Frog and Amy Orr-Ewing led a parish weekend for us at Windmill Farm in Clanfield. He was then curate at St Aldate's in Oxford. Now he's vicar in Peckham leading a thriving multi-racial church, full of life, while she is in worldwide demand as a speaker about why Christianity makes sense. Anyway we saw on our screens what contemporary Christian worship can really look like. Frog was leading and preaching. It was a tonic, as, after a dodgy start, was Songs of Praise in the evening from the King's Church in Newport. It linked the Holy Spirit's first coming with the Welsh Revival of 1904. Again we saw a church full of people utterly enjoying worshipping. I particularly appreciated X Factor finalist Beverley Trotman singing 'Voice of Hope', but there was also the 'Love song of the Revival', Dim ond Jesu. And coincidentally both programmes ended with 'Happy Day'. Interestingly, our morning service at church ended with the same. It is a very celebratory song, entirely appropriate for the birthday of the Church.

Multi-faceted love

What a good weekend!  Mellow, I'd call it.  First thing Saturday our friends Tony and Jimmy who fitted our new kitchen last year came round to advise us about our misted up double-glazed window panes and some other ideas I've had about tidying up the house.  It's nice to have people you trust.  Then the family from Manchester arrived and settled in, followed by Bryan from Bristol; by Sunday lunch all the family had arrived.  Yes!!  I got them practising hauling me to my feet so that Jane doesn't always have to do it. We always get a Saturday paper when they're here.  This week it was The Times, and unusually it had an excellent article by Simon Barnes, their football correspondent who does Nature Notes as well, about his son Eddie aged 5 who has Down's Syndrome.  It's called something like, 'My Life with a tiger cub'.  I've quoted from it below, and put the link up on the list.

All good things have to come to an end of course, and now they've all gone back to their week's work.  It was a sort of early Mothering Sunday, because sadly next Sunday clashes with the start of the F1 Grand Prix season - and we have our priorities, you know - only joking!  

We stayed in to watch 'Songs of Praise', which was about prayer.  Although the music had reverted a bit to the all-in-black dull concert style, the interviews were above averagely good.  I'd been sounded out about the programme, but I have to say three of the interviews - with Rowan Williams, Desmond Tutu and Jane Grayshon - were all outstanding.  I don't always feel that our Aled is really engaged with the subject but this time was an exception.  Archbishop Tutu talked about prayer in terms of a relationship of love.  'It sounds almost like marriage,' said Aled, 'for better for worse, in sickness and in health.'  To which Tutu gave one of his chuckles in agreement.   Jane Grayshon has had acute chronic pain (which is treated in a hospice) for 35 years, and she made no bones about how difficult it was.  'Is it hell on earth?'  'Yes.'  I can't imagine living continuously with acute pain.  It must be the worst thing.  A good programme.

Later that evening I read Simon Barnes' article.  It is full of both parents' love for their son.  He asked a question our society needs reminding of, especially these days when some are being told they are useless 'burdens' on society:

'What is Eddie for? A question worth asking, I think. The Nazis sent people with Down’s to the ovens, because they polluted the purity of the race. And before we shudder at such barbarity, we should remember that most women pregnant with a baby with Down’s syndrome choose to abort. It’s clear that many people believe that a child with Down’s has no point: that such a being is extraneous to human needs, a mere burden on society and, in particular, on the parents. Best get rid of them.

'The reality of Eddie’s life contradicts all that. At school, he is held very dear. The headmistress has said that her school is a better place for his presence: because Eddie is there, the school’s small society has become more caring, more gentle, more at ease with itself. At the end of the last school year, Eddie won the Peace Prize, voted for annually by the entire class. The prize is given to the kindest, most generous and most helpful child....'

He talks about people's reaction to Eddie in public places - and it is universally positive. But he asks:

'Is that enough, though? Shouldn’t an individual contribute something to society? Eddie’s function is to be loved, and to love in return. Perhaps that is everybody’s ultimate function. Eddie enriches the lives of his family and enriches the lives of those he comes into contact with outside. That seems to me to be a life right on the cutting edge of usefulness.'

Weekend watching

Perhaps he didn't know St Valentine's Day was over.  That must be his only excuse.  But at 3.45 AM, yes AM, he was at it.  Yes, Romeo's back - not at full throttle, but like an orchestra tuning up.  (By the way, 'throstle' is an old word for 'thrush'.)  My only consolation is that it might be a sign that spring is on its way.  Oddly too, on Radio 3 this morning they played Prokofiev's ballet suite Romeo and Juliet.  


A lot of us with MND are a bit tired of being cooped up by the snow and then the cold.  Spring sunshine and warmth can't come too soon, as far as we're concerned.  All the same I'm enjoying the Winter Olympics, beside my fire!  The less said about the weekend's rugby the better; it wasn't a great spectacle, I thought - though the end of the Wales-Scotland match was unexpectedly dramatic.

Songs of Praise was back to its prissy worst format (red roses, King's Singers in PINK ties...), but was totally redeemed by one interview with Peggy, of The Archers, June Spencer.  In the series, she's married to Jack Wooley who has Alzheimers.  In real life, her husband also had the same disease, and then a stroke:  'I remember saying, "Why me?" and God said, "Because, with my help, you can cope.  And that's it.'  And he did help me, and I did cope, and looking back on it I realise that I couldn't have coped without his help.'  And then she went on to talk about the resurgence of love she experienced in his illness.  It's a wonderful jewel of an interview and well worth listening to.  I hope the BBC repeat it if they do one of their retrospective SoPs in the summer.  (You can find it about 22 minutes into the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qxypn/Songs_of_Praise_Valentines_Day/).

Sorry - I'm busy...

... writing, but here are a few thoughts from last week.  Had a great day on Sunday (not yesterday), as we had lunch with great friends, Ian and Shelley, and their two youngest sons who are a pleasure to be with, and then came home to find a message on the answerphone from two other top friends, Anthony and Ruth, who were just 'passing' on the M4, wondering whether they could pop in.  We managed to reach them before they'd got too far, and so we had a lovely hour with them.  There's no other word for friends like those four than a blessing.

Anthony and Ruth have been working all hours receiving and despatching medical supplies to Haiti, through their amazing charity, International Health Partners UK.   I've probably written about it before.  They work at getting pharmaceutical companies to donate in-date stock and then with aid agencies distributing them at no cost.  It's such a good concept, but such hard work.  I saw them mentioned today winning one of BA's opportunity grants - which is well deserved and will be well used
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/business/opportunitygrant/6469188/British-Airways-UK-Opportunity-Grant-competition-winners-business-awards.html).

The other good thing that Sunday which in fairness I have to mention is 'Songs of Praise' (since I've slagged them off in the past) which came from Peterborough.  Contemporary and some trad worship, real people enjoying worshipping, and talking about their lives.  And actually this Sunday wasn't bad either, from Southwark Cathedral of all places, a few choristers' ruffs in evidence, but mainly a whole variety of people again really worshipping with a variety of hymns and songs.  So I give Tony Nagri and the Beeb their due - and hope we don't revert to the travelogue/concert formula.

Then on Monday there were the two BBC programmes about assisted suicide, Panorama about Kay Gilderdale, who was acquitted of murdering  her daughter Lynn with ME - which wasn't exactly a documentary, with its background music and wheeling seagulls and of course lots of inevitable emotion.  I was struck by Chris Woodhead (who has MND and wants the option of choosing when to end his life) whose view is that changing the present law would actually make things worse - which I think is right.  Then in the evening was Terry Pratchett's Dimbleby lecture, Shaking hands with death.  That was another emotive essay.  He'd obviously learned my father's maxim about preaching, 'Placere, docere, movere.'  Please, teach, move - in that order, i.e. win over your listeners, inform them and then persuade them to action.  It seemed a persuasive case for assisted 'death' as he chose to call it, when you listened to it, but afterwards you realised what he hadn't said, for example, about the effect on others (I think Sue has already made a comment on this blog to the effect that 'No man is an island') and the culture of fear rather than of hope.  I noticed he said, 'If I knew that I could die at any time I chose, then suddenly every day would be as precious as a million pounds.'  Hang on, I thought, every day is already infinitely precious as far as I'm concerned.  And his resounding aphorism was, 'My life, my death, my choice.'  Since when, I wondered, did any of us choose to enter life?  And why are we so frightened of the unknown, of losing control, of chance?  I'd rather, 'My life, my death, my adventure!'  

And then, after a quick read of my bro's rather good short manuscript on whether Paul changed the message of Jesus as Philip Pullman is preparing to claim (again... yawn!) - to which the answer is a considered and well informed and argued 'No',  the rest of the week is was nose the laptop working on the next book with Jozanne, I Choose Everything.  We're aiming to finish the draft this month.

Saints and science

One of the things I have to admit I miss about non Anglican worship now is the rhythm of the church year. So it was nice to wake up this morning to a rather good service on Radio 4 from Aberystwyth. It was marking All Saints' Day, and contained a fine explanation of saints drawn from the book of Hebrews in the Bible, as well as a good variety of music - which is sadly more than can be said 'Songs of Praise' this evening. Some dire musical performances which seemed entirely at odds with with the words and of course, by and large, the old stereotyped image of saints as specially good people. Actually they're simply ordinary believers - like the McFadyens who provided the most moving interview.

I came across this in an article today. It seems to me to be germane to what I said about Prof Nutt and the supposed absolutism of science:
'Throughout the report the authors pit the objectivity, rigour and precision of ‘science’ and psychology against the subjectivities of religion and ‘values’. In so doing the report ignores the social, philosophical and value systems that the psychological sciences themselves inhabit,.... The authors seem to believe that the ‘scientific’ evidence over which they preside allows them to police the boundaries of ‘normality’ and their apparent ability to attach values (‘positive’) to psychological observations has a degree of confidence that is breath-taking.' It was in 'Changing Sexual Orientation and Identity? The APA Report' by Andrew Goddard and Glynn Harrison, on the Fulcrum website. We need to keep insisting that even 'science' inhabits social, philosophical and value systems

Some things to celebrate

On Friday afternoon, we went to the local MNDA branch meeting in the Holiday Inn on the Oxford ringroad. It was good to meet up with other people in the same boat. I was delighted to meet Peter Durkin who keeps a number of us smiling with his seemingly endless stream of jokes. Before MND hit him he used to teach geography. The main item was a talk by Rose Prince who writes about food for the Telegraph and judges the BBC's Food and Farming awards. She was refreshingly down to earth. She didn't have much time for all the latest food fads. 'Super foods' are bunkum! And I was pleased that she debunked the myth about butter being so bad for you. Did you know that in Dijon they have one of the lowest incidences of cardio-vascular disease in Europe - and one of the highest consumptions of butter? Not because of their red wine consumption, which is high, but because of the variety in their diet. I celebrated with a scone, cream and strawberry jam at the end. And I'm back on butter for breakfast. Yippee!

And, hallelujah! 'Songs of Praise' was back to its former best last night. After I posted about it on Facebook, Jules commented, 'I don't usually watch, but felt I should tune in last night, and I am glad I did! Wow! Wish all churches were as amazing at proclaiming the good news about Jesus as that one seems to be.Real life, real people, real testimonies, the reality of Jesus in their lives was great to see!' Couldn't have put it better myself. It came from Peterborough. Full of people enjoying worship 'vertically' as Noel Richards put it, but also 'horizontally' i.e. getting involved in making a difference in their community + a touching account of God transforming someone's self image. I've put the iPlayer link up. Give yourself a tonic and watch it. More, please, auntie Beeb.

I don't know if you caught the item this morning about Rachel Pooley in the Samoan tsunami. A real good news story. If you look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n1rb2#synopsis , and then the Breakfast Show chapter 3 you can listen to it. Rachel tells the story of how she and her boy-friend, Tolu Taranaki, got caught in their pick-up as the tidal wave swept over the island. Their car was hit by the water. Tolu smashed the window and caught hold of her hand; he got sucked out but she was left in the car as it filled with pitch black water. "I was trying to breath in the water," she said, mimicking a deep inhale of air, "so I was gulping down water.... Blinded by the wave and inhaling the salty sea, Pooley struggled inside the car to find a way out: "I don't even know how long it was, probably a few minutes, but it just seemed forever."
With no sight and no clear exit she lost hope and resigned herself to the inevitable. "I said to myself, Rachel, if this is it, this is it," she said. "If this is you're time to die, that's it."
Her body relaxed in the spinning car, she said a little prayer for herself and her boyfriend who had been pulled into the wave.
"Please let us get out of this," she said. "Don't let us die like this, we just can't.... Then the next thing I saw was daylight and I was able to get out." Commented Shelagh Fogarty, "Sounds like her prayer was answered!" Too true. I notice the BBC website headlines the story, 'Tsunami survivor recalls lucky escape' - listen to the lady, guys.

Friends and family

Oh no, 'Lord of all hopefulness' sung by a choir dressed all in black - Songs of Praise has done it again.... Interviews all right, the ones I saw, but oh dear! No wonder it's rated at a measly 5.4 in my television guide. Whereas there was rather a good morning service on Radio 4, this morning, with a particularly good talk from Amy Orr-Ewing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lr14n/Sunday_Worship_26_07_2009/). I recommend a listen.

We have spent a very happy couple of days with our family from 'up north' and at various points all the others. Faith was teething which disturbed her night's sleep, and her parents', of course. But we enjoyed our time in the park with the three girls, and hopefully Paul and Penny were able to get SOME rest. It's a full-on job being a parent.

On Friday afternoon, we went to the Oxfordshire MND Association Friends' meeting at Millets, our local garden centre. After wandering round for a bit, we ended up in the restaurant and were given a huge and very good cream tea. A number of us with MND were there, representing three of the four variants, I should think. It was nice to meet them, and the 'visitors', as well as some of the committee. Being with others who are in the same boat helps.

I was naturally disappointed to hear the news on Saturday morning that the Royal College of Nursing had changed its official line on assisted suicide to a 'neutral' one, after polling from 1200 of their members. The percentages were 49% were in favour of assisted suicide, and 40% opposed. To my calculation that's under 600 of their total membership of 400,000, hardly a resounding mandate. But, as I've said before, this is not a matter of numbers; it's a matter of deeply complex issues which need the wisest of people to discuss. It's not just to do with individual choices; it's to do with the kind of society that is best for humans to live in. I'm inclined to agree this much with Dr Peter Carter, RCN's general secretary, that a Royal Commission would not be a bad idea, BUT it would need to address fundamental issues, not just the presenting symptoms.

It occurs to me that The Times poll, published the same day, and commissioned in the immediate aftermath of the much publicised deaths of Sir Edward and Lady Downes in Zurich, is rather like patients diagnosing their own symptoms. The newly opened swine flu hot line crashed on Friday, I gather, because it was overwhelmed with 9 million calls on its first day. I also gather that in the west Midlands, when they were still testing for swine flu, only half the tests turned out to be the virus. We are easily frightened by things outside our control, and that's most true about suffering and dying. If only we could control it, we'd be happier, we suppose. The Times poll purported to show, besides a big majority in favour of legalising assisted suicide, that people were quite sophisticated in the understanding of the issues. Well, I wonder: for example they were asked whether they favoured assisted suicide for the terminally ill. There was no definition of 'terminally ill'. Am I terminally ill? In one document, I recall, the MNDA warned us not to describe ourselves as with a terminal illness when applying for holiday insurance. Is cancer a terminal condition? MS? And so on. I suppose technically I have a terminal condition, but it doesn't often feel like it and I don't intend to dignify it with the label. As Paul said to me on Saturday, life is a terminal condition. Sorry, but it's true.

Which set me thinking on two lines. One is that the difficulty of defining 'terminal' should be a warning against weakening our present prohibition, because of the shadowy territory we would enter. And the other is, why should it be more legitimate to take the life of a terminal patient than a non-terminal one? Is that life of less value? Because it's shorter? Because it's hard? Because it's costly to maintain?

Bits and pieces

First a bit of good news and an apology. The wheelchair people arrived at 9.30 am on the day they said they would. So I take back my whinge (in practice if not in principle - I still think it's not beyond the wit of management to give SOME idea of time). However that pales into insignificance compared with what a friend has told me about her husband who's in a nursing home, with dementia. The wheelchair he went in with was used for all and sundry, and soon trashed - footplates gone, brakes broken. I well believe it. It's an all too common occurrence. So she ordered a comfortable replacement with footraising, head rest etc so that he wouldn't have to be confined in the home's rather hard chairs all day. That was last February. It's still not come, and when she rang recently she was told there'd be at least a 30-week wait. So I want to apologise for giving the impression that things are all rosy in the health service garden. If you read Al's last comment, you'll discover that's far from the truth. I must say it irks me that because I have MND I seem to get good and rapid attention, whereas people like my friend's husband, whose condition is just as acute as mine but without the 'terminal' tag, get treated as non-urgent. I know it's 'a matter of resources', but bailing out the banks, replacing Trident, paying MPs fat pensions... how many wheelchairs and technicians could you get for all that?

I had something of a bitty Sunday. It started off OK with the young people at our church leading worship, five long-haired teenagers (male and female), exploding the myth that churches are full of people aged 50 and above and cubs and brownies. It just ain't true.

Then in the afternoon I kept out of the sun and watched the test match between the British Lions and South Africa. Peter had recorded it for me on Saturday, but hadn't told me the result. What a game! Talk about hammer and tongs - and some other instruments of torture. It wasn't the fairest match, but was the firiest I've seen for a long time. And what an ending - heart-break! Watch the Lions hit back on Saturday. Compelling viewing.

Which is more than can be said for 'Songs of Praise' these days. What HAS happened to it? Is it sponsored by the British tourist boards? It seems a cross between scenic photography and the myth-making I was talking about just now. On Sunday it was from Belfast. Where was REAL church? The adults looked as though they were dressed for a funeral, all in black, or purple, or dark turquoise. I've NEVER seen a congregation like it. And as for their singing that great modern song of praise, In Christ alone (good choice!), it was like a dirge. And the kids, who looked considerably happier, from the junior choir of the year were all neatly posed beside the prettified Belfast dock. It seems the programme needs a consultant who really knows where it's at in the contemporary church. Even the interviews seem to have become rather banal too. Shame.

Then came 'Revelations' on Channel 4, which was about the Alpha course, the introduction to Christianity which has become a worldwide phenomenon. It was filmed in Oxford; in fact Jane and I were at St Aldates Church on the last day of filming. The result was a curate's egg, good in parts. It wasn't as dispassionate as it purported to be. There were odd inbalances, such as a long time filming a participant exploring the supermarket skips for bargains, and the curious incident of the unrecorded loss of temper, and the tangentially connected archive film from Toronto. I admired St Aldates for allowing the crew in, unlike 10 other churches, we were told. Whether they regret the final result I don't know. But you do put yourself at the broadcasters' mercy when agree, as we found, though I suspect we fared better. (Maybe it's the difference between the BBC and independent companies.)