Michaelmas Community: April 2012

Generation Less

"Generation Less: Cuts are hitting young people hardest

Charities that provide a safety net to the nation's poorest are suffering badly in austerity Britain, according to a new report launched tomorrow"

Independent on Sunday, UK 29th April 2012

Well, we all saw this coming!

A government cutting services for the young and defenceless amongst local authorities and then cutting funding for charities. Now the effects are becoming apparent.

One of the most powerful people in the country and its an attitude of lets forget the young, they are not important - they are not voters - YET! ... you know - the people who are the next generation. So what will they think when they become the leaders of our country.... lets forget the old! Look what they did for us! Contempt will only breed contempt. At the moment, that is this Government's legacy!

But as a leader of the country, they should be protecting everyone and anyone. Everyone has a right to be protected. No one should be excluded!

I would prefer them to protect the young rather than spend £millions deciding how to reform the House of Lords and reduce the number of MPs.

"The good shepherd knows all our needs, even before we ask him."

It should be a human expectation that all our needs are met, irrespective of who we are and where we live, provided by the leaders of this country. They talk about a lack of values in society... perhaps they should look closer to home, redress the balance and lead by example.

Baroness Warsi and Religious Identity

David Cameron told us in his King James speech last December that he was a “vaguely practising” sort of Christian but that even if he didn’t go to church very often he knew that Christianity had been awfully important in our country’s background and therefore we shouldn’t give up on it now.
David Cameron set the tone for this type of speech by talking of the need for Britain to have confidence in “its Christian identity”. That identity, he argued, is a “crucial” aspect of Britishness. He knows that Christianity in Britain is undergoing a long term decline and that less that 50% of the population has any sort of significant commitment to Christianity. How to get round this problem? The trick is to declare, as he did, that values such as responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities “are the values we treasure” and “Yes, they are Christian values”.

Humanist Life Feb 2012

They still need to lead by example, by promoting responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, pride.... Then perhaps the young will follow and install this in future generations.

Values provides us with most of our present needs, He is always present and knows our needs and is there even when we do not realise it. But we need to pass them on to those who are to follow, so they too can experience love, joy and freedom!You know to those who are young and defenceless to make them feel secure; secure in our own image!

LOVE, JOY, FREEDOM

It is I... this reminds me of the character LeCLerc from BBC TV 'Allo 'Allo.
It is always amazing how a partially sighted and partially disguised man always causes the most hilarity.... as if you never saw what was coming up anyway.

But this is also true of many other things that we look from a distance, unsure of what is coming towards us but rather than accept the truth that is before us we shy away.

Many in this world are rejected and excluded because certain people are frightened of the simplest of things. But what are they frightened for.... ?

"It is I, do not be afraid." (John 6:20)

Easter Tuesday - Feed and Relax

So when do you truly rest?
Is it the moment you sit down after work?
Is it the moment you finish at the gym?
Is it the moment you slide into bed?
Is it the moment you share your troubles?
Is it the moment you finish a meal?
Is it whilst you are walking along a sea shore and feed from the calming sounds?

What would it be like if there were no mobile phones on this Holy Saturday?

What would it be like if there were no mobile phones?

What would you do?
How could you live?
Would we have to email from a computer?
Use a telephone box to make calls when we are in the street?
Make use of the telephone at home. Share its use.
Would we have the art of conversation back?
A silence from all those ringtones?

Today we are in a state of grief. Similar to how you would feel just after losing the use of a mobile phone.

Our servant king died yesterday.

What are we to do?
How shall we continue?
Why couldn't it have been us instead of him?

Joseph of Arimathea, as any friend would do, wrapped the body in fresh linen and laid it in a tomb.

Like so many tragedies there is a sense of loss, a quiet time before we have to pick ourselves up again. Today is that quiet time. It is a time to think about all the 'what ifs'. It is a time to think about 'how I can change'.

It is simply a time to think!

God, make us think about our actions and how we can change those that need changing.