21st Century Pilgrim

Whatever happened to 2011?

2011-10-24T21:39:00.011+01:00

It hardly seems possible that it is a year today since I last posted anything. During that time I have also been only a rare and occasional visitor to Facebook and Twitter - if I have any online friends left, they probably think I'm dead! My only excuse is that a lot has happened since I dressed up as a schoolgirl for Children in Need 2010!

December is, of course, always a busy time for a Vicar, but things usually calm down a bit in the New Year. This year was different! Roger was very unwell over Christmas, and diagnosed by two out of hours and emergency doctors with asthma. After the holiday his regular GP decided that he needed an ECG; he was ordered to hospital immediately and fitted with a pacemaker a few days later. Complications meant that he spent nearly three months unable to drive, so I had to fit the role of chauffeur-cum-nurse into my vicaring. It is still scary to think what could have happened if if his GP had been no more astute than her colleagues.

Because the hospital was desperately short of beds, he was allowed home over the weekend while he was waiting for the operation - but only on the strict condition that he did absolutely nothing. It was this weekend that I received an email from the Rector in the neighbouring parish to say that he was moving back to the north of England. This had particular significance, because it had been agreed a couple of years ago that our two groups of parishes would merge when one became vacant. So, while I should have been keeping Roger stress-free and concentrating on delivering him back to hospital in one piece, I had to break the news that we would shortly be looking after nine churches instead of three!

By the time my nursing and chauffeuring duties came to an end, my colleague was saying his fond farewells to the churches of Upton-upon-Severn, The Hook, Ripple, Earls Croome, Hill Croome and Strensham, and the parish secretary and I were planning the date to move the office stuff. The office move was necessary because the diocese wanted to sell the large, old, cold Rectory and replace it with something more suited to the 21st century. Moving the office, however, wasn't the only move I had to undertake.

To help with the workload, I gained an extra part-time colleague, and it was agreed that the most practical arrangement, for all sorts of reasons, was that he should move into Hanley Swan Vicarage, where we had lived for the past 10 years. Since it takes time to sell one house and buy another, we have moved into a house that the diocese owns a few miles outside the parishes that I'm caring for. It's a lovely house in a very nice village, but long-term I do need to live on the patch, so this is only a temporary place to lay our heads.

The office move was also only temporary. A small space had been created in the Church Rooms, but it was little more than a storage area and we still had to find some suitable premises. We now have a shop in Upton High Street, which sells Christian books, gifts and fair-trade items, as well as housing the office. It gives us a much more visible presence and makes it easy for everyone to find out what's going on in the churches. There is a Baptist and a Roman Catholic church in Upton as well, and we are working with them to make it a genuinely ecumenical venture. Now, if we could just get the phone sorted out............

I'm fortunate in having a fantastic team of lay and clergy colleagues, since no-one could manage five parishes and nine churches single-handed, but as you can see I haven't exactly been idle, wearing hats ranging from nurse to shopkeeper. Perhaps my schoolgirl outfit last year was the preparation!

Role reversal at school

2010-11-21T23:40:00.008Z

To raise money for the BBC's Children in Need appeal, the children of St Gabriel's with St Mary's Church of England School challenged me to come to school dressed as a schoolgirl, and they all came dressed as vicars.

Guess who!!!

The RE co-ordinator looking the part!

Two holy dinner ladies.

The staff were a great gospel choir!

The head in the guise of an altar boy??

Rev Pudsey, our first ordained bear and..

our first woman bishop??

Two reverend gentlemen

Lots of fun and....

lots of cakes!

(I made 250 and they were all gone by the end of the day!)

Country life

2010-06-24T10:18:00.004+01:00

This picture of me at the Diocesan Rogation Service a few weeks ago appeared on the Worcester Diocesan website recently. It's not exactly flattering, but was so great for my street-cred (field-cred??) as a rural vicar that I couldn't resist asking for a copy to put on the blog.

My life is still being ruled by Thea. She is getting bigger every day and is now very strong! We went to the first of series of training classes on Tuesday. She wasn't any worse behaved than most of the puppies there, but she was BIGGER than most of them, which made it very noticeable!

We're enjoying the beautiful weather here in rural Worcestershire and the farmers are all busy getting their hay cut - which means you can't drive very far without meeting a tractor and trailer. On narrow country lanes this requires a whole different set of skills to driving on the motorway!

Another traffic hazard is that the Highways people are re-surfacing the road through the village. I think that, at the moment, most of the villagers would have been quite happy if the scheme had been a victim of expenditure cuts!! What I can't work out is why it takes two people to operate the swtich on the traffic lights - especially since there is also a convoy vehicle sheperding us through them. Every time I go through, there is one man talking on a walkie-talkie, presumably to the convoy driver, and another one standing watching him!

The latest member of the family!

2010-05-26T20:43:00.004+01:00

Some people have been asking why I've been spending less time online lately. This is the reason - she thinks that working at the computer is a waste of good playing time!

Her name is Thea (short for Theodora Episcopa, who may have been a woman bishop in the early Roman church). She is now twelve weeks old and very lively.

Easter Flowers

2010-04-10T14:17:00.002+01:00

We have very talented people who arrange flowers in all our churches, and this Easter those in Hanley did us especially proud with a wonderful display at St Gabriel's Church. The lilies are paid for by people who generously give donations in memory of loved ones - or just to ensure that we have a lovely display.

Easter Garden

2010-04-10T12:11:00.003+01:00

The Easter Garden at St Gabriel's Church, Hanley Swan, celebrating Jesus's Resurrection.

Is it the Mad Monk?

2010-04-10T12:01:00.003+01:00

No, it's just our Deputy Churchwarden and Bellringer, John Boardman, ringing the bell to call the faithful to Church!

Craft Fair at St James' Church, Welland

2009-07-18T13:43:00.003+01:00

There are lots of Arts and Crafts on display at St James' Church, Welland this weekend.

Much of what is displayed is for sale, so it's a brilliant chance to do some early Christmas shopping.

All sorts of unusual hand-made crafts.

For full details of times, go to www.hanleyandwelland.org.uk

A few more flower pictures

2009-06-14T13:54:00.003+01:00

The theme is "Celebration" - this is a 4oth Wedding Anniversary

I get to take this lovely one home tonight - I won it in yesterday evening's raffle!

This is tiny! It's a detail in the arrangement celebrating Baptism.

An interesting character sitting in the church porch.

It's another beautiful day, and there's still time to come and join us! Both church and gardens are open until 5.00pm!

Jazz in the Garden

2009-06-14T12:58:00.005+01:00

Perdido Street Jazz Band

Enjoying the picnic

Dancing in the twighlight

Pictures from the Flower Festival

2009-06-13T12:06:00.004+01:00

Here is just a taste of the many lovely arrangements that are at St Gabriel's Church, Hanley Swan this weekend (13th and 14th June).

As well as flower arrangements in church, a number of village gardens are open - and we have some very keen gardeners here! Lunches and teas are available, there's a jazz concert on Saturday evening and "Songs of Praise" service on Sunday. Full details are available on http://www.hanleyandwelland.org.uk/

The sun's shining here,

so come and join us if you're

within reach of Worcestershire!

Flower and Garden Festival

2009-06-11T14:27:00.004+01:00

At the moment I am praying fervently for good weather, as we have a major event at Hanley Swan this weekend. There is a Flower Festival at St Gabriel's Church, which also includes the opportunity to look round a number of local gardens. A very kind parishioner is serving lunches and teas in her garden on both Saturday and Sunday, as well as hosting a jazz event on Saturday evening. The weekend will be rounded off with a "Songs of Praise" service on Sunday evening. This event is in aid of the development fund, as we are hoping to be able to install a kitchen and loo in St Gabriel's Church, so that we can do things like running coffee mornings for older people.

If you live in the Malvern area, or you fancy a day out to beautiful South Worcestershire, all details of the event are on the our Benefice web-site www.hanleyandwelland.org.uk

Tissue donation for research into brain disease

2009-06-05T10:25:00.005+01:00

Listening to an item on the Radio 4 Today Programme about research into Altzheimer's Disease and other illnesses that affect the brain, and the shortage of brain tissue available for research, I was reminded of what happened when my mother died in 2003.

Sadly, by the time she died, she was suffering from dementia, but some years before she had decided that she would like to leave her body for medical research. Neither of my parents had enjoyed good health in their lives, and I think that she saw it as a way of giving something back to the medical world that had treated them, and indeed probably saved my life as a baby too. My mother wrote to the Bristol University Medical School who agreed that, subject to all the usual caveats, they would like to have her body when she died. The letter was carefully placed with her will so that I would be able to arrange matters when the time came.

In the event, the medical school was unable to receive her bequest; they were not accepting the remains of anyone who had suffered from dementia because of fears about CJD. While I understand that this could potentially present dangers to those handling bodies, the thing that I find hard to understand was why they did not make any alternative suggestion. Surely a medical school must be aware of research being carried out in other places? If it had not been for a wonderfully helpful funeral director, I would just have accepted what they said and my mother's body would have been cremated.

Fortunately, the funeral director did not just take "no" for an answer. She remembered that some time previously she had been involved in facilitating the donation of a brain to King's College, London for reasearch specifically into dementia - a member of this research project was one of the people interviewed on the radio this morning. Time was of the essence, as my mother had died over a weekend so everything had to be completed on the Monday if the tissue was to be in a useable condition. In the space of a few hours, the funeral director got in touch with King's College, arranged for the necessary post mortem work to be done locally, had the consent forms faxed to her for my signature and faxed them back, and taken my mother to Worcester Royal Hospital. By mid-afternoon, my mother was brought back to the funeral parlour and we arranged for her funeral in the normal way.

What struck me then, and again listening to the radio this morning, was how lucky we were that we were able to fulfil my mother's wishes. It was sheer chance that the funeral director was aware of the research at King's College, and was generous enough to go to considerable trouble to follow the matter through. OK, if I had searched the internet I may have found that or another project, but at a time of bereavement one's first instinct is not usually to start typing things into a search engine - well mine isn't, anyway. And in any event, with literally only hours available to us, the chance of achieving a satisfactory outcome would have been remote.

As someone who conducts numerous funerals in the course of a year, I am as aware as anyone of the vast spectrum of attitudes that people have to the mortal remains of their loved ones. At one end of this spectrum people see a body as still very much part of the person they love, and cannot bear the thought of them being violated in any way. At the other end people feel that all that is important about their loved one is now somewhere else, or perhaps has ceased to exist, and that the body is merely the discarded container. Attitudes range between these two extremes, and have little to do with religious belief. I am always impressed by the sensitivity of funeral directors who have to do their job in a matter-of-fact way, yet show enormous care to the feelings of relatives and friends. I hope that I have not upset anyone's sensibilities in writing about this subject, and have tried to address it as delicately as possible - if not delicately enough, I apologise.

We have all heard stories about people who have been upset by members of the medical profession who do not respect the feelings of bereaved families, although hopefully these are the exceptions rather than the rule. However, I do find it really surprising that when one medical group is offered a tissue-donation which for any reason it cannot accept, there is not a readily available list of others who may be glad to receive it. Both my mother and my mother-in-law ended their days in a state of dementia, which everyone agrees is a tragic culmination of a long and productive life. I am pleased that I was able to fulfil my mother's wishes, perhaps in a way that was more useful even than she envisaged. But in the light of my experience, I was saddened to hear the researchers this morning talking about the desperate need for the material for their work to find the causes of dementia and other debilitating brain diseases.

Standing up for Twittering

2009-05-22T13:50:00.010+01:00

At Lunchtime on Wednesday (20 May), I received a completely unexpected telephone call from the Radio 4 "PM" programme. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Paisley, the Rt Rev Philip Tartaglia, had issued a warning to Catholics in Scotland that Twitter could damage real human relationships, and PM were looking for a clergy-person to disagree with him. Somehow, through the wonders of Internet searching, they had found me, and they wanted to know whether I could take part in an on-air discussion on the subject.

Since I'm never one to turn down the chance of a good discussion I agreed, subject to clearing it with my Diocesan Communications Officer and, if she deemed necessary, my Bishop. In the event, the discussion was not with Bishop Tartaglia but with the well-known Roman Catholic journalist, Joanna Bogle. I found myself sitting in a little room at Radio Hereford & Worcester recording a conversation with Ms Bogle in London - somewhat ironically, since we both agreed on the value of face-to-face contact and body language, we could only hear and not see each other.

The main difficulty for me was that, in many ways, I agreed with Ms Bogle's emphasis on the need for personal contact, and I expect that most other "twitterers" would have done too. Of course there is no substitute for face-to-face contact, for sharing a cup of tea with someone, shaking their hand or giving them a hug - no-one knows that better than a parish priest, whether Anglican or Roman Catholic. Of course old friends are important and should not be displaced by new ones made over the Internet. But why can these two aspects of friendship not run side-by-side? A very dear friend of 15 years' standing introduced me to Twitter; he lives some distance away and we now have more frequent contact than we've had since the days when we attended the same church. It is still great to see him and his family, but distance means this cannot happen more than a few times a year at most. My friendship with him is not diminished by the fact that we now both have online friends who join in with our conversations. Of course it is important for children and young people to be careful about the people they are in touch with, and for parents to exercise proper control. But isn't this just as true in the "real" world?

Many of my online friends are people that I would like to meet face-to-face some time, but who knows whether it will ever possible, living all over the UK and beyond as they do? Some too are people who do not find it easy to get out, and to whom it is a boon to be able make contact with people via their computers. Strangely, the Bishop is quoted in the Telegraph as referring to making friendships with "real people", as if those of us who twitter are actually not real; my online friends are real people, but I would have been unlikely to meet them in any other way. It is amazing how much you can get to know about people by exchanging views in 140 character snatches - to be honest I wouldn't have believed it either until I tried it! It's certainly good discipline for thinking about how to say something concisely - perhaps my congregation will see the benefit in my sermons?!

Not surprisingly, the weirdest part of the whole experience was listening to the broadcast interview. I am used to the fact that our voices never sound quite the same played back to us as they sound when we speak - even if I play back a message I've left on our answering machine, I think "Is that really me?" However, I've had quite a bit of public speaking and media training through the years, and know that the main dangers are speaking too high or too fast, and if doing anything in public always make a very conscious effort not too. I was therefore more than surprised that I appeared to be gabbling in a rather high pitched voice. My husband who - poor man - has to listen to me all the time said that he thought I sounded as if I'd had a close encounter with a helium balloon! I wondered whether the tape might have been run slightly fast, but my co-interviewee seemed, if anything, to be talking in a slightly slower, deeper voice than I remembered. No doubt all part of the "unreality" of technology, whether the new phenomenon of Twitter or much older one of radio!

When my parents were children, radio technology was in its infancy, and the levels of communication that we have today were beyond imagining. When I was a child, there were two black and white TV channels that closed down with the National Anthem at 10.00pm. Whatever the future holds, I hope that I will always be able to use whatever technology is available to meet new people and broaden my outlook on life. I'm glad that there are others who feel the same! Happy twittering!

MPs' Expenses

2009-05-12T14:28:00.002+01:00

I'm probably committing some kind of heresy when I say that I am more fascinated by the different reactions to this issue than I am by the issue itself. Even the normally refined group of people that I follow on Twitter are coming close to fisticuffs, and some are being very unpleasant about Stephen Fry. I've just watched a short film clip of Stephen being rather rude about journalists and their expenses - he doesn't say "people in glass houses" but that's his drift - and, more importantly, saying that we should be more worried about some of the other things that politicians get wrong.

In this he is voicing what I have been feeling for days. OK, so some MPs have been paid from the public purse for some things that are highly questionable, but the total cost to the taxpayer can only be tiny fraction of any one of the expensive and ill-conceived blunders that are so frequently in the news when we aren't worrying about MPs' expense claims. Some of those blunders cost livelihoods and even lives too, not just money.

Today, a fellow-cleric on Twitter suggested that it was offensive to someone on the minimum wage that an MP should be able to claim the cost of having his garden tidied. It seems to me that this is one of the more legitimate claims that could be made in connection with a second home. I would like my MP to be contributing to running the country, not trying to keep on top of two lots of gardening! I am also not sure whether it is people on the minimum wage who are making the most noise about this particular matter. This seems to me to be a very middle class furore.

In a couple of weeks' time, our Deanery will be having the usual meeting with Diocesan representatives to talk about the Diocesan budget, and how much parishes will be expected to pay next year towards it. Since the majority consists of the costs of supporting parish clergy, inevitably our terms of service always come under scrutiny. People who do, or have retired from, very well-paid professional jobs sometimes speak about clergy on stipends of C£22,000pa as if we are only in it for the money. If it happens to be mentioned that the Diocese pays our Council Tax and Water Rates, someone always says "I wish they paid mine!" Any attempt to point out that people earning £22,000 don't normally choose to live in houses the size of the average vicarage, just brings the inevitable question as to why we need such big houses anyway, and so on. Some clergy get so upset that they will not even go to the meetings. The obvious resentment towards MPs claiming even the quite legitimate expenses of having to have a home in London and one in the constituency seems to me to be of the same order as the attitude to clergy costs.

While some MPs' expenses obviously are a matter for legitimate concern, I feel that it is a great pity that they are all being treated in the same way. I feel that the media feeding frenzy is out of all proportion to the problem, and I am hoping that, very shortly, I will be able to turn on my TV or radio, or pick up a newspaper, and hear about the things that really make a difference to people living on the minimum wage.

A Picture!

2009-05-04T13:13:00.003+01:00

When I was travelling to exotic places, nearly all my posts were accompanied by photographs. Now I am having my thoughts while looking out at my garden, and the Malvern Hills beyond - a lovely view, but it may get a bit tedious if I posted the same picture every time I had something to say! However, here is a picture of a view even more stunning than the glorious Malverns; it was taken from the holiday cottage we rented in Cornwall last week, and looks out across the bay to Mevagissey. We had a lovely relaxing few days, and could not have asked for a nicer spot in which to spend them!

Love one another

2009-05-03T12:45:00.004+01:00

In a recent post on the Church Times blog , http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=74344 the Rev Canon Giles Fraser expresses concern about Christian bloggers who write vicious things about Christians with different views from their own. I must be very naive, because I thought that the reason for writing a Christian blog was to be - how can I put? Oh yes! - "Christian". That doesn't mean that we should always be bland and uncontroversial, but I don't see why we can't disagree in a civilised way.

Surely the whole point of writing a blog from a Christian perspective (or any other perspective come to that) is to give people reading it an impression of what we are about. I often think of things that would make entertaining blog posts, but which would be a kind of "Grumpy Old Women" style rant. This would normally be against a large and faceless "them" rather than an individual, so no-one would be hurt, but even that does not seem to give an edifying picture of Christianity and the people who profess it. All my friends and parishioners know that I like a good moan occasionally (who doesn't!) but, hopefully, that is not all they see. The people who write vitriolic things on their blogs may be very kind, caring people, but that is not the impression that someone who stumbles across their blog will get of them. Much more importantly, readers will get a very strange impression of what Christianity is about.

Jesus told his disciples to love one another, and the letters from St Paul and others to the emerging churches make it clear that this was seen as one of the most important ways of spreading the Gospel message. People would see loving, caring communities and want to know more about the faith that brought them together. If Christian bloggers cannot even be civil to one another, how can they possibly hope to spread the Good News of God's love for all people.

Giles Fraser suggests that part of the problem is that people will say in print what they would not say to someone face-to-face. This is undoubtedly true in general terms, but I really would have thought that anyone of any intelligence, going to the trouble of posting their thoughts on the Internet, would consider the impact of what they are writing - not just on the people they are insulting but on their readers, and on the Christian message. But then, as I said, I'm obviously very naive.

The Perils of Twittering

2009-04-23T17:05:00.003+01:00

Readers may have noticed a new panel on the right hand side of this blog, which gives a list of the things that I've recently posted on "Twitter". For those who have not yet come across this new phenomenon, Twitter is the latest thing for social networking on the Internet.

I was persuaded to sign up by a friend, and at first could not see the point - apart from anything else, you can't post anything more than 140 character (not words, characters!) in length. However, by some process that it is not altogether possible to explain, I have met some very interesting people, and discovered that quite profound thoughts can be exchanged in 140 characters. It is actually very good discipline for brevity, realising how many words we use that are not ACTUALLY necessary to convey meaning. And if I want to say more, like this, I can put it on the blog and post a link on Twitter, so that anyone who is interested can read it.

One drawback is the potential for time-wasting, reading what others have posted (or tweeted to use the correct jargon) and thinking up suitably witty tweets in reply. Another is concern about what one puts on there - especially if it turns up in other places. As already mentioned, my "Twitter-stream" is shown on this blog, and my latest tweet also comes up on my benefice web-site. In addition, The Church Mouse blog has a Twitter-stream for all twittering clergy. I'm wondering quite what anyone made of it who happened to spot that "countryvicar", my Twitter user-name, tweeted to a well-known author about naked bin-men the other day. All an innocent matter of someone misreading what someone else had written, but open to misconstruction nonetheless! My latest tweet is hardly more appropriate - being a wish for a ground-to-air missile to deal with low-flying aircraft disturbing an otherwise lovely evening. As I type, I'm probably being monitored by GCHQ as a potential terrorist!

I wondered whether I was lowering the tone of the Churchmouse Twitter-stream, after all, people perhaps look at it expecting to find uplifting words of wisdom, not a clergy-person exercising her questionable sense of humour. But I was reassured when I discovered that other vicars, and even bishops, were tweeting in just as daft a way as I do. Clearly the point (if there is one) of reading ecclesiastical tweets is to realise that clergy are just like everyone else - and that has to be a good thing!

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness!

2009-04-15T12:47:00.006+01:00

I was reading a comment on a Christian blog called The Church Mouse, which asked why the author had not discovered any comments by blogging vicars about the affair that has been at the top of the news for the last few days - ie the attempts to smear Conservative MPs by one of Gordon Brown's special advisers. I thought about this, and wondered why I had not felt moved to comment on this story.

I think that the main reason is, appalled as I am by the fact that anyone should go out of their way to spread unpleasant lies about others, it does concern me that this story has driven so much else off the front pages. There are so many people suffering around the world, whom we forget about if they are not in our news, that I feel that this issue is getting more than its fair share of air time. Yes, it is of public interest and should not be "hushed up", but I do feel that I have heard more than I could ever have wished to about this subject over last few days.

I know that it is unfashionable to quote the Ten Commandments, but they do sum up the whole debate in six words. "Thou shalt not bear false witness" and, as I once saw on a T-shirt, God said "What part of 'THOU SHALT NOT' do you not understand?" This commandment is sometimes explained as "You should not lie"; but it is not about fibbing, it is about deliberately and maliciously saying something that is untrue about another person. I believe I am right in saying that, under the ancient Jewish law, a person who made an accusation which was proved to be false would incur the penalty intended for their victim - up to and including stoning to death. This recognised how important it was not to bear false witness, and the damage that unfounded allegations could cause to society as well as the individual.

In planning to put scurrilous reports about individuals on a web-site, the perpetrator's aim was to damage those people, and by extension their political party, and there is justice in the fact that it is his job, reputation and party that have suffered what he intended for others. I doubt that it occurred to him that what he was doing would also damage society itself, yet that is what it has done. Not only by keeping more important issues out of the news, but by undermining our political system. For all its faults, we do have one of the few regimes in the world that I would wish live under, and I suspect that if most people are honest they will say the same. We damage that at all our peril!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

2009-04-13T12:24:00.003+01:00

It was really lovely to see so many people in church yesterday to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection. Sometimes, it seems that people place far more significance on Christmas than Easter, and that is of course a very important Christian festival too. But if Jesus had only been born, then lived out his life and died like any other human being, nothing would have changed. It was the fact that he was able to overcome death that makes the difference to us today.

I have had some interesting discussions recently with people who do not believe in God, or in an afterlife. I agree that I cannot empirically prove that there is anything after death, any more than those who believe there is nothing can prove that. But if Jesus' disciples did not encounter their risen Lord, what changed them from a group terrified that they would suffer the same fate as their Master into people prepared to risk their lives to tell others about him? We know, not just from the Bible but from other sources, that many of Jesus's first followers met dreadful deaths; surely it is one thing to risk that for something in which you passionately believe, but who would do so for something they knew was not true?

Jesus

2009-04-06T09:31:00.002+01:00

One of the top subjects on Twitter last night was "Jesus". Thinking that this sounded like an interesting strand, I had a look at what was being posted. About half the posts were by people who were referring to Jesus Christ in some way, but the other half were people using the name as an expletive. As a Christian, I do find this use of our Lord's name in this way somewhat offensive, yet there is also something positive there too.

Most frequently used swear words refer to something that is essential to life, or at least of major significance - I won't list the ones that come to my mind, but think about it! The people who use "Jesus" as a swear word may well say that he is not essential to or significant in their lives, yet how then does the use of his name add anything to what they are saying? Any other word would do just as well. Perhaps the way that we will know when Jesus really becomes insignificant is when the use of his name to vent anger is replaced by "Mobile Phone!!!"

A beautiful evening

2009-04-04T19:24:00.002+01:00

I'm watching the sun sink slowly behind the Malvern Hills, after a good day when I've actually got quite a bit of work done. If I could just get rid of whatever has been ailing my throat and chest for nearly a fortnight, life would be even better!

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday when we celebrate Jesus riding into Jerusalem to be hailed as King by an ecstatic crowd. Yet within less than a week that crowd was shouting "Crucify him, crucify him". Isn't it interesting how some things never change? How many people can we all think of who have been feted in the media one week, only to be vilified the next?

It is often because they do not deliver totally unrealistic expectations, and this was what happened to Jesus. The crowd thought that he would drive the Romans out of the land of Israel, not realising that his Kingdom was one of peace rather than war. When he seemed more interested in putting things right in the Jewish Temple, the Jewish religious leaders and the people turned against him.

Christians should always stand up for what is right rather than what is popular, but sometimes we find good excuses for the easy option - and sometimes, in a comlex world, it's not always easy to agree on what is "right".

G20 - what else?!

2009-04-02T09:46:00.004+01:00

Yesterday, Dave Walker, Church Times Blogger and Cartoonist, asked on his blog what question we would like to put to G20 leaders. Mine was "If stimulating the world economy means people buying things they don't need with money they haven't got, what's the point?" I wrote an article along these lines in a Parish Magazine when everything went wrong with the economy in the early 1990s, but clearly no-one in power read it, so here we are again, only things are even worse this time.

I have enormous sympathy for anyone who has lost their job, or is on short time, or in negative equity as result of the economic downturn, and I can fully understand the feeling that we need to get the banks lending so that things can be produced and sold, and the good times can return. Yet at the same time, we know that all this consumption damages the environment, and does nothing to help the poorest people in the world.

We are regularly given statistics on how much we waste - food we throw away, clothes we don't wear - and then there are all the perfectly serviceable electrical goods that we replace just because we want the latest model. I have heard a number of interviews in the media recently in which people who have been hit by the credit crunch have been talking about the fact that it has made them ask themselves if they really need something - before they buy it.

While I don't want to sound like a sanctimonious (or parsimonious!) dinosaur, I find it hard to imagine ever doing anything else! This does not mean that I live without mod-cons, I just don't replace them until they stop working. I doubt that a brand new washing machine would get my clothes any cleaner than my 12-year old one; arguably a new one could be slightly more energy efficient, but a life-time's use would not compensate for the pollution caused in making it. I wear my clothes until they fall apart - "we've noticed" I hear you cry! - and am still driving the 8-year old car that I've hated since the day I bought it. I do not only do this because I believe it is the way that we should live in a finite world, or because I believe that we should all give a proportion of our income to the church and/or charity. It also, totally selfishly, means that I can afford outings with friends and family, holidays, books, theatre trips, and other things that I enjoy. You can have a lot of nice meals out for the cost of a flat-screen TV!

When Gordon Brown and others talk about stimulating the economy, they mean going back to a time when people bought without first asking the question "do I actually need this?" We have the opportunity to change the world and achieve something that all the recent prosperity in the developed world has failed to do - give people who cannot even buy the things that they do need the chance to do so. And we could reduce the world's carbon emissions, land fill, toxic waste, etc, by not manufacturing and disposing of so much. But this would need a complete re-think of how we do things, otherwise the millions of people world-wide, who have relied on all this excess consumption for a living, will be plunged into unending poverty. I don't doubt that the world leaders meeting in London have the combined intellect to achieve such a re-think, but sadly I do doubt that they have the will.

Return of the Blogger!

2009-02-28T12:53:00.002Z

It's an amazingly long time since I got back from my travels. I always intended to continue the blog on my return, but various things intervened. It's too late even to make it a New Year resolution, so now it's a Lenten one instead. I'm not sure at the moment what I'll write about, just random reflections on life, I expect! I don't feel that I need to change the name - just because I'm not wandering around Europe any longer, doesn't mean that I'm not still a pilgrim!

Views of the shrine at Lourdes

2008-07-25T17:59:00.002+01:00

This was one of the most peaceful places that I went in all my travels. I was lucky that the weather was good, and it was lovely just to walk around this beautiful site with no sense of rush, or pressure of any kind. Everywhere, there was an atmosphere of quiet, prayer and respect, and I did not know then how hard these things would be to find in some other places.

Gates at St Jean Pied de Port

2008-07-25T17:48:00.003+01:00

Readers with good memories will recall that this is the town in France from which pilgrims set off to cross the mountains to Spain. These are the gates through which travellers have entered and left for hundreds of years.

Bordeaux Station

2008-07-25T17:41:00.003+01:00

This was the only bit of Bordeaux that I got to see, as I changed trains en route to Biarritz. If you ever have to change there, make sure that you have plenty of time to get your connection - it is the largest, most confusing and worst signposted station that I have ever been in!

Tours - Old Town

2008-07-25T17:33:00.002+01:00

This is where I spent the first night of my travels through France and Spain

Wind-surfers at Le Touquet

2008-07-08T23:22:00.000+01:00

Look at that sea - I'm glad we're coming through the Tunnel tomorrow!

The battle-field

2008-07-08T23:19:00.000+01:00

This peaceful scene is like many in the area that we visited last week. It is now hard to believe that it is a place in which men slaughtered one another. This field is only about 25 miles from the battle-fields of the Somme, which was almost exactly 500 years after Agincourt; andapproaching another 100 years later we still hear daily of soldiers dying in battles across the world. I am reminded of the words of the Bob Dylan song "how many wars will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died?" and Marlene Dietrich a few years earlier, "when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?"

English Archers

2008-07-08T22:59:00.000+01:00

There is visitor centre which gives a surprisingly balanced account of the battle in (rather tacky) audiovisual display. The area of the battle-field has these archers and some French cavalry-men. I should think they must be pretty stiff after standing like that for nearly 600 years!

Another war, another memorial

2008-07-08T22:52:00.000+01:00

The last stop on the pilgrimage trail was Azincourt, site of the battle of "Agincourt" in 1415.

Beautiful windows

2008-07-08T22:48:00.000+01:00

The restored cathedral has a series of lovely modern stained glass windows.

Echternach Cathedral

2008-07-08T22:45:00.000+01:00

Our Lady

2008-07-08T22:44:00.000+01:00

Also in Echternach Cathedral, This is a copy of a statue in Luxembourg Cathedral to which miracles are attributed, and which is still visited by pilgrims.

St Willibrord

2008-07-08T22:41:00.000+01:00

He came from Northumbria in the 7th century, and evangelised the area around Luxembourg. He founded Echternach Cathedral where this statue is, and his shrine is in the crypt. Despite the cathedral being damaged in both the Napoleonic and the Second World Wars, Willibrord's original stone coffin has survived.

Back to Luxembourg

2008-07-08T22:28:00.000+01:00

On Saturday morning I visited the market where our friends do much of their fruit and vegetables shopping. This is one of the very pretty flower stalls.

The night before we had been to an excellent concert in the very modern concert hall. We heard the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg with violin soloist Haoxing Liang, and the new international cello star, Alban Gerhardt.

And the Lutheran Church

2008-07-07T22:47:00.000+01:00

The Old Catholic Church

2008-07-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

One of the Roman Catholic churches in Koblenz

2008-07-07T22:36:00.000+01:00

Old Koblenz

2008-07-07T22:24:00.000+01:00

Statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I

2008-07-07T22:23:00.000+01:00

This overlooks the "German Corner" where the rivers join. It was destroyed during World War II, and only replaced in recent years.

Where rivers meet

2008-07-07T22:17:00.000+01:00

Before leaving Koblenz, we visited the spot at which the Mosel joins the Rhine. The Mosel is on the left and the Rhine right.

Cathedral interior

2008-07-07T22:06:00.000+01:00

Cathedral exterior

2008-07-07T22:00:00.000+01:00

Medieval altar piece

2008-07-07T21:58:00.000+01:00

Ancient Crucifix at Cologne

2008-07-07T21:55:00.000+01:00

The chapel of the Magi

2008-07-07T21:52:00.000+01:00

Cologne Cathedral

2008-07-07T21:50:00.000+01:00

The following day, the temperature plummeted, and our companion the rain was back!

However, Cologne Cathedral, and the archeological museum, are very close to the station, so we didn't get too wet.

This fabulous gold reliquary contains the bones of two saints, and was a focus for pilgrimage in medieval times. It has depictions of various events in the life of Jesus, but is particularly noted for that of the visit of the Magi.

The best preserved castle on this part of the Rhine

2008-07-05T19:15:00.000+01:00

Attractive hotel overlooking a landing stage

2008-07-05T19:13:00.000+01:00

The Loreley Rock

2008-07-05T19:11:00.000+01:00

Here sailors were said to be lured to their deaths by the singing of a mermaid.

A paddle-steamer up the Rhine

2008-07-05T19:07:00.000+01:00

We went on trip along the Rhine from Rudesheim to Koblenz. The blistering heat had followed me from Rome, and even on the river there was very little breeze. Thank goodness for cold drinks and air conditioning! The views were beautiful, and photos don't at all do them justice.

Old Luxembourg

2008-07-05T19:01:00.000+01:00

After the ceremony at the Crater, we drove to Luxembourg, and spent the night with our friends there, before taking the train to Germany for a couple of days.

A "small" cemetery

2008-07-05T18:58:00.000+01:00

Some people say that the vast numbers of names on the Thiepval Monument and the Menin Gate bring home the enormity of the loss of life in the First World War. I found that there were too many to contemplate on those monuments, but this tiny cemetery up a country lane gave me much food for thought. Although it is so small, and there are many others like it, it contains over 1,000 graves. It struck me that this is roughly the population of one of our villages - wiped out in the space of a year or so.

The wars in which we are now engaged have fewer losses, partly because of different methods of fighting, and partly because more who are injured survive; yet we should still learn from earlier conflicts. As we remember with gratitude the sacrifice of those killed in many wars, right up to the present, let us pray for a time when all leaders seek alternative means to settle differences between countries.

We will remember them!

2008-07-04T09:12:00.000+01:00

Each a young life cut short

2008-07-04T09:10:00.000+01:00

Scattering petals

2008-07-04T09:08:00.000+01:00

The Crater

2008-07-04T09:07:00.000+01:00

This is the hole left by the blowing up of the German command post - the British forces dug long tunnels to place huge amounts of high explosive immediately underneath.

The red patch at the bottom are paper poppy petals. After the service, we were all given petals and asked to scatter them, remembering that each one represented a young man's life.

In France it is very unusual for remembrance events to have any religious content, because of the complete legal separation of church and state. The Friends of Lochnagar are able to have a Christian service because it is a private event on private land. The field was bought by an Englishman and turned into a memorial in 1978, so this year we were celebrating 30 years of this particular event.

It was beautifully done, both dignified and informal, and a real act of inclusion and reconciliation. There were wreaths for groups and individuals, for people killed in other First World War battles, for the animals who served in the conflict, and for some German soldiers. The Lord's Prayer was said in English, French and German. We had never heard of this place, or the service there, until our friends told us about it. They had learned of it in turn from a friend who is the translator. We felt that it is something that more people should be aware of; the crater can be visited at any time, and all are welcome at the service every 1 July. When I can get to a "proper" computer, I will put a link to their web-site

Pipe band

2008-07-04T08:36:00.000+01:00

Apparently, most of these impressive looking Scotsmen at the Lochnagar Crater ceremony are actually French, but they dress appropriately for the occasion.

We will remember them

2008-07-02T21:46:00.000+01:00

At 7.30am on 1 July we attended a commemoration of the event which began what we know as the Battle of the Somme. It was held on the edge of Lochnagar Crater, which is a massive hole in the ground, caused by the British blowing up the German command post. However, their belief that this and other bombardment had knocked out most of the German artillery was incorrect. When the soldiers poured over the ridge, it was into heavy machine-gun fire, and 60,000 were killed on that first day.

Ypres Cathedral

2008-07-02T21:34:00.000+01:00

This lovely window in the reconstructed cathedral was given by the British army.

Ypres

2008-07-02T21:31:00.000+01:00

The town was completely destroyed in the First World War, but was rebuilt a an exact replica.

My great uncle

2008-07-02T21:28:00.000+01:00

The top name in the right-hand column - C A Foucar - was my great uncle, who is commemorated on the Menin Gate. From the date of his death, it seems likely that he was one of the casualties of the very first gas attack.

And in the morning

2008-07-01T06:25:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we visited the Menin Gate, which commemorates another 50,000+ who also have no known grave. This includes my great uncle.

Explanatory Plaque

2008-07-01T06:04:00.000+01:00

At the going down of the sun

2008-07-01T06:02:00.000+01:00

This war memorial at Thiepval in northern France commemorates over 70,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who have no known graves. We visited it the evening before last, just as the sun was setting.

Welcome to Paris!

2008-06-28T11:34:00.000+01:00

Well, Orly Airport anyway! The trains up to Paris are not running for some reason, so I'm now on a very overcrowded bus! I'm thinking more and more that the pilgrims who walk have the easy option!

Arrivadierci Roma!

2008-06-28T07:11:00.000+01:00

This fountain, in the square very close to my hotel, was pretty much my last view of Rome, except the rather dismal suburbs leading to the airport this morning.

At the moment I'm sitting waiting for the flight to be called. I'm heading towards northern France for yet another take on "pilgrimage" - a visit to the area of some of the bloodiest fighting of the First World War.

The Trevi Fountain

2008-06-28T07:01:00.000+01:00

When I came to Rome with my parents, I threw coins into the fountain to make sure I returned. After many years, the fountain's promised has been redeemed. I threw some more in this time, although when I come again I'll make sure it's not in heat-wave!

As a city, it's not my favourite - too frenetic and noisy - but there are so many interesting places that it's impossible to do it justice in one short visit.

The Pantheon - interior

2008-06-28T06:53:00.000+01:00

This building felt as if it had moved seamlessly from its pagan origins to Christianity. It had a very pwerful atmosphere - I'm sure due to the fact that prayer had been offered there for so long.

The Pantheon

2008-06-28T06:48:00.000+01:00

The obelisk outside is one of many that the Romans stole from the Egyptians. Most of them have been "Christianised" by having crosses put on the top.

More performance art

2008-06-28T06:43:00.000+01:00

This is certainly no easy way to earn a living! It was well over 90F yesterday. I felt particularly sorry for this little fairly - her pitch was very close to a Statue of Liberty who was much in demand from the American touists.

Usually, if you put money in their little pot they just nod or wave, but this one jumped down, did a little dance with me, and bestowed a blessing with her wand.

St John Lateran - Baptistry

2008-06-27T19:39:00.000+01:00

According to the commentary on the tour bus, this is the place that all true Romans are baptised.

St John Lateran interior

2008-06-27T19:37:00.000+01:00

Most churches here seem fairly relaxed about photographs; the trouble is that some people abuse it. There were chapels being used for prayer and services, and there were requests not to photograph there. However, some people were, and I even saw one man snapping people in the confessional boxes!

St John Lateran

2008-06-27T19:31:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, the Lateran Palace Museum was closed, so I didn't get to see the Sacred Stairway, which is supposed to be the staircase that Christ climbed when he was taken to Pilate.

A view across Rome

2008-06-27T19:19:00.000+01:00

I ate my "lunch" up here. I'd spotted it as a nice place from the bus yesterday, and saw a couple of vans that looked as if they sold panini or some other sort of snack. In fact they were ice-cream and drinks wagons, and the only solid food they sold was nuts. So I sat under a tree eating pistacios and a couple of slightly squashed plums that I'd been carrying in my handbag all morning. It felt like a real "pilgrim" meal, washed down with water that had been cold an hour earlier.

Unexpected bonus

2008-06-27T18:48:00.000+01:00

This pretty little church near Trajan's Column was due to have a concert later in the evening, and the pianist was there rehearsing. Several of us enjoyed this impromptu prevue.

Wedding cake or typewriter?

2008-06-27T18:44:00.000+01:00

I gather that this rather ornate building near Trajan's Forum is variously known by both these titles. It commemorates Victor Emmanuel, the first king of the united Italy. Apparently, its building destroyed a considerable amount of ancient and medieval architecture.

A load of old ruins

2008-06-27T18:38:00.000+01:00

There was more than one forum in Rome - this is what is left of the one built by Trajan.

Trajan's Column

2008-06-27T18:15:00.000+01:00

This depicts a famous Roman victory - apparently it was originally brightly coloured.

Santa Maria Maggiori (3)

2008-06-27T18:11:00.000+01:00

This church holds a piece of what is described as the "original" Christmas Crib. I haven't been able to work out whether this means the first depiction of Christ's birth in a stable, which was set up by St Francis with real people and animals, the manger in which Jesus was actually lain, or some else.

Whichever it is, it is contained in very elaborate reliquary that I'm afraid reminded me of a very large soup tureen, with the baby Jesus as the handle! I wonder how many years in purgatory I get for that thought!

Santa Maria Maggiori (2)

2008-06-27T18:00:00.000+01:00

Santa Maria Maggiori (1)

2008-06-27T17:58:00.000+01:00

The Palatine Hill and Circus Maximus

2008-06-27T17:43:00.000+01:00

These are the spectacular ruins of the Imperial Palace. The Circus Maximus in front is the place where many of the early Christians met their end.

The Colosseum

2008-06-27T17:29:00.000+01:00

Apparently, despite legends, there is no evidence that Christians were martyred here.

The Roman Forum

2008-06-26T21:37:00.000+01:00

Every time I've tried to take pictures from moving vehicles on this trip, I've been struck by how superior the human eye is to even the latest camera equipment. I can look at a scene, focus on it, compensate for vehicle movement, and distinguish it from surrounding objects in a way that neither the camera on this phone, nor the one that's "just" a digital camera are capable of doing. If what we can make, with all our advanced technology, is so far behind something we can't make (a human eye), it seems pretty close to the proof the rationalists keep asking for, that there's a greater intelligence than theirs!

Nero's bath!

2008-06-26T21:23:00.000+01:00

The Hall of Maps

2008-06-26T21:21:00.000+01:00

All through the museum, which was once the Papal palace, there are fabulous ceilings. This one is in a long gallery with maps painted along the walls.

Tapestry of Jesus' Resurrection

2008-06-26T21:17:00.000+01:00

Constantine's mother

2008-06-26T20:57:00.000+01:00

The fashion for the great and good in those days was to have 2 sarcophagi. This is one of Helena's, depicting her son painting crosses on his soldiers, after the vision that told him he should fight under the banner of Chris. After this, of course, Christianity became the official religion of Rome, instead of a persecuted minority sect.

Safe under cover

2008-06-26T20:38:00.000+01:00

The legend is that as long as there is still some gilding on this statue, Rome will remain, so it has been brought into the museum from its original outdoor location.

Display of the ceiling

2008-06-26T20:34:00.000+01:00

The Last Judgement

2008-06-26T20:32:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of one of the explanation displays, as I couldn't photograph the real thing.

The statue of Hercules

2008-06-26T20:29:00.000+01:00

The guide who took us round the museum was an art historian who was particularly interested in the Renaissance. He explained that the painting of the Sistine Chapel was the first time that figures had been painted nude, and that it looked back to the celebration of the human body in Classical times. Christ's body in the picture of the Last Judgement behind the altar is based on this torso.

The Vatican Museum

2008-06-26T20:17:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, the only place that you are not allowed to take photos is the Sistine Chapel.

Swiss Guards

2008-06-26T19:48:00.000+01:00

Apparently, it's a really good thing to have on your CV in Switzerland.

Views of St Peter's (4)

2008-06-26T19:46:00.000+01:00

Views of St Peter's (3)

2008-06-26T19:44:00.000+01:00

This little window had a lovely picture of the dove of the Holy Spirit - it's a pity it doesn't show up on here.

Views of St Peter's (2)

2008-06-26T19:28:00.000+01:00