THE TRAIN
They say you're available
on certain conditions.
Quiet ones.
That if I can find an air of tranquility
it carries that still small voice.
But I don't do quiet,
stillness.
I am not tranquil except when I am asleep
and then I am not available
as far as I know.
So,
what's the chance of a still big voice
in the noise,
of hearing you in the roaring traffic,
the screaming meal-time,
the crowded train,
the supermarket queue,
the smoky, throbbing bar?
I know that time you weren't
in the fire,
the storm.
But everyone's different.
Maybe Elijah was better at quiet.
You're usually quiet.
I'm usually wired.
If I try for your silence,
perhaps you could try for my noise.
Your place or mine?
I know they say you're in
the country,
but maybe we could
Meet in town?
GREENBELT
A TASTE OF THE MUSIC LINEUP
Here’s Sophie Brightwell from Greenbelt associates The Children’s Society on their new campaign for free school meals for all children in poverty…
Communion at Greenbelt always makes me think of Jesus sharing loaves and fishes with the assembled crowds. The traditional image is of a benign saviour performing a slightly improbable miracle, feeding 5000 appreciative people sitting in neat circles on red-checked picnic cloths. It’s easy to imagine them all, gathering as we do on the Sunday morning, chatting and dishing out bread from the on-site camp shop.
And yet it would seem that the context of the feeding miracle was something very different. The crowd were hounding Jesus, following and jostling to keep up with him because they had seen what he was doing. They needed him, and they needed him because they were poor.
John’s gospel tells us that the sharing of the loaves and the fishes so that all are fed is also a sign, something pointing beyond itself. And the sign – pointing to the kingdom of God – is nothing about religious rituals. It’s about feeding people, and meeting their immediate needs.
It’s easy to sanitise the gospels, and it’s easy to sanitise our own context. It’s easy to see poverty as a problem somewhere else. And yet there are 2.2 million school children living in poverty in England. 1.2 million of these do not get a free school meal.
Of these 1.2 million children, 700,000 are not even entitled to a free school meal at all – the majority simply because their parents work. A further 500,000 are not taking up the meals, often because of the quality of meals and issues of teasing and bullying.
As Christians we believe in the coming of the kingdom of God. In this miracle, Jesus gives us a sign as to how this might look. All the crowd ate, we are told, and all had enough.
That’s why The Children’s Society is campaigning for all children living in poverty to get free school meals — often the only nutritious meal they receive all day. Please join us. Visit our website and sign the petition now, or come see us at Greenbelt to find out more and to help create a society where all children have enough to eat.
A weekend of celebrations to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the martyrdom of St Alphege took place in Whitstable over the weekend.
Called Alphest, it was based at St Alphege Church in the High Street where the festivities began with drama and artwork during a day-long Saxon fair.
Morris dancing on the church forecourt at lunchtime and was followed by a Viking beach landing at Keam’s Yard by the East Kent Historical Organisation which then rampaged through the town.
St Alphege was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1006 until he was killed by marauding Vikings after a drunken feast in 1012. He was made a saint by Pope Gregory in 1078 and April 19 was made his feast day.
Sunday saw a service and a re-enactment of St Alphege’s martyrdom outside the church.
The events were organised by the Friends of St Alphege Town Church.
“It was one of our goals to get the story of his life out there and the East Kent Historical Organisation were excellent.
“People are often asking who St Alphege was and they don’t realise that it is important history and much of it is local to the area.
“He stood up to Vikings who were extorting money and behaving like bullies. He also managed to convert a lot of his captors, which was very brave of him.
“The 1,000th anniversary of his martyrdom is something important worth marking.”
Commenting on Education Secretary Michael Gove’s evidence to the Education Select Committee yesterday, when he stated that ‘one of the best ways’ to stop children indulging in ‘risky behaviour’ is through increased academic teaching.
Lucie Russell, Director of Campaigns Policy and Participation, YoungMinds said:
"A good academic education may well be a factor in reducing 'risky behaviour' as Michael Gove states but just as important is building emotional resilience, social skills and self confidence.
“Academic education alone will not provide this and thats why the Government must look more widely at the role of schools, as building character should be a key part of its purpose, especially for young people who do not excel academically".
ENDS
Notes to editors:
YoungMinds Parents helpline: 0808 802 5544
I didn't clock the
EMOTIONAL
until I started working with
East London gangs in 1975.
I had worked with gangs before
Bikers
Drinkers
Factory workers
Young Offenders
but had not connected to my Hard Drive,
that lump of mass in my head,
until the late 70's.
I had brought up as emotionally illiterate.
Emotions were present
but not on the agenda.
(a bit like the present government in the UK).
I never saw my Mother and Father
kiss
until he was dying in hospital
when I was 16.
I didn't know how to manage emotions.
Like most people
I controlled them
sometimes.
BAD
Manage is good
Control is BAD.
I used to have a massive temper.
Flash
and I was spitting fire and brimstone.
In the 70's I discovered Social Deprivation.
A whole collection of factors
to categorise a community
as to their needs/loss/hurts
BUT
The stats did not include Emotional Deprivation
They did not include Spiritual Deprivation.
My realisation THEN
has carried on through my life
and continues to this day.
It is the number one
when it comes to behaviour
broken relationships
broken society.
It hurts
individuals
groups
communities
society
and the world -
if we don't become aware
and competent
and equipped with our life toolbox.
A big part of our wholeness
is becoming
increasingly
emotionally Intelligent.
Remarkable new research suggests that conventional assumptions about how we mature are wrong – and that young people do not become true adults until they are 24
US researchers warned last year that heavy drinking during the teenage years,
when the brain is still growing,
can affect the brain, particularly the development of spatial memory –
the ability to orientate oneself on a map and recall how to get from place to place.
