Friday 31 August 2012

Awesome Be Thy Name


"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail, Amen."
(From the prayers of a 3 year old girl, as collected by Roger Knapp)


The High Altar, Chichester Cathedral


I came across this re-working of "The Lord's Prayer" during a recent visit to Chichester Cathedral: a wonderfully uplifting but humbling place, where the bright atmosphere still echoes with 900 years of worship. This year, as part of the annual school-leaver services in the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, 3200 children and 1450 parents from 158 church schools took part in a series of special services across Sussex. The services were comprised of songs chosen and sung by the children and also prayers written by them. This adaptation of "The Lord's Prayer", put together by the pupils of Green Oak Primary School in Surrey, was prayed throughout the masses. It's very simple, very clear; and who said prayers can't be cute??

"Our Father in heaven,
You are Awesome!
Show us who you are and
What you want us to be.
Make earth more like heaven.
Please give us what we need to keep going each day.
Help us know when we are wrong, and clean us up on the inside.
Help us to let other people off and to move on.
Keep us safe from bad stuff. You're in charge!
You're strong and powerful and always there.
Forever,
Amazing!"






Wednesday 29 August 2012

Another Tail from Eden...


"How you behave toward cats here below will determine your status in heaven".
(Robert A. Heinlein)


Many thanks to John Richardson in Australia for sending this joke, which I've had to adapt slightly for this blog!
I love cats; much as I have an affinity for and fascination with snakes and reptiles, I have all the standard weaknesses for cute and fluffy. Purely on an aesthetic level, I think cats are the most beautiful of creatures; from glorious lions and tigers through to the neighbourhood moggies. My own little cat Sooty was with me for nearly all of her 14 years of life: it's a measure of how much I miss her that, some eight years after her death, I haven't managed to "replace" her, even though I keenly feel the absence of a cat in a single person's life. I feel if you have the devotion of a cat. you must be doing something right! My Sooty Poshpaws was born around the end of August and the black and white cat at the foot of this joke bears a strong resemblance to her.
I've joined in many discussions with Catholic animal-lovers about whether or not animals go to heaven: obviously, all creatures of the earth and sky were accommodated on the ark... Personally, I feel that animals who become part of our lives are entrusted to us by God. I'll remember that next time my neighbour's handsome but wayward ginger tom, cunningly called "Ginger", sticks his whole face in my morning porridge...


Adam and Eve said:“Lord, when we were in the garden, you walked with us every day. Now we do not see you anymore. We are lonely here and it's hard for us to remember how much you love us.”
And God said:“I will create a companion for you who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves.”
And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve.
And it was a good animal and God was pleased.
And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and wagged his tail.
And Adam said:“Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal.”
And God said:“I have created this animal to be a reflection of my love for you; his name will be a reflection of my own name and you will call him Dog."





And Dog lived with Adam and Eve and loved them. And they were comforted.
And God was pleased.
And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam and Eve became filled with pride. They strutted like peacocks and believed they were worthy of adoration. Dog had indeed taught them that they were loved, but perhaps too well.
And God said:“I will create a companion who will see them as they are. This companion will remind them of their limitations so they will know they are not always worthy of adoration.”

And God created Cat to be a companion to Adam and Eve.
And Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into Cat's eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings.




And so, Adam and Eve learned humility.
And they were greatly improved.

And God was pleased.

And Dog was happy and wagged his tail.



And  Cat . . .


 
…didn't really give a **** one way or the other.



"The Year of the Cat"  Al Stewart

Monday 27 August 2012

"Beyond the road's turning"


When the path ignites a soul,
there's no remaining in place.
The foot touches ground,
but not for long.”

(Hakim Sanai)
 
  
"Will you walk with me
Beyond the road's turning,
Where Day takes the valley
That leads into Night?
Love will you walk with me
All through my journey,
Or only until the Light?"
("The Turn of the Road"  Les Barker)
 
A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law forwarded some stunning photos of paths and roads to me. I knew I should shape them into a post somehow, but couldn't quite pull them together. Then last week, a little boy about six years old drove his stabilised bike into me when I was out for my afternoon constitutional on Brighton's Level. It was at a point where the various walkways across The Level converge. As his mum ran up to apologise, I asked him where he was off to in such a hurry.
"I dunno yet. Where does that lead?" He pointed in one direction.
"Oh, that leads over there!"
"And that one?" He pointed at another path.
"Well, that leads over there!"
"And this one?" He pointed further along in the direction he'd been peddling.
"This leads to there."
He stared at me for a moment and then nodded happily: "Thank you!"
His out of breath mother told him to stop bothering me and asked him which way he wanted to go. Very emphatically he replied: "Don't matter, everywhere here leads there - she said so." Such philosophy from such a very little chap was lost on his mum, who smiled wearily at me as though I'd just let the grown-ups down.
It got me thinking about paths: sometimes we may have to choose, and our choice of direction, route and mode of travel says far more about us than the intended destination. Sometimes we may say that we stumbled upon a path or that we don't know how we came to be on a certain road; maybe we've taken what appears to be a wrong turning. My own road through life now seems to have become a rather uneven but strangely scenic off-the-beaten-track meander; not the gridlocked but heavily signposted highway I'd become used to. For a born and bred Londoner who once swore she would never have reason to leave, I now find myself deeply at home in a rundown part of a seaside town that wears it's Victorian glamour like a secondhand coat.
Almost a lifelong public servant, I felt my identity had vanished along with that career; now, I may struggle to make the ends meet financially, but the face in the mirror and the image I present to the world seem infinitely more true to each other. I'm very hopeful I will arrive at Me. Some friends, even those steadfastly on that urban highway, are still "with me" beyond my road's turning;  and my own faith and values seem a lot easier to follow than any map or sat nav. I've added some wonderful quotes about paths and directions to the aforementioned pictures. Now, they seem to me a little like a traveller's guide.



"Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark."
(Barbara Hall)

"True morality consists not in following the beaten track, but in finding the true path for ourselves, and fearlessly following it."
(Mahatma Gandhi)

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
(Proverb)
 
 
"It is not we who seek the Way, but the Way which seeks us. That is why you are faithful to it, even while you stand waiting, so long as you are prepared, and act the moment you are confronted by its demands." 
(Dag Hammarskjold)

"Everyone has got the right to follow his own path and approach God in his own way." 
(Kedar Nath Twari)


"As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life."
(Siddhartha Gautama)

"I've always looked for the perfect life to step into. I've taken all the paths to get where I wanted. But no matter where I go, I still come home Me."
(Layne Staley)

 
" Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey."
(Lord Byron)
 
"Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has puzzled us before seems less mysterious, and the crooked paths look straighter as we approach the end."
(Jean Paul)
 
"A path is a prior interpretation of the best way to traverse a landscape."
(Rebecca Solnit)
 
"It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that your's is the only path."
(Paulo Coelho)  

  
"May the road rise up to meet you."
(Traditional Irish blessing)
 
" If we all tried to make other people's paths easy, our own feet would have a smooth, even place to walk on."
(Myrtle Reed)
 
"Let each man take the path according to his capacity, understanding and temperament. His true guru will meet him along that path."
(Swami Sivananda)
 
 "Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light. Be open to the Lord so that He may lighten all your ways."
(Pope John Paul II)

 
"Of all the paths a man could strike into, there is, at any given moment, a best path .. A thing which, here and now, it were of all things wisest for him to do .. To find this path, and walk in it, is the one thing needful for him." 
(Thomas Carlyle)

"There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path."
(Siddhartha Gautama)
 
 "Life is about how you love and hurt the people who just cross your path for a moment."
(Matthew Kelly)
 

"God can be realised from all paths."
(Ramakrishna)

"The Simple Path:
Silence is Prayer,
Prayer is Faith,
Faith is Love,
Love is Service;
The Fruit of Service is Peace."

(Mother Teresa)

"It constantly amazes me that men and women wander the earth marvelling at the highest mountains, the deepest ocean, the whitest sands, the most exotic islands, the most intriguing birds of the air and fish of the sea – and all the time never stop to marvel at themselves and realise their infinite potential as human beings."
(Matthew Kelly)


"The footprints we leave behind are as important as the path we will follow. They're part of the same journey - out story."
(Lori L Lopez)
 
"The path of peace is not a passive journey."
(TF Hodge)

"What you are, and who you are should provide greater clarity about where you have been and where you are headed."
(TF Hodge) 


"There are many paths but only one journey."
(Naomi Judd)

"There are two paths of which one may choose in the walk of life; one we are born with, and the one we consciously blaze. One is naturally true, while the other is a perceptive illusion. Choose wisely at each fork in the road."
(TF Hodge)

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."
(Siddhartha Gautama)

"A lost person or article is still what it is, still valuable in itself, but in the wrong place, disconnected from its purpose and unable to be or do whatever it is intended to be or do."
(David Winter)


"Delving into the past had unveiled a cruel lesson - that in the book of life it is perhaps best not to turn back pages; it was a path on which, whatever direction we took, we'd never be able to choose our own destiny."
(Carlos Ruiz Zafon)

"The difference between a path and a road is not only the obvious one. A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place. It is a sort of ritual of familiarity."
(Wendell Berry) 

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference."

(Robert Frost)     




"The Turn in the Road"  June Tabor
 
“So at the end of this day, we give thanks For being betrothed to the unknown.” 
  (John O'Donohue)

Saturday 25 August 2012

God's Waiting Rooms





"I believe the creation of the NHS is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. I always believed this."
(David Cameron, 2006)

"When your family relies on the NHS all the time – day after day, night after night – you know how precious it is."
(David Cameron, 2006)

"We will never jeopardise the NHS by cutting its funding."
(David Cameron, 2006)

"Closure of existing services will be necessary… such reforms are extraordinarily risky."
(NHS Confederation report, 2011)
  

Whenever I've had to visit Brighton's sprawling and slightly dishevelled Royal Sussex Hospital recently, I've been struck by the sheer "niceness" of all the staff: cleaners, catering, nurses, receptionists, doctors. I actually heard a young doctor in Accident and Emergency, his own eyelids, shoulders and knees drooping, say that he understood how tiring it must be for people to wait; how sorry he was. He'd probably been on call for a day and a half. The fact that he was addressing a waiting room largely comprised of those who were the worse for wear from drugs, alcohol or aggression was clearly not an issue for him, but I found it particularly poignant.
Many of the non-medical NHS employees in Brighton are paid the paltry minimum wage, yet I've found that kind words, smiles and even a hug may all be part of the service. I truly believe that our National Health Service is the finest in the world: as patients and service users, we need to support NHS workers in their ongoing struggle to preserve this tradition of dedicated care; and not just with a song and dance at the Olympics.
A doctor pal of mine tells me that many practitioners and other medical workers are "necessarily atheist"; yet beyond the expected hospital sights, sounds and smells, the corridors of the Royal Sussex seem to have been sprayed with a healthy dose of fresh and palpable faith.
*Thank you*

Support the National Health Service: http://www.keepournhspublic.com


 
"Rise"  Eddie Vedder


Wednesday 22 August 2012

Mary's Queenship, from the children of Eve



"Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve, to thee do we send
up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and
after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God:
That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ."
("Hail, Holy Queen", traditional prayer of the Rosary)



In 1954, Pope Pius XII established 22nd August as the feast day for The Queenship of Mary: the date was seen as a logical "follow-up" to the feast of The Assumption".
In his encyclical  "To the Queen of Heaven", Pius XII confirms that Mary deserves the title not only as Mother of God, but because she is perceived as the redemptive Eve, with unique intercessory powers.
Mary's Queenship is steeped in Scripture, with reference to her matriarchal glory made at both The Annunciation and The Visitation. In the fourth century, St Ephrem called Mary both "Lady" and "Queen". Subsequent Marian hymns continue these titles: "Hail, Holy Queen", "Hail, Queen of Heaven".
 
The "Salve Regina", ("Hail, Holy Queen"), was composed in the Middle Ages, therefore originally in Latin, by German Monk Hermann of Reichenau. There have been many subsequent translations and "Hail, Holy Queen" is also the closing prayer of the Rosary: it's said at prayers at each meeting of The Catholic Women's League. Wonderfully moving when traditionally sung as Gregorian chant, "Hail, Holy Queen" also lends itself to really jubilant renditions: the attached video is from the film "Sister Act"; maybe not quite what you were expecting in honour of the feast of Mary's Queenship, but I think it's a delight.. Also, I just love to see nuns clapping and singing their hearts out.


"Hail, Holy Queen"  from "Sister Act"

Monday 20 August 2012

"Because You Are Loved"


"You can get help from teachers, but you are going to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room."
("Dr Seuss")


I wrote the poem "Because You Are Loved" over a year ago, when a couple of my friends were dealing with illness, loss and disappointment. Those friends are, thank God, "better", having indeed risen taller than their shadows. I really do believe that when we stumble, we get the chance to greet the stones in our path. I have other friends who are now ill, sad, feeling lost: this is now also for them. Or for you, if you've stumbled here on your way to somewhere else. Now, I appreciate that it is for me too; love yourselves.


"Because You Are Loved"
May you rise taller than your shadow
that the sun may greet you halfway.
Walk with your head as high as hope itself,
and know that when you stumble
you meet the stones that pave your way.
Let your heart sing the day long
that Peace will know where to find you.
Then may you rest,
still and small as the most precious diamond
in the dreams of those who love you.

                                                                              Gigi


"Don't Give Up (You Are Loved)"  Josh Groban
"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you."
"To love yourself can be the start of a lifelong romance."
(Oscar Wilde)

Thursday 16 August 2012

There's something about Mary: The Feast of The Assumption



"Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus"
(St Louis Marie de Montfort)


"Who Is She Ascends So High?"
(from the Roman Catholic Breviary)
Who is she ascends so high,
Next the heav'nly King,
Round about whom angels fly,
And her praises sing?

Who is she adorned with light;
Makes the sun her robe?
At whose feet the queen of night
Lays her changing globe?
This is she in whose pure womb
Heaven's Prince remained;
Wherefore in no earthly tomb
Could she be contained.

Heav'n she was, which held that fire,
Whence the world took light,
And to heav'n doth now as pire:
Flames with flames unite.
She that did so clearly shine,
Our day once begun,
See how bright her beams decline,
Sitting with the Sun.



As a convent schoolgirl, I grew up with a fascination for the traditional Catholic devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. As a "Child of Mary", I joined with other bustling little girls to decorate the chapel with flowers during the month of May, all of us proudly wearing our blue sashes. I still have my little rosary from my First Communion; the cheapest, mass-produced plastic, but sugar-pink and precious. Family holidays to my Dad's homeland would always incorporate a trip to Our Lady's shrine at Banneux: I can still picture the rows of souvenir Blessed Virgins; a regiment of serenity with celestial blue cloaks and rose-cheeked inclined heads. These days, I belong to the Catholic Women's League, where each meeting starts with The Rosary. I now have a frieze of The Black Madonna in my living room: I managed to paint the alcoves there almost the exact same shade as her vivid red cloak; I only wish I had found my blue sash before the family home had to be sold...
Why do we so love Mary?
Yesterday, 15th August, was the feast of The Assumption, celebrated across the Christian churches; a Holy Day of Obligation and also a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Spain and many other countries. The word "assumption" is literally from the Latin for "taken up": we celebrate that Mary was assumed into heaven, body and soul. Many Catholics do believe that Mary died physically before she ascended to heaven, but this aspect of The Assumption is not fully defined in the theology of the Catholic Church. It's a beautiful and joyous feast: Mary's Assumption is seen as a divine gift to her as the mother of Jesus; but also serves as a reminder of the saving grace that awaits us all.
Christian "Mariology" (the study and theology of Mary), explores not only her life but also the veneration of her in our own daily lives. The Virgin Mary has been a divine muse for artists, musicians, composers of hymns, sculptors and architects throughout ancient and modern Christianity. Non-Catholics have often accused the Roman Church of "loving Mary too much": deifying her in fact. However, now that I'm no longer the awestruck child with an armful of unruly roses, I appreciate that most Catholics feel a strong personal relationship to Mary because of her essential humanity; she is effectively, mother to all. As a woman, I also feel that Mary is Eve redeemed; femininity and loveliness without treachery, artifice or blemish.
We feel that Mary is our intercessor, "Our Lady": when something seems too trivial to place directly before God, Mary is there to support us through our trials and irritations and small but poignant hurts. Just as a child might run to a mother for comfort with a grazed knee, we feel Mary is accessible in this way. The emphasis is actually on her being fully human rather than any notion of deity. She is a figure of warm hope, sympathy and compassion.
Mary's selflessness and compassion as a human being are seen as ultimate. She acceded to God's wishes; a bewildered and guileless young girl, at a time when being an unmarried mother could have catastrophic consequences. Later, this very real mother would willingly sacrifice her child for the fulfilment of the scriptures and, therefore, our own. In a very practical sense, Mary supports the role of women in what is all too often viewed as a patriarchal "firm". Although Mary obeyed the word of God without question, I've never thought of her as subservient. She may be a vessel without sin, but she is far from empty: "full of grace", she is the embodiment of God's love at work in us, she gives birth to Christianity and Catholicism. Far from dismissing her as a meek, blindly following virgin, I rather believe she was only too aware of the enormity of what was before her and what would come after. Her selflessness actually required courage and resolve: this combined with her immense tenderness makes her uniquely powerful and important within our faith.
The Catholic priest, Trappist monk and poet Thomas Merton wrote many devotional Marian poems, although he felt that her greatest glory was her "nothingness": I love that he compares her freedom from all egotism to the purest glass of the cleanest window, but I've always felt that Mary the woman and mother had a great deal of substance to her! I believe that our devotion to Our Lady is flamed by her innate preciousness, which she carried with utter humility: this is what makes her complete. Sadly, I don't have a daughter: if I did, I would be thrilled to see her set aside her magazines of teetering, collagen-tampered WAGS and wannabes to don a blue sash for a real Lady.




"Mare Mia"  Diana Navarro
"Because my will is as simple as a window
And knows no pride of original birth,
It is my life to die, like glass, by light:
Slain in the strong rays of the bridegroom sun."
("The Blessed Virgin Mary Compared to a Window"  Thomas Merton)

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Six months, 8,000 page views and a couple of expletives...





This little blog is now six months old - give or take a few hours, a couple of expletives and some typos. Sitting up and rolling about a bit, grumpy with teething problems and probably needing to be winded; my little blog is on it's way to becoming a toddler.
No-one is more surprised than me that it's just notched up 8,000 page views, although many may have stumbled on it whilst looking for something else! I already know that somebody landed on it while they were looking for a Brighton teashop; I love teashops and Brighton, so this seems quite reasonable to me.
I hope some of you who didn't really intend to be here will come back. I do believe it does what it says on the tin: I am a slightly quirky Catholic woman living by the sea who scribbles poems, loves treacle tart and sometimes gets quite ratty about a variety of things. Your comments, stories and humour are also very welcome.
There are several stunning versions of the traditional song "The Water is Wide" and I thought it was time to share another. The performance in celebration of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday, at Madison Square Garden in 2007, featured the sublime Emmylou Harris, Teddy Thompson, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, The McGarrigle Sisters and James Taylor...

"The Water is Wide"  Emmylou Harris and others                
Photo: Gigi, album
*Thank you for reading and God bless*

"Know you what it is to be a child?"

"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live."
(Pope John Paul II)


"Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of today. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief"
(Francis Thompson)

I wanted write something respectfully dedicated to the memory of Tia Sharp and all the children who have suffered physically, mentally or emotionally at the hands of those they should have been most able to trust. A couple of people have warned me off doing this, particularly as those charged with or bailed on suspicion of Tia's murder must be afforded the due process of the legal system. But one thing is irrefutably clear at this stage: the death of twelve year old Tia was concealed by members of her own family. When I read that Tia's mother had been told her own mother was implicated in Tia's murder, I wanted to weep for her.
I was very fortunate: I had both my parents until I was sixteen and my mother lived through to her late eighties. My Dad was very much a father-figure and I was still my Mum's "baby" even when she herself needed cajoling to eat and support to get to the bathroom. Whatever the political, social or even geographical distances between my only sister and myself, we are bound together as "family" due to my parents' devotion to each other and to us.
Sociologists will tell you that, in human terms, a family is basically a group of people linked by consanguinity, affinity or even co-residence. In many societies, it's the principle institution for the socialisation of children. Cloning aside, we are unable to choose our families as we do our friends: close ties formed voluntarily and independently can often prove stronger than blood. However, when affinities are cultivated within domestic familiarity but without Nature's biological safeguarding, the picture can sometimes become very distorted. Today, there is an apparent disintegration of the traditionally structured family: due to the devaluation of marriage and longterm, formal partnerships, the kind of procreational vagrancy that seems to permeate some sectors of society, and the horribly premature sexualisation of children. Tia's grandmother was pregnant with Tia's mother when she was only two years older than the tragic schoolgirl at the time of her death. When I was 14, I was dreaming about ballet and still plaiting my hair everyday.
Recent research in the United States has estimated that from the year 2000, there would be more "step-families" across America than traditional nuclear ones; one in every three Americans would have step siblings or parents. I have no wish to offend anyone whose family is comprised of "step" or "half" relatives; I have several friends in such situations where the well being of all the children is paramount and where love and respect are natural perimeters. Yet it's alien for me to grasp how Tia's mother could accept her own ex-partner, the now-accused Stuart Hazell, as her current step-dad; or indeed for Tia to suddenly view her mother's former partner as her new step-grandfather. One of my friends recently explained to her son that they were going to meet his "new Daddy", to which he smartly replied: "How did he get to be my Daddy without me knowing anything about it?"
I recently asked a Catholic priest if I should invite some people who were in need stay in my home, knowing that they would be unlikely to respect my privacy and property or the sacredness of my late parents' things. I admit that I was devastated when he suggested this was the ideal, God-given opportunity to throw open my front door as well as my heart. I was relieved when another priest, who I consider to be a friend, advised that it wasn't uncharitable to protect my home if I felt at all unsafe. God doesn't want us to be capricious about who we invite into our homes or our hearts. He bids us to respect and cherish the precious gifts He's given us, to keep them safe; nothing can be more precious than the innocence of a child.

"Innocence is lucky if it finds the same protection as guilt."
(Francois  de La Rochefoucauld)

 
God Bless Tia.