Friday 25 November 2022

Pistis wonders about change (weekending November 26th 2022)

 

‽istis wonders about change (weekending November 26th 2022)

This week when:

‽ the members of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) eventually agree enough to issue a statement including ‘a historic decision to establish and operationalize a loss and damage fund.’[i], but perhaps cannot agree fully how to “…win this battle for our lives”

‽ the journalist….  George Monbiot ‘Tweeted’: ‘For 50 years (starting with the Stockholm conference in 1972), they have kept us safely talking. Summit after environmental summit has failed even to begin the action that’s needed. At what point do we conclude that the process is part of the problem? #COP27’  (21.11.2022) 

‽ the RMT announces new strike dates on the railways [ii], university staff strike,[iii] more unions ballot members in relation to prospective strike action and remember that withdrawal of labour is perhaps the action that best reminds the bosses and us all of our dependency? (discuss!) including the Royal College of Nursing[iv]

‽ the deadly war in Ukraine continues and whilst the original outcome may not be realised (‘Russia embarked on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the aim of toppling the Western-aligned government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.’[v]), relations will be altered absolutely fundamentally for a very long time

‽ calls come again for action to improve safeguarding and child protection arrangements in England and Wales[vi] after the death of Logan Mwangi[vii] - new approaches to continue to improve the safety net through which some children fall so catastrophically (yet which does manage to protect so many whose names will, fortunately, never be highlighted on national papers)

‽  the immigration and asylum system continues to be in the spotlight and revisions are mooted with flags perhaps being run up flag poles to test the water for possible proposals (and to mix metaphors)[viii]

‽ The Labour Party talks about reforming the House of Lords[ix]

‽ A programme on BBC4 highlights the state of a bay and coast on an island far away and over time – and considers what it may tell us about there and us, then and now[x]

‽ new gestures to raise awareness about human rights matters are aired across the world – from rainbow bucket hats (not allowed/now allowed in a FIFA not-so-okay-cokey, sic)!, to fingers on lips, to pundits’ introductions, to personal boycotts[xi]

‽  Tory MPs are invited to indicate whether they will stand again at the next election[xii] as the chances of electoral loss and potential strength of ‘give the other lot a chance’ voting vagaries are calculated

‽ ….and on and on – just try listening, reading and seeing the news through the lens of the word in italics below…

‽istis continues to ponder ‘change’ and wonder at processes that may be involved…   What comes to mind?

·        What might we do if we can’t really calculate potential cost/benefits longer term‽ Assert confidently? Proceed cautiously? Precautionarily not proceed at all?[xiii]

·        Am I fundamentally a ‘jerk’ or a ‘smoothie when it comes to thinking about evolutionary processes‽[xiv]  

·        ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ – or – ‘We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.’[xv]

·        Is ‘lifestyle authenticity’ the only antidote to cries of ‘hypocrisy’‽

·        Is this ancient wisdom actually the case – in theory and practice?: ‘Everything flows and nothing stays. Everything flows and nothing abides. Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. Everything flows; nothing remains. All is flux, nothing is stationary. All is flux, nothing stays still. All flows, nothing stays.[xvi]

And, perhaps, possibly, maybe most critically of all, this week ‽istis has pondered and wondered: what difference can I make… and how can I make a difference…‽ What change do I need to make, to make change‽

© ‽istis                                                                                                                    

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  


[i] https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27 See https://unfccc.int/documents/624444 for the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan.

[xiii] Vote to leave the EU, or not…?

[xiv] Gradualism v sudden-transition? https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2004/12/16/repeat-after-me (apologies for citing a reference behind a pay-wall… even for an article from 2004, well thanks for that ‘The Economist’ (might you consider suddenly-transition to a new policy on articles that are more than, say, 5 years’ old?)…

[xv] https://professorbuzzkill.com/gandhi-be-the-change-you-wish-to-see-in-the-world/

[xvi] Commonly attributed to Heraclitus: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heraclitus


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Friday 18 November 2022

Pistis wonders at those who manage the dying (weekending November 19th)

 

‽istis wonders at those who manage the dying (weekending November 19th 2022)

Back in July 2021, ‽istis wondered and reclaimed dying[i] as a loved-one prepared to ‘cross the bar’. This week, attending another funeral, ‽istis wonders at those who manage the dying – including for the 11,795 people whose death was registered in England and Wales in the week ending Nov 4th (latest available)[ii]:

‽ the slow decline in mind and body or catastrophic emergency health crisis as the inevitable approaches sooner or later (but never if…) and with all that may mean: patience, lack of squeamishness, coping with bodily fluids  – cleaning, mopping, washing - great skill and care, diagnosing, prescribing, operating technical medical equipment and managing complex procedures, feeding, encouraging drinking, mitigating pain if possible[iii], repeating things over and over again, end of life 'doula-ing',  comforting, weeping-with, holding hands…

‽ the last rites – sacred or secular, formularied or improvised perhaps from sentiment deep within and generations bestowed…

‽ the dignified handling of the body – investigation if that is needed, preparation, storage, transport in common likelihood from bed to gurney to coffin to graveyard or crematorium, to soil, to box…

‽ the funeral or memorial (direct, essential or tailored[iv]  – family, friends, acquaintances, the respect-payers – and everyone behind the scenes: funeral directors, pall-bearers, drivers, celebrants (all perhaps in touch with the sacred, whether religious or otherwise), gravediggers, crematoria manages and technicians, florists, musicians, poets, liturgists, readers, eulogisers (flowing eloquently or managing the catch in the throat and the need for breath or to manage the tears), singers, silent witnesses, the caterers…

‽  registrars, solicitors, the administrators of charities and banks and data-management...

‽ kind friends and family, sometimes strangers, perhaps therapists…

‽ and on and on across the many and varied roles and ways we, mostly, somehow manage and cope before, during and after…  

And what is left in mind for ‽istis, or for you, at the end of this pondering at the managing of death…‽ Once again perhaps there is a sense of an essential complex connectedness of people; possibly a reminder of our common final physical fate; maybe a fresh appreciation and wonder in the thick and sometimes thinness[v] of what might be seen as the fragility and miraculousness of life…‽  

© ‽istis                                                                                                                    

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  


[iii] And not forgetting all the services and people that lie behind these activities e.g: pharmaceutical companies, researchers and scientists, manufacturers of PPE – all those then involved in managing and supplying resource materials, finished goods, deliveries, administrating etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc…


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Thursday 10 November 2022

Pistis ponders SPICES x 2 (weekending November 12th 2022)

 

‽istis ponders SPICES x 2 (weekending November 12th 2022)

This week,

·        when a UK report was read – considering ‘a catalogue of abuse and serious harm of some of the most vulnerable children in our society’ (‘Safeguarding Children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings’)[i]

and

·        wondering at Quaker approaches to life at a time of poignant family reflection,

‽istis champions acronyms and the ‘spices’ of life.

What might be a good way of thinking about the developmental needs of children, young people everywhere including those with additional needs and who ‘are too often marginalised, misrecognised, and hidden from public sight’ - so that we can ensure ‘they are well cared for and protected so that they can enjoy the inalienable right of every child to live in a safe environment where they can thrive and flourish’ (Intro to the report) ‽

S: Social

P: Physical

I: Intellectual and Identity

C: Creative and cultural

E: Emotional

S: Spiritual[ii]

What might be a ‘good’[iii] way to live, for ourselves and perhaps, possibly, maybe not just us - everybody‽ The Quaker ‘Testimonies’ (a shared core set of beliefs) are presented in various forms but ‽istis particularly appreciates a version where the key words are defined by children and young people at The Quaker School, Horsham[iv]:

SIMPLICITY - Quakers believe that if we are always trying to get better things, we can forget to be good people. Sometimes acquiring a lot of fancy things, clothes, and toys can get in the way of doing our work.

PEACE - Quakers believe that war and violence do not solve disagreements. These things only make people suffer. Quakers try to settle all their arguments without using weapons or words to hurt others. Quakers believe that world peace begins with each of us. Children in Quaker schools are taught the skills of non-violent conflict resolution.

INTEGRITY - Integrity means being truthful and trying always to do a good job. It means saying what we mean and meaning what we say.

COMMUNITY - Quakers believe that it is important to be a good neighbour, helpful to people around us. Building community takes many forms, including having fun with each other.

EQUALITY - Quakers believe there is that of God in everyone. Everyone is created equal. This means everyone has the same human rights and should be treated fairly. It also means we should treat people the way we want to be treated (and ‘Egalitarian’ is the word sometimes used under this ‘E’)

STEWARDSHIP - To live with simplicity and integrity, we need to do a good job taking care of the things we own and use. This means taking good care of the earth. Quakers believe it is important leave the world a better place (and ‘Sustainability’ is the word sometimes used under this ‘S’).

And after silent consideration (both drawing on traditional Quaker practice[v] but also shocked in to it by the safeguarding report), ‽istis wonders whether perhaps, possibly, maybe one way to better promote and meet the SPICES of life for all children and young people’s lives - and indeed us all - is to embrace and pursue and achieve the Quaker testimonies‽ 

Or vice versa...‽ Though ‽istis decides to save further reflection on chickens and eggs (and maybe which come first) for another time…

© ‽istis                                                                                                                    

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  


[ii] There may be various iterations - and references include: https://www.gottalovemom.com/2011/01/young-childs-development-spice-social.html

[iii] Recognising that ‘good’ can be a very relative term…  but debating and developing some consensus about what this comprises seems a worthwhile activity, perhaps…


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Sunday 6 November 2022

Pistis remembers, remembers... (weekending November 5th 2022)

 

‽istis remembers, remembers… (weekending November 5th 2022)

As the week draws to a close on ‘Bonfire Night’ in the UK, ‽istis ponders just what it may be that children in this part of the world are exhorted to ‘remember, remember’[i] – and whether there is ‘no reason why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot’?

Are we remembering, remembering:

·        the plot: ‘to blow the King and Parliament All up alive’?

·        the specifics: ‘threescore barrels (of gunpowder), laid below’ (Parliament)?

·        the seeming lax security or inside information that enabled them to be placed below?

·        the underlying aim: ‘to prove old England’s overthrow’?

·        the plans: for what a ‘new’ England might look like – or might it be back to an ‘older’ England?

·        the warning to Lord Monteagle[ii]: ‘I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift your attendance at this Parliament…’

·        the ‘caught in the act’[iii]: in the nick of time as the match was being lit?

·        the torture[iv]: of Guy Fawkes and others – personally authorised by the King ‘If he will not other wayes confesse, the gentler tortours are to be the first usid unto him…God speed youre goode worke. James.'[v]?

·        the brutality: of the captured plotters’ punishment: hung, drawn and quartered[vi] (description)?

·        the ignominy: of being a plotter not now remembered, remembered or commemorated in rhyme or with a lapsed Act of Parliament bearing their name[vii]?

·        the underlying politico-religious struggle: ostensibly between ‘Protestantism’ and ‘Catholicism’ – but perhaps, possibly, maybe as always about power, wealth and dominance?[viii]

·        the legislation: that prompted services and sermons Commemorating the Plot through the Thanksgiving Act of 1606?

·        the liturgy: of such Church services; the messages of the sermons?[ix]  

·        the apparent aftermath?[x]

·        the roll call of effigies[xi] (largely political it seems) burnt on community bonfires whilst fireworks provide a representative successful explosion (relatively harmlessly – though not for lots of pets and animals), perhaps something of an echo of the suffering plotted for the Parliamentarians and King all those years’ ago?:

o   The Pope

o   The devil

o   David Cameron (with pig)

o   Harvey Weinstein

o   John Bercow

o   Katie Price

o   Boris Johnson

o   Alex Salmond

o   Wayne Rooney

o   Jacob Rees-Mogg

o   Theresa May

o   Lance Armstrong (with cycling helmet)

o   Vladimir Putin (with ‘mankini’)  

o   Liz Truss[xii]

The events of recent months and the apparent possible ‘permacrisis’[xiii], perhaps omnishambles, maybe psychodrama of the Tory party[xiv] suggest that plotting is alive and well in Westminster.

© ‽istis                                                                                                                    

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  


[ii] ‘My Lord…I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift your attendance at this Parliament for God and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time…though there be no appearance of any stir yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them.’  https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/the-gunpowder-plot-of-1605/overview/the-plot-and-its-discovery/discovery-and-flight/

[iii] As if these have never happened since in and around Westminster!

[vi] "That you be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution where you shall be hanged by the neck and being alive cut down, your privy members shall be cut off and your bowels taken out and burned before you, your head severed from your body and your body divided into four quarters to be disposed of at the King's pleasure." https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/hanging-drawing-and-quartering.htm

[ix] For example: ‘King James I paused every Nov. 5 to hear a sermon on the subject of deliverance.

The first such sermon was preached by Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester Nov. 5 1606

 

“this day of ours, this fifth of November, a day of God’s making; that which was done upon it was the Lord’s doing...This day is the scripture fulfilled in our ears.” The destroyer passed over our dwellings this day. It is our Passover, it is our Purim.”-(Sermons Preached upon the V of November , in Lancelot Andrewes, XCVI Sermons, 3rd. Edition (London,1635) pp. 889,890, 900-1008’ http://cbladey.com/guy/html/sermons.html & Bishop George Carleton:

“Their hellish device was at one blow to root out religion, to destroy the state, the father of our country, the mother of our country, the olive branches the hopeful succession of our king,, the reverend clergy, the honorable nobility the faithful councillors, the grave judges, the greatest part of our knights and gentry, the choices burgesses, the officers of the crown, couincil, signet, seals and other seats of judgment, the learned lawyers with an infinite number of common people, the hall of justice, the houses of parliament, the church used for the coronation of our kings, the monuments of our former princes, all records of parliament, and of every particular man’s right with great number of charters, and other things of this nature, all these things had the devil by his agents devised at one secret blow to destroy.”

A Thankful Remembrance of God’s Mercy. In an Historical Collection of the great and mercifull Deliverances of the Church and State of England (London, 1624)

[x] Which the UK Parliament sums up as: ‘The discovery of the plot had a lasting effect on the treatment of the Catholics in England…’ https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/the-gunpowder-plot-of-1605/overview/aftermath/


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