Skip to main content

Can we please play nicely?



In hindsight one might have seen it coming: a trip to meet the Pope, a week of events in native Wales next week.. Archbishop Rowan has stepped down. By the time he leaves we trust that a viable way forward to women Bishops might be in place. He will leave his successor to continue a difficult and perhaps unnecessary task of holding together a divergent communion. I will be sad that his intellect will not be in this role any more. Magdelene will be all the richer for his warmth.

I must say I was pretty disappointed this morning when BBC Breakfast began to report on the varying degrees of 'lobbying' that the groups within the Church of England have 'already started'. Now clearly journalists dig around and get hold of bits and pieces of quotes- but rumour, conjecture and vying are an awful witness to what needs to be measured, considered and wise.

The appointments process will be muddled by its inevitable mix up with government- please Lord let DC have more on his plate than this. I pray it will not be muddled by factionalism, title tattle and publicity hunting by people who should know better. It is better we say nothing at all than get wrung out by the national press for being political, zealous and just plain bitchy.

Lets pray that whoever succeeds Rowan, even now will be deepening in his resilience and wisdom. May he be protected from the rumour mill and excesses of journalism. And may he know that he is called for this time in this place and exercise his leadership with skill, with humility and with great love.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering What I Enjoy..

Occasionally I forget things. Some stuff like birthdays, names and stuff is a normal human thing, and I don't sweat it so much. But I also forget some other stuff which is not so good. I forget what I enjoy. I don't know how it happens but it does from time to time. And its at these moments that I need a bit of help remembering. So- this is a request for help. What do I enjoy doing? What gives me joy? Leave me a comment.

A Broadside: *plot spoiler* for Tory sympathisers

Today some alarming social equality data was released. It said what we all know: if you are poor, you have less opportunities in life. For every £100 a month less income than the median you start school one month behind developmentally. Your vocabulary aged 5 is half what it is for a rich kid if you are in the bottom ten percent of income. Housing tenure stats are even worse. "Only 4 per cent of those of working age living in social housing have degrees, and nearly half have no or only low qualifications. Only half of men and 42 per cent of women of working age living in social housing are in paid work, compared with 89 per cent of men and 81 per cent of women in households with a mortgage." Social housing: by its nature, is grouped (london people ignore this, you are the freaks not the norm). That means that we have allowed ghettoes of poverty and low attainment (not just in a SATS way either). Now it would be easy, and some daft Tory has already done it, to pin this on