Life has been whizzing by at an unusually high speed and I find that my wisdom dispenser has been clogged with the dregs of everyday business but today I am taking a tooth pick to the little holes from which wisdom drops like pearls on swines ears. I think I may be mixing my metaphors but what is a metaphor, if not for mixing?
Lots to talk about and where better to start than the announcement by Rowan Williams that he intends to stand down from the post of Archbishop of Canterbury. I hear that he has been headhunted by some university who wish to study the microscopic life in his eyebrows.
Initially I was pleased to think he was leaving but then it hit me, who will replace him? The scary thing is that people are touting Sentamu, Archbishop of York. Although his eyebrows are not that impressive (and he seems to have lost his dog collar) his attitude is a little more evangelical than Dr Williams and that cannot be a good thing.
I know he has a high profile and has done some good work in denouncing Mugabe for example, but I am a little concerned over his very old fashioned stance on equality.
It's early days yet and no doubt other Bishops will throw their mitres into the ring but whoever we end up with will not have been elected by the people of this country and yet they will feel they have the right to speak for us all...I mean who do they think they are, messengers from God?
There have been discussions about reforming the House of Lords, in which 26 of the blighters dwell, and I think it is time that we limited the voice of the almighty in parliament and let it do its work on its own time and in its own buildings.
I am a realist, I think religion is here to stay but I think it should be a personal matter and not a matter for the state.
I do get angry with the religious elite because of their views, and there was another example this week.
Anyone who has seen how awful a disease cystic fibrosis can be, will surely be supporting the research into a gene therapy study announced this week. A two year blind study in which atomised gene replacement therapy tries to reduce or stop the progression of mucosal build up in the lungs of sufferers.
Well, not everyone thinks this is a good idea - because some true believers think messing with genetics and stem cell research is all the devil's work and we should not be allowed to tinker with such things.
I wonder how many of them take pain killers when they have a headache?
Here is my point, if you take their argument that God's plan should be allowed to unfold then why do we have medicine at all? If you fall ill, it is God's will and so let God decide if you live or die. After all what has a religious zealot got to fear from death? They believe they will be taken to a better place. To be honest if they live in some parts of the world, death might well be a better place.
It's the same with the Catholic stance on contraception, how they like to condemn the condom.
Two devout Catholics (a man and a woman of course) meet, fall in love and get married and decide to have children, sorry and then proceed to have children as decreed by God and the church.
Their first child is born and found to have an awful disease linked to a genetic problem with one of the parents. A doctor tells them that the chances are that all future children will be born with the same illness and that their lives will be short, painful affairs.
Quite a dilemma for the couple who decide that they do not wish to have more children but still wish to have a sex life. Of course having sex without any contraception other than natural family planning is risky and opens up the chance of conception, which is what the sexual act within marriage should really be about in the eyes of the church.
You can see how daft this whole scenario is getting, do the couple trust that they can avoid conception or do they commit a sin and use contraception?
Don't get me started on how ineffectual natural family planning is in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
It is these sort of issues that make people like me scratch their heads in disbelief.
People have brains and we have the need to use them, to learn things and to progress, to evolve.
As individuals, as communities and as a world, we should be finding ways to make life better for all.
Complete change of direction - David Cameron has been to America to see President Obama. The American public have seen our leader on their tv screens and still don't know who he is, where he comes from or what he wants...America is a very insular place we are told and to some extent I suppose it is. It is such a huge country and some people never leave the state they are born in, let alone know where Canterbury is.
David Cameron could appear all day and night on tv talking about the future of Sudan, but in getting arrested yesterday outside the Sudan's embassy in Washington,George Clooney has done the world a favour.
You see, the story will be on news channels and on entertainment channels too and if even 1% of the people who see the story think to look at why George made this decision, thousands of eyes will be opened.
I have a new favourite saying: you only have to have your eyes opened once before you start to see everything!
Well done George Clooney and we in England want to repay your efforts by making same sex marriage legal so you can come over here and settle down...
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Instructions To The Audience
I know what you're thinking. It's Tuesday and the Guru must have had an extra Omega 3 capsule if he's going to dispense his glorious thoughts midweek.
The power of the fish oil is strong this morning dear ones, (as is the after taste if you burp) and it compels me to offer these wonderful words of wisdom.
Family life is sometimes a little challenging, I hear stories everyday of how some families fall apart whilst others stick together through thick and thicker. I was musing only yesterday how working with family members can cause some real problems and perhaps there were days when Jesus thought about leaving the family firm and taking his magic show to Vegas. Father and Holy Ghost might not have had the same success without him.
But all this rambling about family is really bringing me to three hours sitting in the theatre last night, watching Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill. I'm not going to review the whole show but its depiction of family life and the issues each member of that family were battling, was enthralling. The whole cast were magnificent and the evening flew by. This production has plugged a big gap in my theatre going experiences - my first O'Neill and I got to see David Suchet on stage.
It is at once a period piece but yet it has a strong resonance for modern life. One line really hits the mark:
The characters were so shockingly real you did get completely drawn into the story which was not complicated to follow in any way....unless you were the lady sat two rows in front of me!
I've written before about audiences and how they sometimes spoil a show and last night we had a few nose blowers and coughers, the odd sweet paper but the most annoying thing for me was the fact the some people come to the theatre and then don't pay attention.
The lady in question kept asking her husband about the plot, which if she had shut up and listened was all too clearly explained in the text.
In the interval, her husband did his best to catch her up and the debate about one character and their fingers was fascinating.
The character of Mary Tyrone complains of pains in her fingers which leads her to require medication. The inquisitive and yet stupid lady asked her husband "why are her fingers not more bent, like my mum's - she had arthritis and her fingers were much worse than that".
She went on to explain that she didn't believe there could have been any pain from such un-arthritic finger joints and that the actress (Laurie Metcalfe who was superb in the role) should try harder to make her fingers more bent!
Can you imagine how hard I was suppressing guffaws of laughter at this time?
She also commented on the costumes being 'familiar' and she thought she had seen them somewhere before. She mused that it might have been Downton Abbey. I had my fist in my mouth by now.
After the interval some people moved from the cheap seats to occupy some empty seats behind me (dress circle of course) and it was obviously some corporate jolly. They nearly all spoke with American accents and wreaked of alcohol. I did wonder if it was the James Tyrone Fan Club. One of them soon fell asleep but luckily didn't snore as that would have been the icing on the cake.
The English man with them said the following as the lights dimmed - "Don't you recognise the actor? It's John Suchet. Don't you get POYROTT back home? He's famous in this country for playing POYROTT, not sure what else he's done".
Anyway, I sat enthralled as the play continued its inevitable journey accompanied by more questions from the idiot woman, more sweet papers, coughs and sneezes...but in the end it didn't matter. I had witnessed something very good and I knew it.
I would willingly sit through the whole play again - as long as I got to pick the rest of the audience!
That's all today now go and busy yourself with life, enjoy your day and your family - who for all their faults are still your family.
The power of the fish oil is strong this morning dear ones, (as is the after taste if you burp) and it compels me to offer these wonderful words of wisdom.
Family life is sometimes a little challenging, I hear stories everyday of how some families fall apart whilst others stick together through thick and thicker. I was musing only yesterday how working with family members can cause some real problems and perhaps there were days when Jesus thought about leaving the family firm and taking his magic show to Vegas. Father and Holy Ghost might not have had the same success without him.
But all this rambling about family is really bringing me to three hours sitting in the theatre last night, watching Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill. I'm not going to review the whole show but its depiction of family life and the issues each member of that family were battling, was enthralling. The whole cast were magnificent and the evening flew by. This production has plugged a big gap in my theatre going experiences - my first O'Neill and I got to see David Suchet on stage.
It is at once a period piece but yet it has a strong resonance for modern life. One line really hits the mark:
The past is the present, isn't it? It's the future too.
The characters were so shockingly real you did get completely drawn into the story which was not complicated to follow in any way....unless you were the lady sat two rows in front of me!
I've written before about audiences and how they sometimes spoil a show and last night we had a few nose blowers and coughers, the odd sweet paper but the most annoying thing for me was the fact the some people come to the theatre and then don't pay attention.
The lady in question kept asking her husband about the plot, which if she had shut up and listened was all too clearly explained in the text.
In the interval, her husband did his best to catch her up and the debate about one character and their fingers was fascinating.
The character of Mary Tyrone complains of pains in her fingers which leads her to require medication. The inquisitive and yet stupid lady asked her husband "why are her fingers not more bent, like my mum's - she had arthritis and her fingers were much worse than that".
She went on to explain that she didn't believe there could have been any pain from such un-arthritic finger joints and that the actress (Laurie Metcalfe who was superb in the role) should try harder to make her fingers more bent!
Can you imagine how hard I was suppressing guffaws of laughter at this time?
She also commented on the costumes being 'familiar' and she thought she had seen them somewhere before. She mused that it might have been Downton Abbey. I had my fist in my mouth by now.
After the interval some people moved from the cheap seats to occupy some empty seats behind me (dress circle of course) and it was obviously some corporate jolly. They nearly all spoke with American accents and wreaked of alcohol. I did wonder if it was the James Tyrone Fan Club. One of them soon fell asleep but luckily didn't snore as that would have been the icing on the cake.
The English man with them said the following as the lights dimmed - "Don't you recognise the actor? It's John Suchet. Don't you get POYROTT back home? He's famous in this country for playing POYROTT, not sure what else he's done".
Anyway, I sat enthralled as the play continued its inevitable journey accompanied by more questions from the idiot woman, more sweet papers, coughs and sneezes...but in the end it didn't matter. I had witnessed something very good and I knew it.
I would willingly sit through the whole play again - as long as I got to pick the rest of the audience!
That's all today now go and busy yourself with life, enjoy your day and your family - who for all their faults are still your family.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Getting Married Today
Good morning world, how nice to see you all washed and ready for action this chilly March morning.
What will you do with yourselves today? Perhaps a visit to a garden centre or a pub lunch, maybe a drive in the countryside. Or if you live in Mountain View California, you'll probably spend all day re-reading my blog back catalogue as you try and work out what adverts to send my way (thanks Google).
Of course some will be attending church, (don't laugh, some people do still go to church) and if any are going to church in Scotland this morning I guess they will be getting a sermon on the sanctity of marriage. In fact I imagine that in many catholic churches the pronouncements of Cardinal Keith O'Brien on 'gay or same sex marriage' will be the topic du jour.
I suppose I better declare an interest in that I am hoping that during the forthcoming consultation period on gay marriages in the UK, that celebrants such as myself will be granted the power to perform legally recognised ceremonies. The reason this is important to me is that next year I have been asked to celebrate a wedding for two very special people (not same sex) - and I can tell you now that it will be the wedding of the year! I'm already searching for a trained budgie to sit on my shoulder throughout the event, to accessorise my ringmasters costume.
In my eyes, marriage is about the commitment of one person to another, and not just because it is union in which that commitment is legally recognised by the state. I do, however, think equality is important.
Presently in the UK, a legally recognised marriage can take place in a civil ceremony at a registrars office or in a religious establishment overseen by a minister of that church. You can also get married in certain other buildings that have been approved by the local authority. No matter the location or the style of the wedding, the thing that makes the marriage legal is the signing of the register.
As I mentioned, here in the UK we are about to commence a period of consultation as to whether gay marriage should be legally recognised and there have already been many voices raised in protest. Some say that gay couples have the right to a civil partnership and this gives them legal rights on a par with marriage so why muddy the waters?
But why can't two people who love each other simply get married?
Let me tell you what the Cardinal says about gay marriage, or as he calls it a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right".
He goes on to say... "Same-sex marriage would eliminate entirely in law the basic idea of a mother and a father for every child. It would create a society which deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father."
I'm a little confused, which is easy for me as Catholics always confuse me. We have not even cut the cake and the Cardinal is worrying about children!
Of course, the Catholic church believes that the purpose of marriage is to bring more potential converts into the world and it has been a success in so many places...look at those countries in Africa where Catholicism is the main religion, no shortage of children there. Just a shortage of food to give them, medical aid, and parents who have died through contracting HIV. A success story to be really proud of - let's have a big cheer for the Pope.
The Cardinal also stated that by legalising gay marriage, the UK government would "shame the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world".
Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Iceland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the USA have legally recognised same sex marriage to some extent. I don't see any shame in joining that list do you? And we will not be alone, many other countries are moving towards legally recognising the concept of two people being able to make a commitment to each other, not just a man and a woman.
I don't have any objections to two men or two women getting married, I don't feel that it in anyway undermines the institution of marriage. Mrs B and I married in church more through tradition than religion and I think we are probably part of a great majority who uses the church in that way. Did that make our commitment any less valid? It might do in the eyes of the church but the eyes of the state are closed to such issues.
As a Humanist I don't think the church, any church, should own marriage and I think that if a state wishes to recognise the commitment of one human being to another, a commitment in exclusion to all others, then the world will not stop turning nor will the churches fall.
Religion is a part of our society, I don't think that will ever change. My opinion is that the church should not be given a right to run society, it should be there to support those who sign up to its rules - so all the gay catholics will have to be satisfied with....hang on, is there such a thing as a gay catholic?
The fear that recognising same sex marriage may marginalise even further those groups who are against it is no reason to stand still - if the church doesn't want to evolve that is their choice, but the rest of us are fed up with the 12th century and want to live in the 21st.
A happy marriage is one based on mutual respect, love, and the ability to work together - Mrs B and I are very happily married and I know this for sure because she told me just the other day.
My marriage to Mrs B has been a success because of Mrs B, I can take no credit at all. I have just honoured and obeyed her for almost 28 years and having lived through all of that joy I would like to see everyone suffer as I have. (It's a joke dear, let me fetch you another cup of tea to your bedside and toast you a crumpet).
One third of marriages between 1995 and 2010 ended in divorce so the same sex team hasn't been making a great success of things, so why not let someone else have a go? They can't be any worse at being married than us hetero's!
What will you do with yourselves today? Perhaps a visit to a garden centre or a pub lunch, maybe a drive in the countryside. Or if you live in Mountain View California, you'll probably spend all day re-reading my blog back catalogue as you try and work out what adverts to send my way (thanks Google).
Of course some will be attending church, (don't laugh, some people do still go to church) and if any are going to church in Scotland this morning I guess they will be getting a sermon on the sanctity of marriage. In fact I imagine that in many catholic churches the pronouncements of Cardinal Keith O'Brien on 'gay or same sex marriage' will be the topic du jour.
I suppose I better declare an interest in that I am hoping that during the forthcoming consultation period on gay marriages in the UK, that celebrants such as myself will be granted the power to perform legally recognised ceremonies. The reason this is important to me is that next year I have been asked to celebrate a wedding for two very special people (not same sex) - and I can tell you now that it will be the wedding of the year! I'm already searching for a trained budgie to sit on my shoulder throughout the event, to accessorise my ringmasters costume.
In my eyes, marriage is about the commitment of one person to another, and not just because it is union in which that commitment is legally recognised by the state. I do, however, think equality is important.
Presently in the UK, a legally recognised marriage can take place in a civil ceremony at a registrars office or in a religious establishment overseen by a minister of that church. You can also get married in certain other buildings that have been approved by the local authority. No matter the location or the style of the wedding, the thing that makes the marriage legal is the signing of the register.
As I mentioned, here in the UK we are about to commence a period of consultation as to whether gay marriage should be legally recognised and there have already been many voices raised in protest. Some say that gay couples have the right to a civil partnership and this gives them legal rights on a par with marriage so why muddy the waters?
But why can't two people who love each other simply get married?
Let me tell you what the Cardinal says about gay marriage, or as he calls it a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right".
He goes on to say... "Same-sex marriage would eliminate entirely in law the basic idea of a mother and a father for every child. It would create a society which deliberately chooses to deprive a child of either a mother or a father."
I'm a little confused, which is easy for me as Catholics always confuse me. We have not even cut the cake and the Cardinal is worrying about children!
Of course, the Catholic church believes that the purpose of marriage is to bring more potential converts into the world and it has been a success in so many places...look at those countries in Africa where Catholicism is the main religion, no shortage of children there. Just a shortage of food to give them, medical aid, and parents who have died through contracting HIV. A success story to be really proud of - let's have a big cheer for the Pope.
The Cardinal also stated that by legalising gay marriage, the UK government would "shame the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world".
Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Iceland, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the USA have legally recognised same sex marriage to some extent. I don't see any shame in joining that list do you? And we will not be alone, many other countries are moving towards legally recognising the concept of two people being able to make a commitment to each other, not just a man and a woman.
I don't have any objections to two men or two women getting married, I don't feel that it in anyway undermines the institution of marriage. Mrs B and I married in church more through tradition than religion and I think we are probably part of a great majority who uses the church in that way. Did that make our commitment any less valid? It might do in the eyes of the church but the eyes of the state are closed to such issues.
As a Humanist I don't think the church, any church, should own marriage and I think that if a state wishes to recognise the commitment of one human being to another, a commitment in exclusion to all others, then the world will not stop turning nor will the churches fall.
Religion is a part of our society, I don't think that will ever change. My opinion is that the church should not be given a right to run society, it should be there to support those who sign up to its rules - so all the gay catholics will have to be satisfied with....hang on, is there such a thing as a gay catholic?
The fear that recognising same sex marriage may marginalise even further those groups who are against it is no reason to stand still - if the church doesn't want to evolve that is their choice, but the rest of us are fed up with the 12th century and want to live in the 21st.
A happy marriage is one based on mutual respect, love, and the ability to work together - Mrs B and I are very happily married and I know this for sure because she told me just the other day.
My marriage to Mrs B has been a success because of Mrs B, I can take no credit at all. I have just honoured and obeyed her for almost 28 years and having lived through all of that joy I would like to see everyone suffer as I have. (It's a joke dear, let me fetch you another cup of tea to your bedside and toast you a crumpet).
One third of marriages between 1995 and 2010 ended in divorce so the same sex team hasn't been making a great success of things, so why not let someone else have a go? They can't be any worse at being married than us hetero's!
Friday, 24 February 2012
You Gotta Get A Gimmick
Calm down, don't panic - I know I don't usually reach down from the comfort of my hilltop retreat on Friday mornings but today I had the urge to touch someone in that special way.
Let me begin by stating my admiration for the professionalism and sacrifice of Marie Colvin, the greatest war correspondent of her generation and a great loss to the world of truth, especially uncomfortable truth.
The death of a genuine world class journalist comes in the same week that Rupert Mudrock (I know what I wrote) launches The Sun on Sunday. Well, I didn't read the weekly editions so I guess I won't be rushing out to buy this down market rag full of gossip and breasts.
I have heard it said that we need as many newspapers as possible because 'information is the oxygen of democracy' (Cristina Odone - BBC Question Time 23/2/12). To be honest, I think I would rather be short of breath than read The Sun.
I suppose that Mudrock is trying to re-brand after all the bad press his papers have been getting but perhaps he needs to think outside the box or perhaps he needs to think inside a box...do we have a box?
People say that you need an edge these days, you need that USP if you are going to get ahead but maybe you don't have to be different, you just have to be better than the rest?
Perhaps that is why Marie Colvin was so respected, because she strove to be the best and provide the best independent news of what was really happening in the world.
What else has been in the news this week? Tesco employing slave labour, Adele getting cut off in her prime, Frank Carson dies, the Health Bill still causing major headaches for the government, Obama sings the blues, Whitney's funeral, Lord Carey rallying the righteous to oppose gay marriage...just some of the stories that caught my eye.
I cannot let a story about Tesco pass by without comment...if I understand the story correctly, young people on jobseekers allowance are being offered work experience at Tesco (and other places) where they also get paid expenses and learn valuable social skills like talking to people, getting up in the morning and having a work ethic. Sadly at Tesco they are not taught to brush their teeth or wash.
I also understand that 50% of those who have taken this opportunity have gone on to get full time work.
Sounds like a terrible idea and I think we should boycott Tesco!!!
Some of the companies involved are already pulling out because of negative news coverage so I would ask those who are against a scheme that seems to work, what's their big idea? What do they suggest will engender a work ethic in young people who see no benefit in working when you can get benefit for not working?
To compare it to slavery also seems a little preposterous, I don't think slaves actually went home at night I think their employers kept them chained up in the back yard somewhere. Are Tesco keeping teenagers in the cold storage overnight?
Poor old Frank Carson, a man renowned for his timing decides to die on the day when someone more interesting and famous also lost their life. He may have been dead funny but like so many other great comedians, he won't be as funny, dead.
Didn't watch the Brit Awards, don't care if Adele couldn't finish her speech, especially if it was in that awful accented common manner that she uses. Did go and see The King's Speech at the theatre and that was magnificent.
Didn't watch Whitney's funeral but I did get a call saying that one of my funerals was so well received that the Royal British Legion want to use it as a talking point when dealing with ex-military personnel.
When I started out as funeral celebrant I followed the rule book quite closely but as I grew more confident in my ability I threw the rule book away and just started to be me...and isn't that the greatest gimmick of all?
OK, well Friday awaits and there is plenty to do...one final message to a very avid reader in Mountain View, California - who are you?
There are no secrets in this cyber world, I can stalk all of you with my tracking device.
Mountain View sounds like a place I would love, so dear Mountain View reader, please get in touch with me here on the Hill.
Let me begin by stating my admiration for the professionalism and sacrifice of Marie Colvin, the greatest war correspondent of her generation and a great loss to the world of truth, especially uncomfortable truth.
The death of a genuine world class journalist comes in the same week that Rupert Mudrock (I know what I wrote) launches The Sun on Sunday. Well, I didn't read the weekly editions so I guess I won't be rushing out to buy this down market rag full of gossip and breasts.
I have heard it said that we need as many newspapers as possible because 'information is the oxygen of democracy' (Cristina Odone - BBC Question Time 23/2/12). To be honest, I think I would rather be short of breath than read The Sun.
I suppose that Mudrock is trying to re-brand after all the bad press his papers have been getting but perhaps he needs to think outside the box or perhaps he needs to think inside a box...do we have a box?
People say that you need an edge these days, you need that USP if you are going to get ahead but maybe you don't have to be different, you just have to be better than the rest?
Perhaps that is why Marie Colvin was so respected, because she strove to be the best and provide the best independent news of what was really happening in the world.
What else has been in the news this week? Tesco employing slave labour, Adele getting cut off in her prime, Frank Carson dies, the Health Bill still causing major headaches for the government, Obama sings the blues, Whitney's funeral, Lord Carey rallying the righteous to oppose gay marriage...just some of the stories that caught my eye.
I cannot let a story about Tesco pass by without comment...if I understand the story correctly, young people on jobseekers allowance are being offered work experience at Tesco (and other places) where they also get paid expenses and learn valuable social skills like talking to people, getting up in the morning and having a work ethic. Sadly at Tesco they are not taught to brush their teeth or wash.
I also understand that 50% of those who have taken this opportunity have gone on to get full time work.
Sounds like a terrible idea and I think we should boycott Tesco!!!
Some of the companies involved are already pulling out because of negative news coverage so I would ask those who are against a scheme that seems to work, what's their big idea? What do they suggest will engender a work ethic in young people who see no benefit in working when you can get benefit for not working?
To compare it to slavery also seems a little preposterous, I don't think slaves actually went home at night I think their employers kept them chained up in the back yard somewhere. Are Tesco keeping teenagers in the cold storage overnight?
Poor old Frank Carson, a man renowned for his timing decides to die on the day when someone more interesting and famous also lost their life. He may have been dead funny but like so many other great comedians, he won't be as funny, dead.
Didn't watch the Brit Awards, don't care if Adele couldn't finish her speech, especially if it was in that awful accented common manner that she uses. Did go and see The King's Speech at the theatre and that was magnificent.
Didn't watch Whitney's funeral but I did get a call saying that one of my funerals was so well received that the Royal British Legion want to use it as a talking point when dealing with ex-military personnel.
When I started out as funeral celebrant I followed the rule book quite closely but as I grew more confident in my ability I threw the rule book away and just started to be me...and isn't that the greatest gimmick of all?
OK, well Friday awaits and there is plenty to do...one final message to a very avid reader in Mountain View, California - who are you?
There are no secrets in this cyber world, I can stalk all of you with my tracking device.
Mountain View sounds like a place I would love, so dear Mountain View reader, please get in touch with me here on the Hill.
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Every Day A Little Death
Good morning and welcome - sorry to say that the Guru has his serious head on this morning.
The death of Whitney Houston has been very widely reported in the media all this week, likewise the arrangements for her funeral which was shown around the world.
I listened to some worthy soul on the news complaining how a funeral being broadcast in such a manner is offensive but just this week I conducted a funeral for a young man which was webcast live so that those who could not attend in person were still able to feel part of the event.
We should embrace modern media and technology and make it work for us, not be scared of it.
The death of Whitney Houston kicked off many debates in which the recent demise of the likes of Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson were recalled, the recurring theme being the tragedy of an early death due to the vicissitudes of their lives. There was also a great deal of talk about addiction.
During the course of this week I have had cause to consider all of these points when one of my Twitter followers posted that they had no sympathy for Whitney - "she brought it on herself".
The correspondent went on to say they had "no time for people with addictions" as they "care nothing but for themselves". Of course we do not know if Ms. Houston's death was caused by addiction but her story does lead one to think that this might be a possible contributing factor.
Sadly there are some who become addicts through totally selfish behaviour, but there are equally some who become addicts for other reasons.
Let us consider a young man who served his country in the Army. Here is a man who was regularly faced with many incidents that we would be hard pressed to think about. Not only did he have to think about them, he had to deal with them. The death of close friends, the mayhem of war, life and death decisions being made and then having to live with the consequences.
I don't think that there is any surprise that the young man might turn to drink in order to drown his sorrows, that drinking himself into a stupor was just a way of escaping the images in his head.
What is a surprise is that upon leaving the Army any support system he had was taken away and he was left abandoned in our world. As a nation we shout about our pride for our servicemen and women - but that pride doesn't stretch to supporting them much after they leave.
We should all be ashamed that a young man who did his job for his country, who served his military and political masters without question, should be abandoned to his fate in such a way.
I think the Army could do more and I don't discount that personal responsibility is part of the answer but to not be able to access any support through the NHS due to various constraints and bureaucracies seems very unfair.
Of course the reason I know all these facts is that I conducted his funeral. He was 38 and he leaves behind a family who are still numb with the shock and angry, very angry, that no one was there to listen to the cries for help from their son, husband, brother and father.
I don't suppose for one moment that this was an isolated case, I would guess there are many others who are living through a similar hell but when they fall by the wayside there probably will not be a news team and a camera crew on hand to film every sad part of the funeral. Their names will not be added to the list of Houston, Jackson, Winehouse and Co.
Do we only honour and remember the famous addicts then?
The death of Whitney Houston has been very widely reported in the media all this week, likewise the arrangements for her funeral which was shown around the world.
I listened to some worthy soul on the news complaining how a funeral being broadcast in such a manner is offensive but just this week I conducted a funeral for a young man which was webcast live so that those who could not attend in person were still able to feel part of the event.
We should embrace modern media and technology and make it work for us, not be scared of it.
The death of Whitney Houston kicked off many debates in which the recent demise of the likes of Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson were recalled, the recurring theme being the tragedy of an early death due to the vicissitudes of their lives. There was also a great deal of talk about addiction.
During the course of this week I have had cause to consider all of these points when one of my Twitter followers posted that they had no sympathy for Whitney - "she brought it on herself".
The correspondent went on to say they had "no time for people with addictions" as they "care nothing but for themselves". Of course we do not know if Ms. Houston's death was caused by addiction but her story does lead one to think that this might be a possible contributing factor.
Sadly there are some who become addicts through totally selfish behaviour, but there are equally some who become addicts for other reasons.
Let us consider a young man who served his country in the Army. Here is a man who was regularly faced with many incidents that we would be hard pressed to think about. Not only did he have to think about them, he had to deal with them. The death of close friends, the mayhem of war, life and death decisions being made and then having to live with the consequences.
I don't think that there is any surprise that the young man might turn to drink in order to drown his sorrows, that drinking himself into a stupor was just a way of escaping the images in his head.
What is a surprise is that upon leaving the Army any support system he had was taken away and he was left abandoned in our world. As a nation we shout about our pride for our servicemen and women - but that pride doesn't stretch to supporting them much after they leave.
We should all be ashamed that a young man who did his job for his country, who served his military and political masters without question, should be abandoned to his fate in such a way.
I think the Army could do more and I don't discount that personal responsibility is part of the answer but to not be able to access any support through the NHS due to various constraints and bureaucracies seems very unfair.
Of course the reason I know all these facts is that I conducted his funeral. He was 38 and he leaves behind a family who are still numb with the shock and angry, very angry, that no one was there to listen to the cries for help from their son, husband, brother and father.
I don't suppose for one moment that this was an isolated case, I would guess there are many others who are living through a similar hell but when they fall by the wayside there probably will not be a news team and a camera crew on hand to film every sad part of the funeral. Their names will not be added to the list of Houston, Jackson, Winehouse and Co.
Do we only honour and remember the famous addicts then?
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