Everest, space and the UK: Only the brave?

Not content with having crossed both North and South Poles, veteran adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has claimed the one record which many of us could have hoped to achieve in the future. He has became the first British pensioner to climb Everest.

Fiennes’ achievement is so much the greater since a previous attempt ended when he had a heart attack. But perhaps he plans to go even further and enter space since he was quoted as saying that Everest is ‘the closest you can get to the moon by walking’.

Also hoping to go into space is Major Timothy Peake, a British helicopter pilot selected to train as an astronaut. For him the adventure is only beginning, as he embarks on several years of training. Ageing David Bowie fans will no doubt be hoping to hear a controller say, ‘Ground control to Major Tim’ at some point in Peake’s mission.

At last the campaign for Ghurkhas to be able to settle in the UK seems to have been won. Leader of the campaign Joanna Lumley described Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a ’brave man who has made today a brave decision on behalf of the bravest of the brave’. Unlike many politicians, she showed magnanimity in victory.

Fiennes, Peake and Lumley all have exceptional gifts. Nevertheless, as we’re reminded in this week’s readings, those with gifts (all of us?) still depend on the support of others. And it’s nice to see that in the resolution of the Ghurkhas’ campaign, both sides finally gave a demonstration of love.

Emlyn Williams

Trouble with the flock: Eurovision, expenses and sheep

After months of bad news, perhaps we should have expected the Eurovision Song Contest to turn things round. Norway won with a record points score. In a canny political move, which no doubt broadened their voting base, they entered a singer who was born in Belarus.

Iceland, which seems to have had nothing but bad news for months, must have been banking on a good result and came second. And Great Britain recovered from 2008’s twin disasters – of last place in the competition and the exit of Sir Terry Wogan from the broadcast – by coming fifth.

For Westminster MPs however, the bad news continues with more revelations about expense claims. Many MPs may well have reasonable explanations for their behaviour and the full facts are not yet out.

Nevertheless, as the BBC’s Question Time audience showed, politicians are not held in high regard at the moment. There is a public perception – rightly or wrongly – that many have been serving themselves rather than their flock.

As a couple of other stories have illustrated, however, looking after flocks is not the easiest thing. A sporting-minded sheep in Somerset escaped from the rest of the flock and made its home on a golf course. When it was eventually spotted, a green keeper jumped on it as it dozed, quite a sight in itself, no doubt. To make it worse, an experiment in electronic tagging of sheep seems to have been a failure.

Of course, sheep and flocks are not foremost in the thoughts of those of us in urban areas at least. But in the light of all of that, the picture of the good shepherd in this week’s readings should be one of great encouragement and hope. And that’s true even if we feel we have more akin with the sheep on the golf course.

Emlyn Williams

The team are at CRE

Just to let you know that the WordLive, LightLive and SchoolsLive team are down at the Christian Resources Exhibition this week. So if you are in the Esher area and want to know a little more, come along and have a chat on the stand.

For more information click here.

Gotta serve somebody?

With Bob Dylan at number one, a ninetieth birthday celebration concert for Pete Seeger and the first new Abba song for 15 years, we could be excused for thinking that we’ve gone into a time warp. Comebacks are in. Thankfully for all of these – even Abba! – they have not had to face the same criticism as others who have reappeared.

Jacob Zuma has been inaugurated as the new President of South Africa. Four years ago he was fired as vice-president after being implicated in a corruption scandal. The charges were dropped just before last month’s election, opening the way for his return.

Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi also has experience of comebacks – he is now serving his third separate term as prime minister. Sadly, however, his wife wants to divorce him and he has come under fire from the Italian Catholic Bishops’ official newspaper which called on him to be more ‘sober and sombre’.

Authority can be a tenuous thing for those in public life. The expenses claims of Westminster MPs were leaked to a newspaper which duly published them.

Following this, former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey said that the moral authority of politicians has slumped to its ‘lowest ebb in living memory’. Damage has been done regardless of the real explanation for their expense claims.

As we see from the example of Jesus in this week’s readings, real authority derives from God and is seen in its fruit. Public acclaim and celebrity are simply not enough.

Emlyn Williams

Second Life Sermon

Second Life, the online virtual world, has its very own Anglican Cathedral. If you have used Second Life, or are interested in virtually getting away from things, one place you should visit is the cathedral.

In the meantime, you may be interested to know that Wordlive got a mention in a recent sermon delivered there. The sermon referred to WordLive and one of the vox pops videos that we have (you can see them by visiting our you tube link on the right).

To find out more about Second Life, the Anglican Cathedral and the sermon follow the link below.

http://slangcath.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/treasure-in-jars-of-clay/

High flyer. Low flying. Swine flu

Barack Obama seemed to have a better week than Gordon Brown. The row over Air Force One flying low over Manhattan was far outweighed by generally positive assessments of Obama’s first 100 days in office. Still popular in the polls, he declared himself ‘pleased … but … not satisfied’ with his performance.

For Gordon Brown, however, it was a pretty grim week. Climb downs over MPs expenses and defeat in the Commons over the treatment of Gurkha veterans left even his own supporters calling for change.

Yet whilst politicians may be facing a ‘meltdown of trust’ we still look to them for solutions to our problems. The outbreak of swine flu – officially virus influenza A (H1N1) – is one such case.

Unfortunately for the authorities, they probably can’t win. If the outbreak is bad they will be accused of not being prepared. If we are spared the worst, they will be accused of crying wolf – one newspaper wrote about the ‘Sars and bird flu false alarms’.

The big temptation for leaders in all ages is to trust in themselves, not in God. This week’s readings illustrate that well. Ironically, with British troops having left Iraq last week after six years, 2 Kings tells of a much earlier Iraqi leader importing a foreign army to Babylon, which was in present day Iraq!

But despite the failings of leaders, these readings should not lead us to cynicism. Hezekiah looked to God for healing. Josiah rediscovered God’s law and renewed the covenant with God.

What is your prayer for Gordon Brown, Barack Obama and the other world leaders?

Emlyn Williams