Friendship has had a good press this week. Two British climbers were stuck on a ledge 3,500 metres up a mountain in the French Alps. With their mobile phone battery fast running out, they texted a friend in Shrewsbury.
The friend alerted rescuers, but the weather was so bad that the helicopter wasn’t able to rescue them until later the following morning. The Daily Mirror couldn’t resist the opportunity to print an SMS headline, RES Q US, WE R SKRD 2 DEF. Whatever, a story like that brings a new dimension to ‘Phone a friend’.
A couple from Lewisham also experienced the value of friendship. Knowing that they were saving for a house, friends at their wedding paid for them to have a honeymoon in Corfu.
Sadly, the bride was seriously injured in a fall from a hotel balcony and had no money to pay for a medical evacuation back to the UK. Once again friends came to the rescue and raised the £16,000 for the flight.
But of course, there are friends and friends, illustrated by a story typical of a slow news month like August (and seemingly exclusive to the Mail on Sunday and Silentnight beds). Dutch researchers have found that standing 2 feet away from a friend can make you feel up to 2°C warmer, like being under a duvet.
We don’t know whether or not Jonathan and David felt warmer when they were near each other. The research also suggests that David and Saul would have felt colder. Nevertheless, in this week’s readings David and Jonathan model committed friendship, something we all need and value.
Emlyn Williams
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Who’d be a leader?
Why would anyone want to be a leader given the rough ride they are often given? Yet this Saturday Australian voters will choose who will lead their new government, and there seems to have been no problem in getting anyone to stand.
Whether the winner is current Prime Minister Julia Gillard – the first woman in the role – or Opposition leader Tony Abbott, it’s clear that neither can have any real idea of what will face them. Did US President Barack Obama realise before he was elected that swimming in the oil affected Gulf of Mexico would be part of the presidential role?
Pakistan’s President Zardari also had an encounter with water last week. Following criticism that he should have been at home instead of on a foreign visit, he made his first visit to the scene of the massive floods. Sadly, the scale of suffering shows no sign of reducing.
On a lighter note, the FA announced that the next England manager will be English. Is that a promise of better things to come or an attempt to ensure that English managers will experience their share of pain too?
Still, if luck is what leaders need most of all, there is a boy in Lowestoft who may well be pondering a career in politics. The 13-year-old was struck by lightning on Friday 13th at 13.13 – and survived.
This week’s WordLive readings have an altogether different take on leadership. A king loses his role because of disobedience to God. His successor is chosen for his inner qualities not his outward image. Are our leadership choices based on those standards?
Emlyn Williams
Whether the winner is current Prime Minister Julia Gillard – the first woman in the role – or Opposition leader Tony Abbott, it’s clear that neither can have any real idea of what will face them. Did US President Barack Obama realise before he was elected that swimming in the oil affected Gulf of Mexico would be part of the presidential role?
Pakistan’s President Zardari also had an encounter with water last week. Following criticism that he should have been at home instead of on a foreign visit, he made his first visit to the scene of the massive floods. Sadly, the scale of suffering shows no sign of reducing.
On a lighter note, the FA announced that the next England manager will be English. Is that a promise of better things to come or an attempt to ensure that English managers will experience their share of pain too?
Still, if luck is what leaders need most of all, there is a boy in Lowestoft who may well be pondering a career in politics. The 13-year-old was struck by lightning on Friday 13th at 13.13 – and survived.
This week’s WordLive readings have an altogether different take on leadership. A king loses his role because of disobedience to God. His successor is chosen for his inner qualities not his outward image. Are our leadership choices based on those standards?
Emlyn Williams
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