Detescofication

No, I haven't got something stuck in my throat - I have been prondering the future effects of the Comprehensive Spending Review. 

As I sat and watched Gideon unwrap his plans I wondered what the real-time results would be. I noted, with some amusement that the word 'cut' was habitually replaced with the word 'saving' - prestidigitation perhaps but a shroud to the truth nonetheless. They are savings only for the Government, but without exception cuts for the rest of us. Euphemistic speechmaking at its best!

Anyhoo - I didn't want to become party political here so I won't. My role as priest is to watch and wait for the effects of these marvellous savings to become reality for the people among whom I work and to walk with them as they feel the pinch in their own way. 490,000 lost jobs - wow - that is two-thirds of the population of Buckinghamshire!

It seems to me that simple measures are the way forward, and this is but one example (not a comprehensive savings review) - and it surrounds the redistribution of wealth.

Using retail as an example, I turn my attention to Tesco. I am an example of Tescofied Man; a one-stop shopper, preferably online, for all my family's needs. Shame on me! I wonder what positive effect there would be on our local society if we all relied more on the local traders for our produce (lest we forget that it is still the harvest season). If I gave my bakery business to the High Street baker, my meat needs to the High Street butcher, my fruit and veg needs to the High Street greengrocers - and so on. I know Tesco employs lots of people, but employees-per-customer ratios for Tesco must be far lower than those for my local Butcher etc. Soon, many people will need jobs, and if we allow our shopping pounds to be more widely distributed, I wonder if more people will find some greater sense of security, that more jobs might be created somewhere. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think so. 

For me, my Tescofication is a product of over-busy living, convenience and yes, laziness. I need to rethink how I live, and yes, even spend just a pound or two more on what I buy. Surely it would be better for every shopper to spend a tenner a week more on their needs and for that money to more more widely distributed not among shareholders, but among the business stakeholders in their own community. I must also commit to this on an ethical level too, and the excesses of some Fairtradeism might have to be re-thought too. 

In short, we as Christians need to support, first and foremost, our communities and neighbours. It will cost us time, cash and convenience, but in an age where the word 'saving' means 'redundancy' then we have little choice.

Cabin Fever

It has been snowing, and the fact about English snow is that it is the worst in the world. It is violent and aggressive and it is insidious. It renders whole communities inactive where they have a commonly shared hillock (anything above 10 feet high). It snows and we all go into hibernation. The threat of snow does wonders for the Tesco family kitty as the entire world pile into their nearest store to stock up on, I am told, cat litter and contraceptive (apparently). In the old days when shops closed for Bank Holidays, we retailers would experience a similar panic behaviour in the days before hand, incase people ran out of ketchup or black peppercorns (Heaven forbid). So yes, it has been snowing, and I have largely been confined to barracks for fear of my very life in that Globally Warmed icebox beyond my door. The kids have been great, my missus has been a marvel but I think that we are sick of the sight of one another now. We are all a bit ratty, grumpy, aggressive and unreasonable. Gotta get out, man - cannot breathe .... The walls are a'spinning and I am experiencing nausia. The cat is talking about me with the other cat, I can tell you know, I can. They are looking at me now - I can see you, don't deny it. The gerbils are laughing at me, can't stand it .... gotta .... get ....out!

Sorry about that. I feel better for getting that off my chest.

This enforced period on 'the Mattresses' (cf Mario Puzo) had caused me to become rather eager to tidy. It is like Kim and Aggy had possessed me. I have tidied wardrobes, moved rooms around, purchased a new vacuum cleaner - and I have discovered the 60% of my wardrobe that had become hidden behind the 40% that I only ever wear. I am four fleeces, eleven t-shirts, nine shirts [un-ironed], six pairs of casual trousers and a hat better off for my endeavours. They were there all along, I had simply lost them. In the busy-ness of life, I hadn't just lost them by dint of poor wardrobe discipline, but had forgotten I owned them. It was like a prize shopping spree, free and gratis, and all the clothes were to my taste even if a few didn't fit anymore. What a happy day ...

I know that many people are suffering from a little cabin fever, and my beating heart goes out to them. I hope that you managed to buy your Gritty Kitty Litter and that all is now well.

Life has a habit, I am fast discovering, of enforcing things that I may not necessarily welcome, upon me. I have to reconcile my Spring Clean-cum-early with how magnificent it could be if I did the same with my spiritual life. I am wondering what is hiding in my Spiritual Room, and whether I need to have a tidy. There is so little time, I admit, but I also wonder if the 60% of my spiritual life that is hidden behind the poorly tidied 40% wouldn't just be a useful find. Let's face it, the 40% I work with will surely wear out soon enough ....