Just

 

Hello. Welcome one and all. Quite busy this week what with one thing and another. One of our clients rather unexpectedly decided to recreate a scene from 70s Cop show "Starsky and Hutch". You may well remember that Starsky and Hutch often arrived at scenes in a state of high drama in their red car - often accompanied by Starsky sliding in an action packed way across the bonnet. One of our clients - possibly a little confused vis-a-vis the difference between the accelerator and the brake drove her car through our front doors into our reception area. Listen - it happens. Apparently. Well, I'll admit it was a first for me. I mean, I think I am mainly open to new experiences but having to physically remove a reception chair from the front grill of a car wasn't something I had planned for. No-one hurt by the way.  Thankfully. 

I have to say it's not been so busy that I forgot to pay £5,000,000 from my Instant Saver to the Inland Revenue but there you are. Can I just throw it out there that when the very rich have "tax oversights" they always seem to underpay rather than overpay? You seldom hear of the Inland Revenue returning squillions that have been accidentally sent off to His Majesty's revenue coffers. And while we are on the subject of government corruption (and what a vast subject it is) I have seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy enough times to know that High Ranking Government People (such as ex-Prime Ministers to take a random example) who are short of a few bob and need to be on the borrow all the time should never be allowed to be in positions of power because that leaves them vulnerable to any old Russian spy who would like some top secrets in exchange for £800,000 and a bit of exotic Hoochy Coochy. This is the way. 

This is all disappointing obviously but it is also important. I was talking to someone about this who said "Well, they are all the same though aren't they. What's the point in getting worked up about it." And that is what we are supposed to think. The idea is that if we see enough people on the take -  if we hear the lies often enough -  if the boundaries around what is right and wrong become too blurry to make out, then those who have much to gain can do exactly what they want and we will barely notice because we are no longer surprised. We just think that this is the way of the world. It is not. It is our responsibility to shake our fists and shout "Balderdash!" 

This week, the High Court decided to rescind the right to Wild Camping on Dartmoor. (A Hedge Fund manager has recently bought a vast area on the Moors and took this to court) For those not in the know Wild Camping is off-site camping. You arrive, you bang a few tent pegs in, you lie down and look at the stars and Bob's Your Uncle. We live near to Dartmoor and although I would rather eat my own shoes than Wild Camp, I do understand that for people around these parts, it is a big deal. The Duke of Edinburgh award takes place on Dartmoor as does The Ten Tors which is a sort of thing where young people are thrown out of military helicopters and made to march across the Moors with only a backpack and big boots to keep them alive. (I may have misunderstood exactly what is going on). Again, these things are big deals to lots of people. As a result hundreds, maybe thousands, of people turned up to march and protest. Mainly these people were either very posh - "Tell the nice newslady how we love to eat hummus under the stars Aramathina." or er Cornish. You know what I mean - dreadlocks, folk drums, woad. However, they felt strongly enough to come together to try and change things. 

This week I came across an interview with the late Martyn Lloyd Jones - mighty preacher, Man of God and all round know it all (in a good, positive way). He said that when it came to Social Justice ( I am paraphrasing heavily here) the way to deal with it was to  preach the Gospel from the pulpit and everything else would fall into place. Now far be it from me to disagree with someone who could preach on the position of a comma in a Bible verse but I'm not sure that's entirely how it works. Sometimes faith needs action following on. I just think that if slavery abolitionists had just sat around at a House Group awkwardly clapping through choruses and eating Mrs Wilberforce's excellent Lemon Drizzle would anything ever have got done? 

I'm a shy sort. It's difficult to speak out when things are wrong. I'll be honest, the easier way is to agree that this is how it is and sit with my chums on a Sunday complaining that someone has decided to put an extra woo-woo verse into a hymn that has been working perfectly well as it was for 200 years. Even though that is really annoying, it is not that important (apparently). 

Mrs Foster - who used to teach my Sunday School said that Christians were not just hearers - they were doers. We can't just do whichever bit we fancy. We do and support what is fair and what is just - sometimes quite loudly.

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,

what God is looking for in men and women.

It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,

be compassionate and loyal in your love,

Micah 6