The Captain Said "Thank God We're home..."

 

..."We've drunk the barrels dry." Thanks to Andy Williams circa 1970 I think. Does anyone else remember that? Probably not. I remember when Andy Williams used to do a Christmas Special every year and I desperately wanted to be part of their Christmas family. There was snow, Christmas songs, The Osmonds and his beautiful wife Claudine. They would sing "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and we would wonder if it could be any more wholesome. Then Claudine was convicted of killing her ski-instructor lover and the whole thing soured somewhat. 

Anyway, I have performed the almost impossible feat of digressing before I have even begun. Sorry about that. I am pointing out that we are back and safely disembarked from the ferry. We discovered that

1. We have reached the age when basic is too basic. I am too old for bunk beds. HOH is certainly too old for bunk beds but watching him trying to get onto the top bunk has been one of my happiest memories of the trip.
2. If you plan two and a half hours in Spain, it's probably best that it isn't during a siesta. Otherwise, you will have come a long way to wander around a big Zara and watch Spanish people getting aggressive with each other in the heat and trying to sell each other scary-looking fish in the market. This is because NOTHING ELSE IS OPEN. 
3. Spain is really pretty. See the photo above. Even if it is shut.

Despite these caveats, we actually had a nice time. The weather was nice on the ship. The Bay of Biscay was like a millpond (To all of those "friends" who have had experiences on this ferry that have looked like A Night To Remember and vowed never to do it again. I know you were trying not to interfere but on balance, we would prefer that you had mentioned it before we set off). We watched dolphins playing in the wake and we all pointed and whooped like children at such a lovely sight. We found an excellent restaurant on board which had a buffet first course and a sweet buffet. HOH overdid it a bit but was unrepentant. I ate a caramel eclair with caramel creme pat in it that was so sweet, it made my fillings vibrate. In the main, the best part was sitting in the sun with an excellent novel. After our discussion last week, I have moved my goalposts and am much happier for it. This, by the way, is excellent by any measure.

At least we got home before the World Cup Final. The last thing we needed was a lot of Spaniards pointing at us and laughing. I was proud of our girls though. It wasn't enough obviously and but they gave it everything. (By the way Rishi Sunak. The phrase "you left nothing out there" usually means you didn't try at all. The idea is that you leave "everything out there". That's what happens when you are mixing with the ordinaries, trying to maintain the farce that you are actually bothered about the struggle of the Cost of Living Crisis. You take your eye off the ball. Don't you have people to read this through for you?) I like these England Girls though. There's something wholesome about their sisterhood. Although, I don't think any of them would like to claim the word "wholesome" and I expect coming across them on a Friday Night Hen Do in York might be an eye-opener. To watch them hug losing opponents and wave cameras away as they tried to zoom in on a sobbing goalkeeper, may not have restored my faith in humanity but it has made me smile.

Because this has been a week where the evil that men do has laid heavy. A nurse who killed babies - often in front of their parents. This was so shocking that, for a long while I assumed she must be innocent because that could not be right. Equally disturbing was the refusal to investigate by those high up the hospital tree. It seems that they were frightened by how it would look. People who maybe liked being Head of the Table and didn't like that challenged?

 

One of the things I love about Jesus - aside from the salvation, the patience, putting up with me etc. etc is his total refusal to compromise around reputation. You want to make a point about this woman and adultery? You feel she lets the side down - you throw the first stone - if you feel you can. You don't want me to intervene in this situation and put things right because it's the Sabbath or she's an unclean woman or donkeys can only be rescued on the last Thursday in the month because of some law that you have stretched and made unrecognisable to protect you and your power and position. And the last thing we want is for the high-ups to have their authority challenged. 

Sometimes, for funsies, when people who aren't Christians joke about gentle Jesus Meek and Mild, I have been known to show them Jesus's speech about the Pharisees. It's in Matthew 23 and I've not shown all of it here because it's before the watershed. 

Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’

Jesus was never wishy-washy about this kind of thing. He was clear-eyed about what men are capable of and wise enough to know that those who are too concerned about reputation and keeping things ticking over to not risk their own position are not going to help much either. The phrase "With great power, comes great responsibility" has been attributed both to Voltaire and Spiderman's Uncle (Up to you - you choose which). I expect all of us are in positions where doing the right thing may put us in a wobbly place. It's difficult and I am a professional coward but sometimes not to risk it can have awful results.

I'm going to try and have a good week. You too.