Monday 9 December 2013

Waiting

The following poem comes out of an evening service which was called "Creative Prayer" -

Waiting....


"Please hold on...."

Fingers drum on the tabletop.

Eyes, first glancing then staring at a wristwatch.
Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick.
Seconds stroll by.

Ears hearing muzak on its umpteenth loop

A sigh.
Teeth gritted 
Heart racing.
Tension building
Anxiety rising with each passing second.

"Oh Lord, how long must I wait?"

One hand reaches for a little book on the table
A Gideon's New Testament
Fingers flick through the pages...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
Patience
Long....suffering
Endurance

"I want to give that person a piece of my mind!"

But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy,
Peace
Contentment
Calmness

"I can put you through now; sorry for the delay."

"I'm not"

Sunday 10 November 2013

He took off all his clothes



“I hid my wound under my clothes. Nobody could see it, including myself, and I completely forgot about it. Then I met someone who, filled with love, held me tight in that point. The pain was devastating, and I hated him, o how much I hated him, the cause of all my suffering. Then I met someone, beautifully dressed, and I loved him so much, holding him tight with all my passion. And he suffered badly, and he hated me, o how much he hated me, the cause of all his pain. So the story went on till I met someone who undressed himself, standing completely naked, with all his horrible wounds. Hence I also undressed, and I saw my horrible wounds, which he could also see. Then...”

--Franco Santoro

At the risk of upsetting some of you, I want to say that that last fiigure in the quote reminds me of Jesus. Not the Jesus that has too often been misrepresented. He is not the one who squeezes too tight and causes pain and distress. Those wounds that he shows us were inflicted because of us and he bore them because he came to rescue us. He doesn't show them to us to show off (as some might) but so we can know that He loves us so much that He would suffer and die for us. He wants us to be completely  naked not to humiliate or embarrass us, but so that we can STOP feeling ashamed. So that can know that we don't have to cover up the hurt. When we take off all our clothes, He is not surprised by anything. He knows all about it. But our nakedness is for us.

For God so loved the World that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but Have eternal life. John 3:16

The quotation at the beginning of this note was probably not written with Jesus in mind but it did speak to me of Christ and His love for us. I saw the quotation on a friend's wall. I do not know the author or anything about his philosophy of life. This essay is based only on the included quotation.


Friday 1 November 2013

Disability

I missed the morning service on Sunday as was visiting a friend who lives out of London.  However when I got to the evening service and read the notice sheet, I learnt that they were dealing with the theme of "disability". I don't know how Young, our curate and the team dealt with it, but let me first of all quote what was written in the notice sheet.

Some people who have what is defined as a disability say "I have not been handicapped by my condition. I am physically challenged and differently able."We often define disability when some is disabled - mentally, physically or emotionally.  However, in those conditions sometimes people with a disability are far more able than we are. Surely none of us are perfect and all of us have some chalenge that we have to work around. 

As we are dealing with the theme of "disability" this morning what would your answer[s] be to these questions:

  • What is my attitude to people who have disabilities and
  • how do I react to them as a Christian? 
  • Are there positive sides of being disabled?
  • What does the Bible tell us about weaknesses? 
Let us take encouragement from Paul's own experience:
"When I am weak, then I am strong."

The Scripture texts for the morning service were Genesis 1:26 -31 and 1 Corinthians 12:21 - 26.

Well as I have already noted, I wasn't there to hear what Young and the team concluded but let me have a go at trying to answer these questions. 

Firstly let me commend the writer for describing it as a theme and not an issue.  For many however, it IS an issue or to put it more bluntly a problem. Also, correctly they made reference to people with disabilities instead of disabled people. This may sound like we are just being pedantic there is an important distinction to be made.

To say "a disabled person" you are making the disability the one and most important aspect of the person's existence, whereas, if you say "a person with disabilities" you are acknowledging the person as a person, and that the disability is an aspect of their lives.

So, I suppose my first answer to the question what is my attitude to people with disabilities, is that it is no different to people who do not have a disability - I treat them as a human being worthy of my respect. However, the truth is that we are affected by the fact that a person has a disability no matter how far we have advanced. People's attitudes to disability range from the downright hostile and fearful to being (I suppose too far on the other side, OVER-INDULGENT, accepting of any bad behaviour or foul language simply because the person is disabled.

I truly believe in an inclusive society and you can have a look over previous blogs where I have moaned about society not being inclusive. I think society as a general rule should be FAR more accepting and accommodating of people with disabilities. Just yesterday, I was riding a London bus to Stratford, and after the bus has stopped at one of bus stops to pick up passengers and the recorded voice said, "This bus is 97 for Stratford City. One of the passengers suddenly said as it were back to the recorded voice, "I know, that is why I am on this bus." He, not being blind, did not realise that that voice is there to assist the visually impaired (and those who cannot read). The irony was, I saw he was wearing two hearing aids.

Inclusiveness is more than adapting buildings to give access to people who use wheelchairs, or providing signs in braille or a sign-language interpreter to help those who are hearing-impaired. It means each and every one of us reaching out to make a person with a disability feel like they can be involved with whatever we are doing, and taking their needs and wants into consideration when planning activities even as a group of friends. It is getting them involved in the planning as much as possible and allowing them to make valuable contributions in plans for others.

Earlier this year, Jill preached about hospitality being a very important theme in the Bible. Well, as a Christian, I suppose I could ask how hospitable are we to people with disabilities. Are we a disability friendly fellowship? If your answer to that is yes, that is really great, but ask yourself, what steps can we take to make it even more disability friendly? I am currently learning British Sign Language - I'm on level two now. I do not say that to boast, but I truly hope to one day reach the capability level to be able to interpret preaching in Church so that I can invite people who rely on BSL to enjoy the service and be able to participate. I look forward to the day when every Church will have signers as an integral part of their team.

One way to improve our attitudes and responses to the needs of people with disabilities is to increase out knowledge. When a missionary goes to a foreign country to share the Gospel, part of their training is to learn about the people they will be working with. They spend months learning the local language, and cultural mores, such as their customs, the way they dress, and the foods they eat.

If we want to make people with disabilities feel more welcome, an understanding of the disabilities that affect them will be a good step in the right direction.

One area that causes people most anxiety is how to respond to people with learning disabilities or difficulties. The term itself is unfamiliar to many. I am talking about people who, in the old way of speaking, were retarded. That is, their intellect, their thinking and their ability to learn either developed at a very much slower rate than people of their own chronological age, or stopped developing so that intellectually and behaviourally they are like a person much younger than someone of their age. This problem is most pronounced in adults, and it can be a hard thing when you see an adult person acting like a child. It certainly is not very cute. People with Down Syndrome have Learning Disabilities as are people with some forms of Autism (though not all.) Some people with Cerebral palsy can be affected by learning difficulties, but this is not a universal feature of people cerebral palsy.

I would like to debunk some stereotypes and stigmas surrounding people with learning difficulties, if I may.
1) They are not "mad". And they are not generally dangerous. If they are younger, it is quite safe for you to let your children play with them and they are likely to enter into the games they play with full commitment and enthusiasm. It would not be wise to leave them unattended but you wouldn't leave your child in the care of another child or an adult you didn't know very well, would you? If your child is old enough to understand, explain that the person has a disability that means that the act a bit different to other children/teenagers/adults. Remind them of basic rules like they cannot go outside without permission, etc. And then let them play. Remember that the person with learning disabilities may need more time to process a new idea and make allowances for this. If you think things are getting out of hand, remove children from the immediate locality, if possible. Always be guided by the person who is that person's carer.

2) Do not talk about the individual in the individual's presence as if they were not there. If necessary, phrase whatever you need to say in a way that is including them in the conversation even if you think they will not understand what they are hearing. There is a misconception that people with learning difficulties are STUPID. This is certainly not the case, for though they may not understand everything you say, they certainly are very good at picking up negative vibes and nastiness. They are also very good at reading body language (glances in their direction, and devices such as spelling words you don't want to utter (you never know, they might be good spellers))

3) DO NOT SET THEM UP FOR RIDICULE OR TO BE EMBARRASSED and where this happens (outside of your control) try to minimise the effect. For example, the person with learning difficulties accidentally wets or soils their pants during a service. The reaction of some people might be to hold their nose or look at the person in disgust. Some might make disparaging comments. It would be good if an adult of the same gender (assuming their is no carer who would normally deal with these things), quickly take the person by the hand and get them to the nearest toilet. Then, with the help of a second adult (for safeguarding purposes, no-one should enter a toilet with or attend to intimate personal care of a child or vulnerable adult on their own) should help the person clean themselves up and help them calm down if they are distressed. This aspect of minimising embarrassment is extremely important as the negative impact of such an experience can be very long lasting.

Often people with learning difficulties LOVE TO PERFORM and often display a confidence that way surpasses their skill in performing. Church services often provide a great platform for them to perform. It may be, for instance, that during a family service a group of children might stand at the front to sing a song. You might notice, that in the group is a child who might be quite a bit older than the others, and/or whose abilities to harmonise or remember or the words, is not quite there. it might be beneficial, in such circumstances, for the leader of the service to say something like this.

"Now the ----------- group are going to sing a song for us. For visitors to our service today, this group is comprised of children/people of different ages and abilities (different abilities - in this case is code for disabled) I am sure you will enjoy their singing and give them the deserved encouragement."

As usual I have not said everything i wanted to and time is running out, so I am going to put this up, and maybe add some more later. Please feel free to comment on this blog.


 








Monday 15 July 2013

Break Out

Break out of holy huddles in hallowed halls
Harmonising humdrum hymns or hollering hallelujahs
Harping on about how humanity is heading to hell in a handbasket while
Hating homosexuals whores, homeless people (they must have done something to deserve their fate),
Hindus and other heterogeneous people.

Holding on to historical notions about the
Heirarchy of the church and society, (if you acknowledge that society exists, that is.)
Helping ourselves to as much as we can (God helps those who help themselves),
Heaping blame for all societal ills on the "workshy" unemployed. (scroungers).

Handing out religious tracts to people who cannot read, or
Holding placards outside hospitals, announcing impending disaster on women who have had abortions
Hoping to gain a horde of heavenly points for a future celestial reward (As if salvation is not quite enough).
And harrumphing in haughty disgust with mumblings about heresy
When someone dares to question, let alone disagree with what we say, wholly forgetting what true humility is...

Break out, Reach out, Touch -
Head for highstreets and houses
Hearing, helping and connecting with humanity
Heeding the call of God
Telling of His amazing unconditional love.

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Father's Day - Different Dad's


Father’s Day - Different Dads


There are Dads through blood and others who’ve adopted
Some are Dads through marriage and others who have fostered
Single-Dads and others who are ‘part time’,
Many ways into ‘fatherhood’; one important role that’s prime.


Both Mum and Dad, many are fortunate to have known
A dedicated loving team who fed and guided as we’ve grown
As we’ve come to adulthood they’ve cheered us on our way
Pledging us their full support as we’ve gradually moved away.


Adopting a baby or small child, your unconditional love to show
Brings a new set of challenges to know
What aspirations lie within that heart?
Am I equal to the task? Can I play my part?


Here’s to the many Dads who are doing it on their own
They’re taking on the heavy load, watching us as we’ve grown
Being a single parent is certainly no ‘walk in the park’,
At times they feel it’s more like "feeling my way in the dark."


Sometimes Dads are really Granddads, Uncles or Big Brothers,
Sometimes Dads are step-dads, married to our mothers.
Sometimes Dads can't be there, even when they want to,
Ready and willing to step into his shoes are this crew.


Sometimes Dads come in twos, either through birth or by adoption,
Caring for their offspring and loving each other’s an option,
Many on the outside, look in and shake their heads
Better two loving Dads who care and protect than orphans who have no beds.
 
(C) 2013 - J.F.


Sunday 16 June 2013

Sorry Greg Laurie, you're not right about Matthew 7:1

Mr Laurie, sent out the following devotional on email. I quote it in full so that I cannot bindividual s accused of quoting him out of Context.

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

The Bible's Most Popular Verse

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."


There was a time when probably the best-known Bible verse would have been John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." It seemed as though everyone either knew this verse or knew a little bit about it.

But that is no longer the favorite verse of most people, especially nonbelievers. In fact, I believe the nonbeliever's favorite verse is Matthew 7:1. I don't think they know the actual reference, but they love to quote it: "Judge not, that you be not judged."

That is usually what they say to a Christian who has the audacity to hold a biblical worldview. If we dare say that something is right or wrong, or if we make an evaluation about something, they will shoot back, "How can you say that? That is so judgmental! That is so narrow-minded! That is so bigoted! Doesn't the Bible say, 'Judge not, lest you be judged'?"

Don't be put off by that. A better translation of this verse would be, "Condemn not, that you be not condemned." I am not in the position to say who will get into heaven or who will end up in hell. Ultimately that is up to God.

But I am to make judgments in life. Every day, I make judgments. If I am stepping into the street, I look both ways to make sure it is safe. That is a judgment. If I see a dog and decide to pet it, only to change my mind when he suddenly bares his teeth and growls, then that is a judgment.

So I am to make judgments and evaluations as a follower of Jesus Christ. We must make judgments. But we must not condemn.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So Mr Laurie claims that what Jesus is quoted as saying in the verses is not "do not judge" but "do not condemn" - While I agree with him we are NOT to condemn as in pronounce judgement on a person, but I do not believe he is right about this particular quotation.

The Greek word in the text is κρίνετε - pronounced KRINETE. It is related to the Greek verb κρίνω (krinō) - to judge.  There are ten occurrences of this word in the New Testament and in none of them is the word translated to condemn - only to judge.

Not only is it inappropriate for people to judge an individual and condemn the person, it is wrong to make blanket judging statements about groups of people for actions that they suppose to be wrong. Jesus pointed this out by saying that can a man remove the speck from his brothers eye when has a plank in his own? The point being we cannot point a finger at others without realising that we have a lot to sort out in our own lives.

What Jesus was saying was that we ought not to go around pointing out the faults of others. There is one place for judgement, and that is in the court of law where people can bring forward an accusation, or accusations, and then present evidence to PROVE that the alleged crime was committed, and the accused person or people have the opportunity to plead their case, and defend themselves against unfounded allegations.

The Greek word katakrino means to condemn.

Making statements that certain types of people are already condemned you are condemning the individuals who identify as being part of that group.


Friday 12 April 2013

From Passover to Pentecost

This blog has been brewing for while in my mind but I am sitting down now to start sharing it.

Jewish Festivals, unlike Christian ones, are mandated in the Scriptures. That said, Christian festivals often have their parallels in the Jewish Calendar.

Holy Week, for Christians is closely associated with and has its theological roots in Passover.

Pentecost, is rooted in the Jewish Feast of Weeks, Shavuot.

Like Passover, Holy Week is an eight day feast, that is comprised of:

  • Palm Sunday - Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey. Crowds were welcoming him with branches and laying cloths in the road as they would for a coming king, and they shouted out "Hosanna to the Son of David" and "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
  • Maundy Thursday - Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples in an upper room. Jesus washes the feet of His disciples, showing humility, he talks to them at length about what is about to happen to him over the next few days, and then he shares the Passover, picking on just two of the aspects, the bread and the wine, and giving them new significance of His Flesh and His Blood, broken and poured out for the forgiveness of sins and instructing the disciples to do this often, remembering His Body broken for us and His blood poured out for our Salvation. Christians still do this. After this Jesus went out to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. He was betrayed by Judas, and arrested.
  • Good Friday - Seems a very ironic name for the day on which they crucified Jesus after three false and illlegal trials and terrible torture. He was crucified on a cross, between two thieves. He died, and was taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb. A great tomb, and a squadron of soldiers guarded the tomb.
  • Easter Sunday - Early on the Sunday morning, some women went down to the tomb to tend to the body according to the custom, but they did not find the body. The tomb was empty and it was announced that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus appeared in many different places and ways over that day and the next 40 days to show that He truly was alive.
Jesus went through this so that we, everyone who believes and puts their trust and follows Him, can be saved from the slavery/bondage of sin and to gain a victory over death.

Passover (Pesach) is feast that commemorates and celebrates the liberation of the Jewish people from bondage of slavery in Egypt. Jews celebrate this with a number of customs which I won't go into here, but one important custom and probably central to the Passover celebration, is the Passover meal that is celebrated on the first day of the feast. It is a meal that is more than merely eating and drinking, but conversation too. During the meal, which is comprised of 
a scripted dialogue takes place between the head of the family, usually the father, and a youth, usually a son, where the son asks why they do certain things and the father tells them the story of the Passover. This way, the REMEMBERANCE of what took place is passed on from one generation to the next. It is significant tht Jesus, at His last Passover told us to do this (eat the bread and drink the wine) in REMEMBRANCE of Him.
Like Holy Week, The Feast of Passover is an eight day feast, the first and last days of the feast and the day that happens to fall on the actual Sabbath are the most important days of the festival.

Fifty days after the start of Passover is the Feast of Weeks (Hereafter referred to by its Hebrew name Shavuot to distinguish it from the Christian Feast of Pentecost).
  • Shavuot commemorates the BIRTH OF JUDAISM when God gave them the Ten Commandments. 
  • Pentecost is when we remember the BIRTH OF THE CHURCH when God poured out His Holy Spirit on the 120 disciples. The people started prophesying and preaching and by the end of the day 3000 people had joined become Christians. Pentecost is from the Greek word for Fiftieth.(It was the Fiftieth day of the Omer - and the gift that God gave us was His Holy Spirit.
I entitled this blog "From Passover to Pentecost"

Well in one sense it is about the Very first Passover when the Children of Israel left Egypt to the First Pentecost where the Church was born, but I actually chose the heading because it speaks of the intervening period between Passover and Shavuot.and the significance of that time. According to Jewish tradition, they "Count the Omer" - Here is a better explanation of this:Judaism 101: The Counting of the Omer

In a nutshell, God, in Lev. 23:15 commanded that the days between Passover and Shavuot be counted. It reminds the people doing this that there is a link between what happened in the Passover - Jews getting their liberty from Slavery of Egypt to Shavuot, Jews receiving God's law. I think that we as Christians should also see the link between our Passover - Holy Week, to Pentecost - God giving us His Holy Spirit, to live in us and guide us.

For Jews, the Counting of the Omer, is more than merely, Echad, Shtayim, Shalosh... (1, 2, 3) It's a time to reflect on Who God is and who we are. There are seven "devine attributes, which, since we humans are created in God's Image have seven corresponding "emotional attributes" - or perhaps that should be aspirations, because I cannot claim to attain these but certainlt aspire to them.



WEEKDevine AttributeHuman Emotional Attribute
1.   Chessed - Love Kindness/Lovinng Kindness
2.   Gevurah - Strength   Restraint/Justice and Discipline
3.   Tifferet - Beauty  Harmony, Compassion
4.   Netzach - Victory   Humility, Endurance
5.   Hod - Splendour   Ambition, Humility
6.   Yesod - Foundation  Connection, Bonding
7.   Malchut - Sovereinty   Receptiveness, leadership
The above human attributes are taken from two different lists with alternate translations.
 
Forming a kind of Matrix, on each of the Seven days of the the seven weeks - representing 49 days, the Jews reflect on the personal attributes in this way: First day - Kindness in Kindness Second Day - Discipline in Kindness, etc.

That is for Forty nine days - what of Day Fifty? Well on the Fiftieth Day - Matan Torah - giving (gift) of the Torah.

To quote the Judaism 101 article
The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.

In the Christian tradition there is nothing specific between Holy Week and Pentecost, but some traditions have a period known as Lent which like Sefirat Omer is a period for deep spiritual reflection and may involve a fasting usually of a particular type of food or drink, or it may be a pleasurable pastime. Lent starts 40 days before Easter and finishes on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. It starts on what is known as Ash Wednesday. Despite the different timings between the two religions, the similarities are worth noting too. Many churches run special programmes personal Spiritual reflection, etc. It is not as regimented as it is in Judaism, but I do believe that Christians could do well to take a leaf out of Jewish people's books and take time out of every year to give themselves a spiritual check-up. I noted that during the counting of the Omer, there is no let up of this reflection on the Sabbath, no suggestion anywhere on any of the website I looked up that they do not "Count the Omer" - including the reflection on some aspect of it. Likewise, in our walk with God, we should be persistent, keep at it, no matter what. Yes we may be tired, yes, things might threaten to throw us off track, but as far as what God is dealing with in our lives, we should keep going. Have you had to undergo physiotherapy for anything? I had to go to physio for a dodgy ankle, and the rhysio prescribed stretching exercises to be repeated several times a day. Failure on my part meant that the problem was not going to get better. Was it painful - yes, it had to be. But it had to be.

James 4:8
Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Just as there is a link in Judaism between Passover and Shavuot - so  in Christianity - there is  link between Jesus and Resurrection and Pentecost - The day of the Gift of His Spirit.

Feasts are for remembrance - mostly they are remembering the positive things
Freedom from slavery in Egypt
Freedom from the slavery of sin
Receiving the Gift of God's Law
Receiving the Gift of God's Spirit.
The defeat of the Egyptian oppressors in the Red Sea.
The defeat of death itself as Jesus rose from the dead.

But those positives also indicate negatives that we need to reflect on.
Slavery 
Sin

God's Law reflects that God has a purpose and plan for our lives. It is not merely a list of dos and don'ts. However much we'd like to live in complete obedience to every precept laid out in Scripture - there is only One who has that, and that is Jesus, and we must depend on Him, and on the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. The Jews did not suddenly start obeying God's law perfectly, indeed the Old testament is full of stories of how they missed it. If we are going to come anywhere near living towards God's purpose, like the Jews needed the law, we need God's Spirit, which He gives to anyone who asks. 

Luke 11:11-13
11“You fathers—if your children aske for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

I hope this blog blesses you in your reading as much as it has blessed me in writing it. Feel free to comment. 
 





Wednesday 13 March 2013

Sheltered Childhood

When I was three
My world was free,
Exactly as it should be
Life was so happy and carefree
I had no worries, no frets
I was oblivious to any threats

I was watched and protected everywhere
I didn’t know about the dangers out there.
Fun and games were my agenda.
With Bob, James and Brenda
I was safe and sound;
I could play around.

From my beautiful home,
I had no need to roam,
I had food to nourish
Loving parents who cherish,
And a garden to play in, to my heart’s content,
And servants to mind me wherever I went.

By Mum and Dad, I was well looked after
Life was full of fun and laughter
Life was easier
in old Rhodesia
For the lucky few
(with a lighter hue)

Don’t misunderstand,
Life was indeed grand
It is right that we should not expose
Little ones to dangers or foes
Don’t get me wrong
I'm not complaining in this song.

Life in the bubble was perfect and great
With plenty of friends, I experienced no hate.
Then we grew up and the bubble was burst
It was more uncomfortable then than it was at first,
Instead of ‘the ideal’
We saw something more real.
Now older,
                 and wiser
The land was accursed with bloodshed, and hatred, and war,
Cruelty, abuse, racism and more.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I came across the picture on Facebook. It is a lovely heartwarming picture, but the context is important. It was taken in a Zimbabwean (or more accurately for the time, Rhodesian) city. You will note that the policeman is Black and the children are White. The comments under the picture were all about how wonderful life was back then and there was implied criticism that life is not wonderful now (which it isn't.) The thing is, the commenters were not necessarily as objective as they thought they were, because they were like those little children in the picture. White children in Rhodesia, like myself, (in general) had a cossetted and privileged existence. Yes there were poor Whites and some privileged Black children, but at that time, despite being a minority, because they were the "ruling class" - they were better off economically than the indigenous people, and the bulk of the government resources were channeled towards the Whites. The perception of the police was not the same for White children as it was for Black children who may well have witnessed policemen beating their parents with a sjambok and who possibly feared the police. I am writing about Rhodesia because that was my experience, but the same can be said of many people from privileged backgrounds who look back at the past with rose-tinted glasses and talk about the "good old days". I think many of us have selective memories that repress the negative and compare our present circumstances unfavourably with how things "used to be". However, this poem, is an effort to say, yes, life may have been good for you back then, but for many, life was NOT good.

You will note that the first five verses have 3 rhyming couplets, but the last verse has nine, less tidy lines.



If they cancelled Christmas

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