Thinking about what we are doing

Thinking about what we are doing Having consideration for others is an important part of our duty towards our fellow human beings. One assumes that the Chinese man who ate the snake that ate the bat possibly after a first course of tiger bones soup did not consider that the likely outcome of his meal would potentially bring global humanity’s lives to an almost complete stand-still when he became the first person to catch and pass on the Corona virus. In a similar way the AIDS virus was supposedly to have resulted from monkey blood and meat in the Congo with its subsequent disastrous effects. Abnormal behaviour carries risks for all. Thus, in both cases some rather questionable behaviour resulted in serious consequences basically because the reasons why such behaviour was/is considered questionable were ignored. In a similar way, pork meat because it supposedly keeps less well in hot climates before the advent of fridge-freezers is avoided by Jews and Muslims. Such rules are set for good practical reasons. Many people in the 21st Century choose to ignore the Ten Commandments largely for reasons of self-gratification and an unwillingness to observe long established rules and disciplines of living as they are deemed to be outdated. Older people frequently find it difficult to accept that the things that they once considered as being a part of the British way of life and which indeed once dominated global thinking are now frowned upon or even illegal. But perhaps it was ever thus. That Henry VIII should appoint himself as Head of the English Church at the suggestion of Thomas Cromwell was probably just going too far for some people in the first half of the 16th Century. Few however now question our Queen’s role in that position, because her behaviour is generally of a higher order than that of the Clergy, who report to her, as indeed it needs to be. Tit for tat or every cloud has a silver lining and there’s good and bad in everything Christianity is based upon the concept that Jesus Christ died for us to save sinners. The elderly and I expect most who read this – like me at 82- must perhaps prepare themselves to bear the brunt of the likely resulting high death toll due to the COVID-19. The Good News in the event of the demise of large numbers of people over 70 is that the State will then save an awful lot of money that would otherwise have been spent on pensions and healthcare. So as the late, great Eric Idle wrote: “Always look on the bright side of life”. If the Corona Virus gives me the chance of meeting-up my long-departed parents, 3 brothers and sister and my many long-gone friends in some far-off place, where I don’t have to shovel coal 24 hours per day, then I will look forward to that. Still, 4 -months of isolation because one is over 70 seems to be an extremely high price to pay for survival in a world in which so many of the good things in life have already been destroyed in humanity’s foolish self-aggrandisement. Our church, our nation and the world at large now face a testing time at many levels. Let’s all pray that whatever is coming is not as bad as the pundits are forecasting. The consequences of today’s situation are perhaps brought on by those who have turned away from the pathway along which the teachings of Jesus are meant to lead us. Let’s pray for their and our forgiveness. “Come Holy Ghost our souls inspire”. Jeremy Wheeler-Churchwarden St Peter’s Wormleighton - Telephone 01327 264 330 email: jwheelertranslation@gmail.com