Winter Solstice!
Occurs today at 17:47 GMT when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the Sun.
This represents the shortest amount of daylight in the Northern hemisphere. From now the days get longer until the Summer Solstice when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees towards the Sun.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
A Father's Anger, Health Care Administration and the Philosophy of Science.
It is not unusual for parents of children in 'intensive care' to vent their anger and frustration on staff members. One accepts that people under stress can display the recognised signs of grief; "denial", "bargaining", "anger" and "acceptance". These signs are not confined to the bereaved but can also be manifested in those who grieve for their child's suffering. Thank God that the vast majority of kids on our unit do get better! Our mortality rate is about 4% which compares favourably with comparable units.
Of course, understanably, such statistics cut little ice with parents, for them a death is not a fraction it is the loss of a loved one and that is 100%. Even when seriously ill children recover it should not be inferred that the parents are unscathed psychologically; they still had the fear of loss to contend with. They may also be grieving for the 'loss of innocence' - not their child's neccesarily - but their own! People can have a rather 'Pollyannish' view of life which a visit to PICU rudely contradicts, it isn't surprising then that parents feel a deep sense of anger at society for having sold them a lie - that 'all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds'!
Recently one father had a 'go at me'. He could not comprehend 'how in this day and age' medical science had no clear cut answer to an issue he raised. He was quite angry about it and I listened - I hope with good grace - to his frustrations. Of course I had no answer to his technical question although I could have replied "do you really want to discuss The Philosophy of Science?" I suspected he did not. His frustration arose out of a misconception about science; in his worldview "science" was about concrete facts, settled knowledge which can be looked up in a text book. But the reality is "science" does not deal in such certainties, what Mankind "knows" is only ever provisional - we must constantly re-evaluate our knowledge and revise our practice in the light of new information. Medical science is no exception, especially when one is dealing with complex and dynamic disease processes.
Another naive idea which came to grief was his view, of what I will term, his "entitlement" within the UK's National Health Service. I suppose, again, I could have asked "do you really want to talk about 'Social Policy and Health Administration'?" I suspected he did not. He clearly felt that having paid more than his fair share in taxes he was entitled to more than he felt he was getting. I listened - again I hope with good grace - to his frustrations. The answer I could have given would have been inappropriate; 'however much you have paid in tax it is no where near enough! And I bet at the last election you didn't vote for higher taxation did you?!' The demand for all health care services way outstrips the supply and the electorate needs to wake up to that reality. The government is not some rich uncle who can dig ever deeper into his infinite pockets, it is the tax payer who funds the health service and in a world with 'third party payment' we can always be very generous with other people's money can't we? But we live in a democracy where politicians will promise more and more while the electorate is prepared to pay less and less. This irreconcilable conflict is taken out on the people who have to break the bad news to a naive public that the State cannot always provide what they demand and that is usually the same people who are haplessly trying to make the system work!
Western society has produced a generation with a profound sense of what life owes to them. People feel some sort of entitlement from life which is bolstered by our concepts of 'rights' - as if our 'rights' are absolute and written as immutable laws into the very fabric of the cosmos rather than relative and subject to the vagaries of humanity.
But, of course, I didn't say any of this. This father was grieving, but not for his child, who was ultimately discharged from our unit alive and well - he was grieving for the death of his naive worldview!
It is not unusual for parents of children in 'intensive care' to vent their anger and frustration on staff members. One accepts that people under stress can display the recognised signs of grief; "denial", "bargaining", "anger" and "acceptance". These signs are not confined to the bereaved but can also be manifested in those who grieve for their child's suffering. Thank God that the vast majority of kids on our unit do get better! Our mortality rate is about 4% which compares favourably with comparable units.
Of course, understanably, such statistics cut little ice with parents, for them a death is not a fraction it is the loss of a loved one and that is 100%. Even when seriously ill children recover it should not be inferred that the parents are unscathed psychologically; they still had the fear of loss to contend with. They may also be grieving for the 'loss of innocence' - not their child's neccesarily - but their own! People can have a rather 'Pollyannish' view of life which a visit to PICU rudely contradicts, it isn't surprising then that parents feel a deep sense of anger at society for having sold them a lie - that 'all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds'!
Recently one father had a 'go at me'. He could not comprehend 'how in this day and age' medical science had no clear cut answer to an issue he raised. He was quite angry about it and I listened - I hope with good grace - to his frustrations. Of course I had no answer to his technical question although I could have replied "do you really want to discuss The Philosophy of Science?" I suspected he did not. His frustration arose out of a misconception about science; in his worldview "science" was about concrete facts, settled knowledge which can be looked up in a text book. But the reality is "science" does not deal in such certainties, what Mankind "knows" is only ever provisional - we must constantly re-evaluate our knowledge and revise our practice in the light of new information. Medical science is no exception, especially when one is dealing with complex and dynamic disease processes.
Another naive idea which came to grief was his view, of what I will term, his "entitlement" within the UK's National Health Service. I suppose, again, I could have asked "do you really want to talk about 'Social Policy and Health Administration'?" I suspected he did not. He clearly felt that having paid more than his fair share in taxes he was entitled to more than he felt he was getting. I listened - again I hope with good grace - to his frustrations. The answer I could have given would have been inappropriate; 'however much you have paid in tax it is no where near enough! And I bet at the last election you didn't vote for higher taxation did you?!' The demand for all health care services way outstrips the supply and the electorate needs to wake up to that reality. The government is not some rich uncle who can dig ever deeper into his infinite pockets, it is the tax payer who funds the health service and in a world with 'third party payment' we can always be very generous with other people's money can't we? But we live in a democracy where politicians will promise more and more while the electorate is prepared to pay less and less. This irreconcilable conflict is taken out on the people who have to break the bad news to a naive public that the State cannot always provide what they demand and that is usually the same people who are haplessly trying to make the system work!
Western society has produced a generation with a profound sense of what life owes to them. People feel some sort of entitlement from life which is bolstered by our concepts of 'rights' - as if our 'rights' are absolute and written as immutable laws into the very fabric of the cosmos rather than relative and subject to the vagaries of humanity.
But, of course, I didn't say any of this. This father was grieving, but not for his child, who was ultimately discharged from our unit alive and well - he was grieving for the death of his naive worldview!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
WESLEY OWEN & the decline of High Street Christian Book Retailing in the UK.
I can't say that I am entirely surprised by the demise of "Wesley Owen" but I was taken aback by "Borders" recent difficulties.
Each Autumn I visit the centre of Leeds to do some Christmas shopping - even though I moved to London nearly 19 years ago I still think that the shopping is better in my adoptive home town; it has everything from Harvey Nichols to a cheap & cheerful market, and every brand in between all in a pedestrianised area.
When I first moved to Leeds from Bradford to start my nurse training at St James' Hospital in the early 1980's the main Christian book retailer in town was 'Scripture Union' with a shop in King Edward Street in the heart of the retail district. I visited 'SU' almost on a weekly basis and built up a collection of books, some of which have stood the test of time and I still have them on my bookshelf.
'SU' subsequently became purely a publishing company and the shops were taken over by Wesley Owen. In Leeds the shop relocated to the other side of The Headrow (Leeds' equivalent of Oxford St!) and away from the main shopping centre.
Each year I would make a point of going into Wesley Owen and this has become my bellweather on the Christian retail scene for what it is worth. What has struck me quite forcefully in recent times is how little floor space is actually given over to books! There was a very large 'greetings card' section and a large area for music and DVDs, a sizeable space for religious knick-knacks and "art"; easily less than half the shop was for books (maybe 40% max if you include childrens books and sunday school material). They had staples like Bibles and a selection of BST commentaries (fair enough!) but I was confused by the section headings - under "Doctrine & Theology" they had books like 'The Shack'!
Readers of this blog will know that I do not rate 'The Shack' and yet even so I would not argue that this book should not be in a Christian bookshop - I do, however, have a problem with it being in that section of a Christian bookshop! The book I was looking for, John Dickson's "Sneaking Suspicion", an evangelistic book, was ostensibly to be found in the children's area an assistant informed us! Overall the selection of books on offer were, in my opinion, "lightweight" at best.
Some have argued that Christians should get out there and support shops like Wesley Owen because they are a witness to the Gospel on the high street. To which I have to say "how can I support them if they don't sell what I want to buy?"
I buy a lot of Christian books but as I've grown older I tend to buy weightier, thoughtful books and publications I will continue to refer to - not the pop paperbacks on offer at Wesley Owen. The stuff generally on sale will date very quickly and most Evangelicals will rapidly out grow this stuff - or, more worringly, the new believer will become very disillusioned with the brand of Christianity on sale there and will move on to other things entirely as they mature.
I also visited 'Borders' in Leeds the morning that company announced that it was going into liquidation. I loved 'Borders' as a book shop because it offered a wide range of unusual books and it had a great DVD section which included a lot of 'world cinema'. On this visit I noticed that it too was selling more pop books and the cinema section had also shifted down market. No doubt they had good commercial reasons for doing this but can a high street store really compete head to head with the internet and supermarkets? Such stores need to have a unique selling point. Surely it should have tried to retain its niche as an up-market bookstore that was a joy to visit and browse around!
If 'Borders' can't succeed on the high street by shifting down market Wesley Owen stands no chance! Surely the way to go is to become a specialist up-market book shop with a particular niche on the high street? But it seems to me that Wesley Owen has lost its soul.
We couldn't find the book I went in to buy - so the assistant very helpfully gave us the web address of an internet book retailer who did stock it! Need I say more?
Post Script dated 6-Jan-2010.
I gather that some of the Wesley Owen stores have been taken over by an Australian company called Koorang and these stores will continue to trade under the WO brand. Some other stores have been taken over by CLC. There remains a large number of WO shops, as yet, without a buyer including the one in Leeds.
I can't say that I am entirely surprised by the demise of "Wesley Owen" but I was taken aback by "Borders" recent difficulties.
Each Autumn I visit the centre of Leeds to do some Christmas shopping - even though I moved to London nearly 19 years ago I still think that the shopping is better in my adoptive home town; it has everything from Harvey Nichols to a cheap & cheerful market, and every brand in between all in a pedestrianised area.
When I first moved to Leeds from Bradford to start my nurse training at St James' Hospital in the early 1980's the main Christian book retailer in town was 'Scripture Union' with a shop in King Edward Street in the heart of the retail district. I visited 'SU' almost on a weekly basis and built up a collection of books, some of which have stood the test of time and I still have them on my bookshelf.
'SU' subsequently became purely a publishing company and the shops were taken over by Wesley Owen. In Leeds the shop relocated to the other side of The Headrow (Leeds' equivalent of Oxford St!) and away from the main shopping centre.
Each year I would make a point of going into Wesley Owen and this has become my bellweather on the Christian retail scene for what it is worth. What has struck me quite forcefully in recent times is how little floor space is actually given over to books! There was a very large 'greetings card' section and a large area for music and DVDs, a sizeable space for religious knick-knacks and "art"; easily less than half the shop was for books (maybe 40% max if you include childrens books and sunday school material). They had staples like Bibles and a selection of BST commentaries (fair enough!) but I was confused by the section headings - under "Doctrine & Theology" they had books like 'The Shack'!
Readers of this blog will know that I do not rate 'The Shack' and yet even so I would not argue that this book should not be in a Christian bookshop - I do, however, have a problem with it being in that section of a Christian bookshop! The book I was looking for, John Dickson's "Sneaking Suspicion", an evangelistic book, was ostensibly to be found in the children's area an assistant informed us! Overall the selection of books on offer were, in my opinion, "lightweight" at best.
Some have argued that Christians should get out there and support shops like Wesley Owen because they are a witness to the Gospel on the high street. To which I have to say "how can I support them if they don't sell what I want to buy?"
I buy a lot of Christian books but as I've grown older I tend to buy weightier, thoughtful books and publications I will continue to refer to - not the pop paperbacks on offer at Wesley Owen. The stuff generally on sale will date very quickly and most Evangelicals will rapidly out grow this stuff - or, more worringly, the new believer will become very disillusioned with the brand of Christianity on sale there and will move on to other things entirely as they mature.
I also visited 'Borders' in Leeds the morning that company announced that it was going into liquidation. I loved 'Borders' as a book shop because it offered a wide range of unusual books and it had a great DVD section which included a lot of 'world cinema'. On this visit I noticed that it too was selling more pop books and the cinema section had also shifted down market. No doubt they had good commercial reasons for doing this but can a high street store really compete head to head with the internet and supermarkets? Such stores need to have a unique selling point. Surely it should have tried to retain its niche as an up-market bookstore that was a joy to visit and browse around!
If 'Borders' can't succeed on the high street by shifting down market Wesley Owen stands no chance! Surely the way to go is to become a specialist up-market book shop with a particular niche on the high street? But it seems to me that Wesley Owen has lost its soul.
We couldn't find the book I went in to buy - so the assistant very helpfully gave us the web address of an internet book retailer who did stock it! Need I say more?
Post Script dated 6-Jan-2010.
I gather that some of the Wesley Owen stores have been taken over by an Australian company called Koorang and these stores will continue to trade under the WO brand. Some other stores have been taken over by CLC. There remains a large number of WO shops, as yet, without a buyer including the one in Leeds.
Friday, December 04, 2009
UGANDAN LAW ON HOMOSEXUALITY!
There is a proposal in Uganda to pass a law which would include the ultimate sanction against homosexuals.
From an Evangelical Christian perspective I have never understood the church invoking the methods of the world to make people behave as if they are Christian. Such lobbying, at home and abroad, effectively substitutes law instead of grace, judgment instead of mercy and belies our professed trust in the sovereignty of God. When we use the methods of the world, or approve of them, we are in danger of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ into disrepute.
In the final analysis only Christ can change people's hearts and these sorts of Post-Millennialist projects to enculturate non-believers into Christianity leaves me cold.
"Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts", Zechariah 4 v6.
There is a proposal in Uganda to pass a law which would include the ultimate sanction against homosexuals.
From an Evangelical Christian perspective I have never understood the church invoking the methods of the world to make people behave as if they are Christian. Such lobbying, at home and abroad, effectively substitutes law instead of grace, judgment instead of mercy and belies our professed trust in the sovereignty of God. When we use the methods of the world, or approve of them, we are in danger of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ into disrepute.
In the final analysis only Christ can change people's hearts and these sorts of Post-Millennialist projects to enculturate non-believers into Christianity leaves me cold.
"Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts", Zechariah 4 v6.
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