The Beginnings of the Anglican Church

I have been following the Tudor drama on BBC2 on Friday evenings and whilst I have my own reservations about the interpretation of history in this series it cannot evade the murky issue about how the Anglican church came into being. An infamous English King concerned about his need for a male heir set against decades of conflict in the previous century precisely over this issue of the succession, wishes to divorce his wife on the most debatable of theological grounds in order to marry a younger woman with whom he had become infatuated.

This is all set against the complex issues of the Reformation in the church and the divisions in opinion engendered both in the court and in the country as a whole.

Albeit the pope wouldn't grant the divorce so our king took matters into his own hands, wresting religious authority from the papacy and making himself head of the church in England. What an extraordinary story!

It hasn't escaped my notice that had Henry remained married to Catherine of Aragon he might still have gone on to marry Jane Seymour who did finally give him his male heir even if the child was to die in adolescence some years after Henry. But then we would not have had Elizabeth and it would then have been likely that after a brief flirtation with Protestantism we would have reverted to the Catholic fold under the Stuart monarchs. Things might have proved more harmonious in the longer term but we would have been deprived of the English translation of the bible until well into the 20th century. That would have been a major deprivation indeed!

The Passing of an Era

Yesterday I heard on the news that Harry Patch, the last veteran from the First World War and the last to have experienced at first hand the horrors of Trench Warfare, had passed away, scarcely a week after Henry Allingham, the oldest man in Europe and also penultimate World War one survivor, also passed away.

It seemed a moment to reflect on the significance of this. No Briton now survives who actually fought in the First World War. ( I'm uncertain if there are any survivors from other countries). As far as we as a nation are concerned the experience of fighting in that war is now outside living memory. What a horror story this was, by all accounts, and all for what? There wasn't the obvious moral crusade in fighting the evils of Naziism as in the Second World War. The Great War always seemed like an overdue longed-for 'punch up' between rather arrogant public schoolboys, each trying to prove who was the best and the strongest. It was a show-trial of rival national strengths.

True, Britain entered the war as Germany violated Belgian neutrality and the war began originally because of the threat posed to an anachronistic multi-national state called the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Balkan, and in particular Serbian, nationalism, but anyone who knows anything about the history would realise that with sufficient resolve diplomacy could have prevented the conflict. You see I was once a modern history student so I know about these things.

I feel really angry whenever I think about this war. I remember visiting a war memorial in Northern France a few years ago. I forget its name but I'll look it up. It began I think with a 'V'.

I was with a party of young Christians who had been holidaying in the Loire Valley in 2003 I seem to remember. I remember how angry I felt then at the appalling loss of life. How much of a who-ha there would be now. No government now would be allowed to get away with such losses as the combatants endured during that conflict.

Yet we are still fighting wars in far off places in countries which we scarcely understand still less really care about to make the world a safer place we are told. But are we, I ask. When has war ever really solved anything? It's said that allied vengeance towards Germany contributed towards the Second World War. Wars, like punch-ups in a school playground, often seem merely to increase rather than abate enmity. When will we ever learn, I ask?

Frankly, if it weren't for my faith I would despair of life. It makes me wonder how any thoughtful person remains cheerful with such a bleak history as this. Perhaps you could let me know your thoughts, whoever reads this.

Thoughts on Wimbledon

Having been a keen follower of the Wimbledon tennis championships for a number of years what has impressed me most this year is not the achievement by Roger Federer of his 15th Grand Slam victory but the remarkable come-back made by the American tennis ace Andy Roddick.

When I started to become really interested in following the progress of the championships around 2002-2003 Andy was seemingly set to become World no 1 and indeed for a short time he was during the winter of 2003-4 before he was eclipsed with the advent of the Federer era.

But now it seems he has determinedly resolved to make a come-back and has clearly worked extremely hard to improve and diversify his game. He was really chasing Federer so very hard on Sunday afternoon and at the end only ran out of puff first because he had had a harder battle defeating his opponents getting to the final.

What a man, I thought, and how much deserving of my support at every level, including most importantly prayer.

I have read a bit more about this man as a result of this and discovered that he has established a fund raising charity called the Andy Roddick Foundation which has raised millions of dollars for various charitable causes. How good it is when the wealthy and famous use their influence for the good of humanity in general.

Pray for this man. I have become convinced that God has His hand on his life and has placed him on my heart for intercession.

I'm sure any American readers would fully endorse this.

Heatwaves,Global Warming and Human Responsibility

I've decided to add another ramble! Aren't I doing well! It might become a habit!

I've been thinking about heatwaves which on the whole I DON'T enjoy but at present we in London are having to endure.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't enjoy the summer sunshine but NOT when it becomes so oppressively hot you have no energy to do anything.

Excessive summer heat spells have become more common in recent decades, probably due to global warming. It's difficult to believe that with all the pumping of chemicals into the atmosphere by the ever growing world economies ( despite the blip which is the current recession) we are NOT partially responsible for the overall rise in temperatures .

Perhaps we can have a debate on this on my blog should anyone care to read my thoughts. Whether you're a Christian or not I think that we DO have a responsibility for the care of mother earth. We do seem particularly good at pursuing ever increasing wealth at the expense of the beautiful natural world with which we have been wonderfully blessed.

Here ends my brief thought for the day. What do you think?

Men and flowers

Yesterday I had occasion to remonstrate with four boys who were larking around in the private area behind our flats. I opened the kitchenette window and leaned out to speak to them. One of the boys who appeared to be the ring leader sniggered when he noticed a small bunch of yellow carnations standing on the window sill. Clearly it was not something he expected to see on the window sill of a man's flat. Why, one wonders, is it considered so unmanly for men to appreciate the beauty of flowers, at least in this part of the world? Perhaps someone out there reading this might be able to comment!

Spring, St George's day and Patriotism

This is the third time that I have tried to enter a post for the first time in over 18 months.....Perhaps this time I shall be successful so I'd better keep it short!

I was meditating on the notion of spring and then I dwelt on St George's day and the lamentable lack of patriotism in England..

Perhaps my readers, if I get any, would like to let me know their thoughts about the season of spring and English patriotism.... Do you think that it is important to be patriotic or do you think that there is too much to be ashamed about in being English for us to be proud to belong to this island nation...?

Do let me know....!