Thought for the Day

As delivered at BBC Radio Bristol this morning. Someone had broken all of a Bristol pub's windows with a hammer, for the second time. And reporter James Hanson had been learning to ice Bake Off standard cupcakes. I had one. It was lovely.

Over the summer at my church we've been looking at a strange list of characteristics. St Peter suggests in a letter that Christians should add to their faith these six things:

'Goodness, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness and Mutual Affection.'

It feels a slightly odd command, since 'by faith alone' is a central tenet of Christianity. You can't add anything to what Jesus has done for you. You can't make yourself more saved.

But working through the list we have come to the conclusion that there are things that would make us a better example to others.

Which bake-off contender hasn't found that it took perseverance to learn their piping skills? How much self-control do you need not to be angry with someone who constantly breaks your windows?

But, without victim-blaming, we have found that each of the qualities adds something to our character. Goodness? Well it's better to be good than bad. Knowledge? Surely growing in our understanding of the world is helpful. Likewise self control trumps lashing out. Perseverance giving up, godliness devilry and mutual affection is an advance on hating everyone.

Next Sunday I'm going to ask the congregation to decide which is their weak spot and we'll pray for each other to do better.

Now clearly window smashers should get a life rather than wasting other people's. Do something useful with their hands and their hammers.

Lock em up or educate them? Perhaps we'll leave that one to the politicians, once they have a moment.

But what about you? Which is your weak spot? And, here's your homework, do you want to improve?

Thought for the Day

As delivered at BBC Radio Bristol this morning:

The first book of the Bible begins with a universal story. It's couched in conventional terms. There's a heavenly place. Paradise. But it has one rule. Soon the rule is broken and the blame is discussed.

Wasn't me it was the woman.

Wasn't me it was the snake.

Someone else's fault.

Every year in a boarding school I used to run a summer camp for teenagers. At the first mealtime we recited all the rules that might make the place unsafe for a young person. It was a long list. One of them was this. The school insisted we make it clear that no-one was allowed to go on the roof because it was dangerous.

As I shared this rule I sensed a load of young eyes looking back at me thinking 'Hmm. Go on the roof. Good idea. Hadn't thought of that.'

Exposing those young people to a radical idea, even though it was revealed immediately as folly, was enticing.

What is it about 'don't touch' that makes us really want to? Why does a blank wall in the Bear Pit attract the budding Banksys?

Well that, I think, is the Bible's point. We don't get tempted by sin we haven't thought of. I let down your tyres because I thought you were mean parking in my village. I don't let down just anybody's tyres. I'm not a psychopath.

On our teenagers' houseparty we settled on a couple of key rules that were life or death matters and added 'Be sensible - there may be further explanations of what it means to be sensible over the course of the holiday.' We never mentioned the roof again. So nobody ever went looking for the access door to get there.

We're Not Worthy - Article 26/39

XXVI. OF THE UNWORTHINESS OF THE MINISTERS, WHICH HINDERS NOT THE EFFECT OF THE SACRAMENT

ALTHOUGH in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their Ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving of the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith and rightly do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them; which be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men.

Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church, that inquiry be made of evil Ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences; and finally being found guilty, by just judgement be deposed.

My College Principal used to say 'A clock that strikes thirteen is not only wrong once but also casts doubt on all further teaching from the same source.' So it is tempting, on discovering that your favourite theologian has been stealing money from her organisation, to disbelieve everything she ever wrote.

One of the things the Church of England has which may, at first, seem weird is a theology of intention. That which we intended to do can be deemed to have been done even if it was not done wholly, completely and utterly properly or, in the case of this Article, was done by evil men.

So the efficacy of Holy Communion, to the recipient, is not changed by the discovery that, at the time the vicar was having an affair with the Church Warden.

A marriage is not voided by the accidental use of the wrong words in the vows. And so on.

That we have safeguarding issues is sad, but not entirely unexpected, given that the church consists of sinners led by sinners. Evil ministers ought to be held to account, but their ministry up to that point can still be said to have been effective.

It is interesting that this Article begs many questions about the behaviour of the priesthood at the time. Enquiry into calling was a bit more hit and miss then than now. We still manage to ordain a few chocolate tea-pots but possibly slightly fewer criminals.

I am aware some of my ministry friends have chosen to rid themselves of the written works of those who have been found guilty of sexual misconduct. Respect to them. But I fear that such an attempt to purge the evil from the good is doomed to failure and Cranmer knew this. God bless the 'ever mingled' good and evil church.

Perfectly Clear - Article 16/39

XVI. OF SIN AFTER BAPTISM

NOT every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned, which say, they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.

Once you are in Christ, which for the reformers was after baptism, you can still sin and you can still be forgiven. We note they continue to grind the same axe, which is pretty sharp by now.

Let me tell you about my church. It is the only Christian church that meets on the estate. Not many of the regulars are dyed-in-the-wool Anglicans. The idea of confirmation (which I sell annually) is anathema to many who were baptised as adults. Even the idea of asking God to provide you with all the things you need to be a member of the Church of England (and that is a lot of gifts) doesn't cut the mustard. We've been independent for over two years but my confirmation register is empty.

So is my baptism one. Many of my folk also choose a thanksgiving for their children rather than baptism (more on this at Article 27), preferring to allow them to make the decision for themselves when they are older and to 'experience' baptism. It came as slight shock to one of our families when the children asked to be baptised aged 7 and 9 but we did it and it was great fun, outdoors in a paddling pool.

Why am I telling you this? Well we also operate an open table at communion. All those who want to be included in what we think we're up to when we do church are welcome to have bread and wine (raisins for small kids). Even babies just on solids. Because for us communion is not a sign of Christian maturity. It is a sign of belonging. To my Anglo-Catholic friends I am just a memorialist – I will pick up that glove as it lies at my feet and hold it dear. We don't check baptism certificates at the door.

What is the minimum a church must do to consider itself a Church of England Church? My neighbouring Rector suggested that it puts itself under the authority of the Bishop. We do this. Gladly and willingly.

Are we the finished article? By no means? Do we get things wrong? Absolutely and often. This Article adds one further small thought – it denies the theology of perfectionism.

I'd like to do more baptisms. I'd like to arrange some confirmations. But I don't want to be any less inclusive, welcoming or hospitable. There isn't as much bad theology around as people think.

The Sinless One - Article 15/39

XV. OF CHRIST ALONE WITHOUT SIN

CHRIST in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh, and in his spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world, and sin, as Saint John saith, was not in him. But all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Articles 11-18 will keep hammering this home until we get it.

Some years ago an incumbent (Vicar or Rector), on the first Sunday after arriving in a new church, was required to read the 39 Articles instead of preaching a sermon. It was a test of their orthodoxy.

I recall the late Colin Bevington (Bev the Rev) at St Stephen's, Selly Park breaking it into two parts and taking a fortnight.This would be about 1975.  I have never, in my recollection, been present when somebody actually did it in one and I have never done it myself.

Somewhere between Articles 11 and 18 many will have lost the will to live. But let's stick with it. The additional material this article adds (says O'Donovan) is that it '...rejects any conception of justification as an achieved possession within our individual past histories, an event on which we can count in such a way that we are no longer dependent as we once were dependent. When we speak of justification as finished and accomplished, we certainly should not mean that it is finished and accomplished in our lives...' (italics all his).

In other words, we need to remind ourselves to live Jesus-centred lives all the time.

A Bit Incongruous - Article 13/39

XIII. OF WORKS BEFORE JUSTIFICATION

WORKS done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.

Back to my imaginary funeral again. So often, visiting a family I had not met in church, I would hear an apology followed by praise of the deceased's good life. Often keeping themselves to themselves was seen as an attribute. How very English.

But this Article has no shrift with all that. If you try and do anything worthwhile before you have a relationship with the one who invented the whole caboodle then you have got the cart/horse order all wrong. For Cranmer, you may as well just sin.

This was scandalous then and continues to be so now. Your good works are meaningless save for the context of the saving love of God in Jesus Christ. There is no congruity. By hanging around in the are of good works you will bring God's love no nearer. For that which is to hand at all times, cannot be brought nearer.

Turn to Christ; then consider what implications that might have for your behaviour. That's the deal.

Is there not a better word than sin? - Article 9/39

IX. OF ORIGINAL OR BIRTH-SIN

ORIGINAL Sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is ingendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in the Greek, "Phronema Sarkos", which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.

In the story of Noah, God's decision to wipe out humankind is predicated on this assessment of behaviour, 'Every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil all the time.' 'Nothing but evil' would have sufficed but who doesn't like a bit of rhetoric?

O'Donovan stops short of original sin as a thing per se but points to '...a generalised bias towards evil.'

The Bible knows this. It doesn't sugar coat it. Even the great Old Testament King David announced his arrival on the world stage in the story of Goliath with the words 'What's in it for me?' He doesn't have any lines in the other two introductory myths.

St Paul simply reached for 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' to make things easy to understand.

In the little booklet Journey Into Life, which has accompanied many spiritual seekers on their journey into the faith community, Norman Warren spoke of 49/100 and 1/100 both being a fail if the pass mark is 50/100.

Francis Spufford, in his lovely book Unapologetic avoided the word 'sin' and opted for THCTFTU (The Human Capacity To Fuck Things Up).

Martin Percy suggests, helpfully, that 'A culture formed mainly out of desire and achievement may find itself in the grip of a subtle temptation, namely to confuse sin with imperfection, with what we lack as people.' Maybe he was reaching for Jessica Rabbit's 'I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way.'

And me? What am I reaching for? Well maybe it is OK to be a sinner, to share the human condition, but not to let that be the end of the story. It is not a sin to say things others don't want to hear. It is not a sin to listen and disagree. It is not a sin to dress differently, have piercings, wear a hat indoors or have a day at the races. Culture defines sin far more than we think. Some strict churches in the 1950s were so anti the dance halls that had sprung up that one wag commented 'We're not allowed to have sex standing up in case it might lead to dancing.' 

I am also, clearly, suggesting, that in order to understand the human condition you should be widely read. Or if you can't manage that, go to better movies. They don't tell you, they show you what people are like. They're not better; they're just drawn that way.

Advent Thought 16

In one of his rarer moments of lucidity prompted by the Christian tradition, Bob Dylan once said that no-one does what is right; they just do what they want and then repent. If he was channelling his inner St Paul - all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - then the boy done well.

As an insight it has followed me around over the years. I have been fortunate enough to lead a number of Christian communities and I have seen at first hand the many occasions on which the whole community has spoken as one to agree on a course of action and then stepped back from the job of making that thing happen.

Which links nicely to another quote I rediscovered yesterday:

In other words, a real leader is somebody who can help us to overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.
(David Foster Wallace)

So the hurtful thing (which I have never allowed to hurt me because that is my choice) is when I see things that need to be done, and take people with me to a place where they agree they should be done, yet find it almost impossible to get people to join a team to do the thing, let alone lead it. It is potentially hurtful because, as the quote makes clear, it is always my fault. Vision casting needs to take people beyond nodding in agreement to rolled up sleeves.

There was an old story about a vicar who went to the railway track every Sunday morning and waited for the early train to pass under the bridge. At this point he gave a litle dance of joy and walked home. Questioned about it he acknowledged that since it was the only thing in the parish that moved without him pushing it he got pretty excited.

Don't worry. This is not a Christmas rebuke to my lovely church. It is an observation applicable as much to a country and Brexit as a church and its vision. It is one thing to agree on a vision. It is another to agree to contribute to the necessary work to make it happen.

20% of the people do 80% of the work. The somebody, anybody, nobody, everybody story also springs to mind which, if you know it, will not be as good as my version which contains mildly poor language.

A thought. A thought? Ah yes. If you think it is a good idea, get involved. If you don't think it is a good idea, say so.

Thought for the Day

Bit late posting this today as I've had stuff to do. I hate days with stuff to do. Here is this morning's script as delivered at the BBC Radio Bristol Breakfast Show with Emma Britton:

'You who took the branches green and waved them high above the crowd

Did you realise that next week you would scream for sacrifice.'

Lines from a Palm Sunday song a friend of mine wrote a few years back.

I want more money spent on my kids' school. I don't want to be caught on camera ignoring a traffic sign. I want agencies safeguarding children to be perfect. I don't want my chosen life-partner's behaviour to be a surprise to me.

Stories from today's show.

I want. I don't want.

'I want, can't have' said my Mum about ten thousand times.

The life skill we need to develop is to pilot our boat of potential selfishness through the choppy waters of other people's needs. What provides the most good for the greatest number of people? That is the question asked by the philosophy utilitarianism. How to maximise benefit and reduce harm?

Trouble is we are human. In the Bible St Paul wrestled with this. He observed that he felt wretched because he did what he didn't want to do and didn't do what he should do. It has ever been thus (beat) because selfishness, weakness and negligence get the better of us. All of us. However hard we try.

Some of you listening this morning will believe in God. God who wants us to move from selfishness to service. Others will be happy simply with the utilitarianism. Trying to be good.

We embark on a journey in the Christian Church this weekend, following Jesus' last days from Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and arriving at Easter Sunday.

It reminds us that things don't always work out how we would want. But they do work out.

Thought for the Day

Ash Wednesday. The start of Lent.

I was chatting to a colleague about giving things up for Lent. Confessing that it wasn't part of my personal pattern she asked me what it was I would give up if I was the sort who gave things up. This is the kind of deeply philosophical question that makes me like people more.

But the reason she was asking me was so she could tell me what she thought I ought to give up. This makes me like people less. She thought I should give up sarcasm - my knee-jerk response to make a joke at someone else's expense every time they spoke. Which was pointed, and probably a little bit true.

So I did. Failed three times, but thought more carefully about not putting people down for fun. Did me good.

As Easter approached, and the chocolate-starved eyed their wrapped eggs with longing, I wondered how I would celebrate the end of my fast.

I could not finish my Easter services and then leap in the car tearing round the parish in acts of drive-by rudeness. I had to let that Lent make a difference - for ever.

Imagine giving up theft for Lent and then robbing sheds again. Or stopping using your mobile whilst driving - until Easter. Don't give up something for Lent if you should give it up for good.

Tonight in a quiet service I will ash people, placing a mark on their foreheads as a reminder that from dust we all came and to dust we will all return. Those words are followed by:

'Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.'

Ash Wednesday teaches us our place in the whole scheme of things.

Thought for the Day

As presented to Breakfast at BBC Radio Bristol this morning, trying to link with today's three top stories:

1. Car-parking now being planned at the new Bristol Arena when all along it had been suggested it would not.
2. Someone had put two pots of daffs and a welcome mat in a place where the homeless often sleep.
3. Football fans had joined together to form a fit club to lose weight.

The Bible begins with a couple given a garden to look after. To tend it and care for it. It will provide them with food. They work; they eat. Job done.

Didn't work out as straight-forwardly as I made that sound. Only one rule, they broke it and off they set for a life of labour. The story, once told around middle-eastern camp fires, answers universal questions:

Why is work so hard?
Why is childbirth painful?
Why do snakes slither?

Answers in Genesis chapter 3.

Disobedience got us banned from paradise and we all, the story goes, had to sleep rough once.

Step forward four millennia and we live in a convenience age. We want to park our cars nearby, to eat quickly - only noticing what that might do to our waistbands when it is too late - and we even want to avoid the awkwardness of having to step over the poor as we enter a shop.

How on earth did things get so messed up?

Now I'm a realist. There is a line between sin and suffering but it isn't a straight one. I drive regularly and over-eat from time to time. I fall short of the glory of God I'm meant to reflect. Bet you do too.

Convenience is a luxury. Our success at this civilisation thing has made it so. The car park discussion is about making sure my convenience is not at the expense of future generations. Likewise surviving on fewer calories. But the shop-doorway sleepers report points its finger at all of us. Surely in this age of convenience we ought to be able to find everyone a bed? Two pots of daffs and a welcome mat is at least a start.

Repentance

In Brian McLaren's book A Generous Orthodoxy (Zondervan 2004) there is a chapter, towards the end, called Why I Am Depressed -Yet-Hopeful. It is a remarkable piece of writing and in the final paragraphs he implores the reader not to read on without pondering, praying, reflecting or taking a walk to breathe.

About what? Well many of us repent in order to forget. We say a quick sorry and put the offence out of our mind. McLaren's thesis is that the stories we tell, from individual, community and nation should, if they are to be helpful, include stories of repentance.

So he points out that Jews constantly remind the world that the Holocaust should not be forgotten but that actually this should be Germany's job. Afro-Caribbeans want the world to recall their origins in the slavery diaspora, but it should be the white westerners who do that.

So what are the stories of my past that I should constantly tell to remind the world that I am part of an individual and corporate repentance?

There are two. Firstly I live in the Bristol area. Much of the wealth of the city was built on slave-trading. Our stories about how we got here should always include that, with appropriate shame and penitence. It should leave us a strong desire to use our wealth, indirectly-generated, for the good of all people without exception.

Secondly, a grandfather I never met went to prison for business fraud in the 1930s. It is quite possible that some of the things I enjoyed as a child in the 1950s were, at least in part, ill gotten. I cannot undo this. But I can be open and honest about it and be as sure as I can, as my father did before me, to live generously and nowhere near such a crime.

It gives me a whole new angle on repentance. It also reminds me that the more I tell the stories the more they lose their power to harm me in the future. For nobody can drag up my past if I have walked with it as a constant companion.

Thought for the Day July 4th

As delivered at BBC Radio Bristol this morning:

Two people wake up this morning knowing that a day awaits which may be their last day of freedom for a while.

Rolf Harris, a childhood hero of mine, will be sentenced on twelve counts of indecent assault.

Andy Coulson will be sentenced for conspiracy to intercept voice-mail messages whilst he was editor of the News of the World Newspaper.

Now let me paint you a scenario. Imagine you find yourself in the position of being able to pardon one of these two men. Who is it going to be?

I don't know what you would say but we all carry round in our minds a chart of comparative wrong-doing. 'At least I'm not as bad as...' we say to ourselves.

So in prison - and Rolf Harris has been told to expect that - as a sex offender he will be looked down on by other prisoners. As a child sex offender he will be looked down on by the other sex offenders.

A judge, of sorts, once found himself in the position I placed you in. Who will he pardon? The leader of an insurrection or a popular teacher and preacher. He let the crowd be the judge and they surprised him. 'Release Barabbas', they cried, leaving Jesus to his fate.

The Bible actually says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And so whilst we might all expect, and maybe even be pleased, that today two criminals get their just deserts we might do well to pray for them. For repentance. For turning from their wicked ways.

And to pray a personal prayer too, for if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves.

Thought for the Day

As delivered at BBC Radio Bristol an hour ago. A surgeon has written to The Times complaining about the amount of parking tickets he has received when called to an emergency at a hospital he does not regularly work at:

No-one likes a Jobsworth. 'I'd let you off but it's more than me jobsworth.' We like people to show some flexibility. Especially when it's us that are involved. Think of these excuses:

'I only stopped on the yellow lines to get a paper. Jobsworth traffic warden gave me a parking ticket.'

Or, 'I only used my phone briefly to tell my husband I'd be late. Jobsworth train conductor asked me to leave the quiet carriage.'

So let's rewind. Once there was a busy road. If anyone parked on it in the rush hour it slowed everyone else down. But some selfish people still did. So yellow lines were painted.

If anyone parked on a yellow line they got fined. If caught. But some selfish people still risked the fine - only being a moment in the shop.

So a redress had to be found that would stop people taking the risk. Clamping and towing. That will stop the selfish motorist, thought the law-makers.

It didn't. And indiscriminate clamping meant that sometimes the innocent were caught up in the punishment.

I could now tell you that this is all very important and the Bible tells us all to behave ourselves. But the Bible knew nothing of cars and phones. In fact the Bible says we have freedom, God-given freedom, to act as we wish. Selfishly, if we want. It even says 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.'

Who was responsible for the doctor being delayed getting to a poorly child's bedside? We all were. Anyone who ever behaved in such a way that laws had to be framed to stop us. To say anything else would, frankly, be more than my jobsworth.

Thought for the Day

As delivered this morning at Radio Bristol:




I was sitting here waiting for my moment to speak the other day when Joe came in to do the travel news. Except you, Steve, introduced the item as 'Now here's Joe with the weather.'




Joe did the thinking on your feet thing, made a joke, and we moved on.




Recently I was stoning some plums. Looking down I noticed that half way through I had begun putting the stones in the fruit bowl and the fruit in the waste.




And most of us will have experienced a what-did-I-come-into-this-room-for moment.




The writer Francis Spufford called all this, 'The human capacity to muck things up.' He put it more strongly. And of course it applies to serious situations such as damaged Gromits, imprisonment and treatment for illness. We muck up.




The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' Whether or not you believe in God we all fall short of that standard, real or imaginary.




This has serious implications. Road rage occurs because we don't allow others permission to make mistakes. We know we will err, but expect everyone else to drive perfectly. If someone pushes past you, rudely, today why not allow the thought that they were distracted by a relative's serious illness, rather than that they were simply out to get you.




We should try and do to others what we'd like them to do to us. And if I'm accidentally rude because I'm having a bad day I'd like to think you might forgive me.




What a basic thought. To be a city of happiness, let's be nicer to each other. And now back to you Steve, for the travel? The weather?

The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

This is an important book. How honest do you think you are? Christians are probably aware that, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' but most of us, guilty hands-up here, feel we are not as bad as other people. Another parable springs to mind. Dan Ariely and a load of his compatriots and fellow-researchers set out to test the whole idea of honesty. In what situations do people become less honest?

 

His basic test as control involved a survey of people of similar ability doing a multiple-choice test. Then futher experiments involved scripts being marked by other test-sitters, self-marking and self-marking followed by destruction of the script.

 

Guess what? Cheating, or should we say, over-reporting, took place increasingly.

 

He goes on to show that temptation is harder to resist the more temptation you have resisted, that the idea of being watched (even down to a picture of eyes on a warning note), increases honesty, that we are more likely to cheat if we think someone we trust has cheated and that the better we are at devising a narrative to explain our behaviour the more likely we are to cheat. Yes folks, creative peple lie and cheat more because they end up believing their own tales. And even if we don't personally benefit we are likely to bend the rules if we think someone deserving will benefit. (I recall the turnstyle operator at a certain football club in the lower leagues allowing both my sons to go through for the price of one because he thought away supporters were being stung.)

 

Our dishonesty is not as rational as we think it is. '...there are rational forces that we think drive our dishonest behaviour - but don't. And there are irrational forces that we don't think drive our dishonest behaviour - but do.' The amount of money to be gained and the probability of being caught are seemingly neutral forces. They do not shape our dishonesty at all.

 

Honesty needs to be encouraged, reminders need to be issued and the wise employer will be trusting but leave people in no doubt that they will be caught if they steal.

 

Oh, and if you have some identical items for sale but for some reason you want to sell one batch before the others (say they are nearer their use-by date), place the ones you want to sell first on the right of the display.

 

Published by Harper Collins 2012.

 

Quote Book Index 361-370

The excellent Jim Packer from 'Laid Back Religion':

368. Gossip - a practice that has been defined as the art of confessing other people's sins.

Quote Book Index 111-120

117. The fool in Lear was there to remind the King that he was a dickhead, and everyone around him were dickheads; the world is full of dickheads and the sooner we realise that then the better things will be. (Ben Elton)

#riotcleanup

Nobody really wants to read another essay on riots this morning. It has often been the role of this blog to draw attention to things on the periphery of major events. So I want to recall a chilling image I saw on TV on Sunday night. Unexpectedly chilling and not because of blood or violence.

A sports retailer had been vandalised and people were looting. An adult and a child approached the camera with a shopping trolley containing many pairs of trainers. The adult female then paused and, in full view of the camera, appeared to take out a pair of trainers and offer them to the child to try on.

I was awestruck. The whole scene suggested a caring mother buying trainers for her son. The reality was theft. I suspect that the adult knew that what she was doing was wrong. What did the child learn? Are we really all thieves who have not yet had an opportunity? A commentator on twitter called this 'recreational looting.'

It was what happened in Iraq after the liberating army passed through and we poured scorn.

I am encouraged this morning by the twitter hashtag #riotcleanup. People are spontaneously getting together to help tidy up. Some are suggesting they are wrong to do it without protective clothing, insurance and permission but what the hell?

'Those who have been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with their hands...' (Ephesians 4:28 and my paraphrase).

Most of us can tell right from wrong and try to choose right most of the time.

Men Behaving Disastrously

So many of our top, incredibly-well-paid football stars are just irredeemable, working-class thugs to whom evolution has dealt a fortunate survival trick - skill with a ball.

I understand that playing on the edge of anger can make you really sharp but if you have no self-control switch fitted as standard - cf Wayne Rooney, Joey Barton et al then you are going to get in trouble sooner or later.

Rooney's Saturday outburst into a camera on live TV at lunchtime was worthy of discipline.

I was a reasonable footballer (in fact aged 13/14 I was very good and with coaching may have got much better) but heeded family advice not to pursue it as a career. I didn't thereafter play regularly enough to keep up.

I was fiercely competitive and put myself about. I was booked and sent off. But never for abusing a referee. I was one of those weird players who didn't appeal for every decision. I did once get a bit cross when a linesman told one of my colleagues 'He's not appealing for it' as evidence that the throw-in couldn't be in my favour. The linesman was wrong but I didn't complain, that's all. They do notice and interpret it against you.

I did accept the fact that I had a choice. When Paul Robinson and Lee Dixon on Match of the Day 2 last night said that at the end of the day (they really said that) it was boys being boys even if it was multi-millionnaires on a stadium pitch they said, in effect, that this would not stop. Then they offered the suggestion that three or four sendings off per game would soon change things.

Clearly the 'Respect' campaign has been a load of offal. If anything respect has got less likely. A bad foul sees confrontation and harrassment of refs for a red. A coming-together sees everyone piling in, inevitably.

Just watch the way blokes of a certain age and hair style pile in to a barney in a pub and take sides. You are seeing human nature in all its fallen ugliness. Those pictures of the guys following the police van of the alleged Swindon murderer were not wanting to wait for the decision of a court. Lynch mobs self-generate.

If they are serious about fixing football then they may end up editing out ordinary blokes. Let's see what happens if we say:

• Anyone running more than 20 metres to join in an on-pitch brawl will be sent off.
• Anyone joining in a conversation with a referee that one player is already having will be sent off.
• Anyone approaching an assistant referee for any reason will be booked.
• Anyone joining in a brawl and not facing a player of his own team will be sent off.

A few matches will, as Dixon said, have to be abandoned in the early days of this. It may settle down. It may also mean that more young players of a different disposition may try to play.

Football is at a hinge-point.