Thought for the Day

As delivered on the Radio Bristol Breakfast Show this morning:

Well? Would you go to Gaza?

A businessman friend of mine routes some of his company profits into building schools and hospitals in Kenya. Another couple I know give up holiday to serve on a Mercy Ship offering treatment to people for a range of common complaints. Things we can have easily dealt with in our country but which become life-threatening in sub-Saharan Africa. I know others who serve on summer camps for disadvantaged children, paying their own way and giving up holiday. They always return physically exhausted and sign up for next year at once.

Today we have another to add as a Bristol anaesthetist heads to Gaza instead of vacation.

I rejoice at the sacrifice and goodwill of so many excellent contributors to a better world, especially in a week where, as the Archbishop of Canterbury said, despair seems to dominate our news.

Why do some seem to contribute hugely whilst others do nothing?

Perhaps it is because we feel so helpless. That our little bit of money or time won't make any difference.

But the privilege of being part of a crowd where all are good is that we only have to do a little.

St Paul suggested that we have different gifts. If it is serving, he said, then serve; if it is teaching then teach; if it is encouraging then encourage; if it is giving then give; if it is leading then lead. We should all do our bit. Today as we leave the house, let's try to make the world slightly better by the time we return.

The eighteenth century Irish Statesman Edmund Burke said 'Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.'

Thought for the Day

Slightly weird Thought for the Day experience today. As part of the 'Right up your Street' series, where BBC Radio Bristol focuses on a different part of the region for a week, I was asked to go to the Parish Wharf Leisure Centre in Portishead. On arrival it became apparent that nothing was set up so Tim, the reporter in charge, asked me to make a recording using his iPad. This I did. Nothing was ready by the time my slot arrived so the recording was played rather than me doing it live or inter-acting with the presenter in the studio (an encounter for which, given that it surprised me last time I was outside broadcasting, I had prepared by arriving early and thinking of things to say about the surrounding area. So at the time I would normally be delivering I was in the car driving home and I heard myself on the radio.

Today's key story was about the possibility of offering volunteers a Council tax rebate:

My late father was in the RAF. He told stories about war, avoiding the death and destruction and sticking to comedy, as many of his generation did.

On one occasion a senior officer came into the mess and announced, 'We're a bit short-staffed in the kitchen so we need some volunteers to peel potatoes.' Then, pointing, he added 'You, you and you. Off you go.'

In the RAF you had a job to do. Obey orders. The joke was the officer's use of the term 'volunteer'. Yet my Dad wasn't called up. He volunteered.

What is a volunteer? In the middle of the Commonwealth games we recall London 2012 and the brilliant job of the games makers. All volunteers.

I had to volunteer to be a vicar but then had to have that calling tested by older, wiser Christians. Now I get paid. Isn't that - a job?

Jesus once sent his disciples ahead of him. He gave them a vision for the harvest of changed lives but he offered no wage, or tax rebate. He described the work as being like lambs amongst wolves.

I applaud ideas that encourage more community involvement. Too many people keep themselves to themselves and see that as a desirable quality. And also the generous treatment of all who have served above and beyond the call of duty.

St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote a great prayer:

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Olympic Thoughts

Maybe you have to host the games to understand the Olympic spirit. I am not sure if the stories about sportsmanship (sportspersonship?) and, especially, volunteering are quite so easily picked up when the games are on the other side of the world. Those little glimpses into the human beings who help make the games possible were missing from the story of Beijing I followed.

Today I heard of a competitor in the women's marathon getting water for another runner who had missed her station. It was said that this kindness may have cost her a medal. That seems to be the Olympic spirit. To win? Yes. At all costs? Probably not although Ben Ainsley came close when he felt two other sailors had ganged up on him. 'Don't make me angry or you'll help me to win.' It seemed to get personal.

On the radio yesterday morning (I have temporarily relocated from 4 to 5) Lord Coe told a story of a volunteer he met on the train who described his work as an emergency medic at the boxing. Coe thanked him for what seemed to be an essential and important role and the thanks were returned. The volunteer was doing this to get closure - he had been on duty in A&E on 7/7/05. He paid back the bad guys by not only doing his job of saving lives then but by volunteering to do it again, for nothing, in his own time, now. Take that, evil.

It has been a well-managed games. I am beginning to notice the hours of preparation that must have gone into some things that people would say are details. Those medal ceremonies for instance. No matter what the venue every one is identical (sensible safety takes away daises and high heels at the regatta). So beautifully choreographed that you don't notice the participants and all attention goes to the winners. That sort of thing attracts attention when it is done badly and is virtually unnoticed when done well. To do it well you have to practise. Invisibility, when wearing purple, requires careful preparation. I felt the same when I noticed the care two guys took over holding the tape for the end of the women's marathon. Meticulously timed to be released as soon as broken the guys then refurled their ribbon neatly and marched off in unison. Brilliant. You had to really look to notice.

Volunteers

A recent tweet, it may still be hanging around, asked the question, 'Why is the church hopeless at looking after its volunteers?'

Now my initial reaction was to be sad. That sort of question normally means, 'Why haven't you looked after me?'

I suspect that is not the case here. Firstly I know the person, who will probably be one of the first people to read this, and he is not a moaner. Secondly he is, although a volunteer himself (after a number of years on the other side of the fence as a paid church employee) more a looker-afterer than a look-after-me sort of person. So the question, I'm guessing, has an element of self-criticism. Morning Dennis by the way. Let's not pretend that anonymity stuff is going to work here. If you don't want people to know you asked the question you shouldn't tweet it.

So, to the question with haste, and first the assumption. Is the church hopeless? And do we mean the universal, catholic church or our church?

A friend walks into your home nursing bruises and asking to borrow some money to get home because he's just been mugged for his wallet and phone. What do you reckon will be his reaction to the news that violent crime is down? Thought not. Two of you with black eyes now.

I have worked in churches as a volunteer and as an ordained member of staff for thirty five years now. As a volunteer I never felt neglected, although if I had I knew I could pick up the phone and have a chat to, or call and see, the clergy or my line-manager.

Since ordination I can count, on the fingers of one hand, the number of people who have stood down because they said they felt uncared for. Fewer than twenty ever picked up the phone and asked for an appointment to discuss the task for which they were currently volunteering. I did the chasing. Maybe there was a small army of the silently-seething out there who I missed. By and large I have been told over the years that I am good at getting the best out of volunteers and supporting them although I appreciate that one angel doesn't mean we are over-run with spiritual support. No, I wasn't calling myself an angel there, just moved from the particular to the general without stopping the flow.

If you feel unsupported you will probably jump to the conclusion that everyone does. Steady now.

My point, for the moment, is no more than this. Clergy are not mind-readers. No-one ever moaned that the doctor didn't visit when they were ill if an appointment hadn't been sought. If you are a volunteer and you are feeling pissed off and uncared for please tell. I am not good at 'hearing the vibe' as it were so I use a pastoral group of three people who tell me what is going on and advise me if a visit or intervention from me would help. Tell us if you want help. We would like, to quote the only management question worth asking, to find out how to help you do your job better.

Of course we can't wave wands (although prayer is good and works). Listening to you may not mean we will be able to do what you want. I am currently over-working my children's volunteers because no-one will come forward to help. I care for the over-worked. Desperately. I have thought long, hard and even creatively about how to help solve the problem and still am. The lack of a solution does not mean I don't care.

Recently, in a church near mine, a volunteer who ran a major ministry, resigned retrospectively with a week to go before the start of a new term's programme. I wonder who cares for the carer who has that done to them?

As a representative of the church I pledge to try and do better in future. One way might be to hold volunteers to account more thoroughly, to discipline if performance is sub-standard and to require that all volunteers tell their line manager how they are doing, by appointment, on a monthly basis. In return we will give nothing but love. Will that cause a steady rise in the number of volunteers? Is a volunteer any less than an employee without a salary?

You may not know that I often start conversations by stating things a bit more bluntly than they actually are. Let's talk, not fight.