Buffy's Salon

Notes from a Recent Tour of The Cotswolds

 

The Cotswolds are a range of hills in England which have become known for their pretty villages, and Broadway (where nothing happened in 1832) is known as the Jewel of the Cotswolds.   

  

Broadway was a busy stagecoach stop between Worcester and London.  The Broadway Hotel has changed little in appearance since the eighteenth century.

I couldn't resist taking a photograph of this lovely deli with all its fresh fruit and vegetables on display.

   

This looked like one of the oldest houses in Broadway, although it has now been converted into a beautiful, beamed and rather eccentric shop.

 

Many writers and artists have lived in Broadway, including Sargent, J.M. Barrie, Elgar and William Morris.

  

Broadway is well known for its honey-coloured houses dating from the sixteenth century.  It's name comes from the "broad way" (the wide main street).  

Now we are in Chipping Campden, a small market town dating from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries.  This is the oldest house in the town and was built in 1380.

This is the market hall, built in 1627.  Chipping Campden was the trading centre for the local, prosperous wool merchants, many of whom built houses here.

 

Chipping Campden was the home of the Cotswolds arts and crafts movement, lead by C.R. Ashbee.

Playing Outside

First Day of the Holidays. Two children eat their breakfast on the first day of the school holidays, anxious to leave the table and play in the garden.

A recent article on the BBC website reminded me of this post that I wrote well over a year ago.  You may have noticed from more recent posts that this is a subject I do feel strongly about.  If there was one thing I could change about modern childhoods it would probably be the way children's lives are so impoverished by our desire to over-protect them.

In Praise of Summer Mischieflaments the lost art of playing outside.

Today's adults look back to a golden age of long summer holidays of "playing out". Through the hazy prism they see endless days of bike odysseys, camping in the back garden, building dens in the woods and plopping off homemade rope swings.

To understand how we (at least in Britain) have lost this idyll you can read the original article that got me thinking: Why are we such worried parents?

In the UK we are all so terrified that harm may come to our children that we severely limit their lives.  Children are not even allowed to walk down the street on their own anymore, they have to be driven everywhere.  This is crazy because:

- your child is far, far more likely to get killed in a car crash than be murdered by a stranger
- it denies the child the pleasure of exploring and playing outside and making friends that way
- the child does not learn to be independent or react well in an emergency if he or she cannot even walk down the street on his or her own
- the child is stuck with a sterile environment of TV and computer games instead of playing outside
- the child also eats more (because he's bored) and exercises less (because he's watching TV or playing computer games) so becomes unhealthy
- it teaches children to be frightened and nervous of everything

Statistically, children are no more at risk from predators than they have ever been.  However,the sad thing is that this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you take all the children indoors and tell them to be suspicious of everyone then you destroy your community.  The world does become less of a safe place.

Anyone who reads Swallows and Amazons now must marvel at the freedom those children had: camping out without parental guidance, trusted not to drown themselves on lakes, expected to be able to not only look after themselves but behave decently towards others as well. 

Children who are told that everyone is their enemy do not treat others decently. 

For hundreds of years (many of them much more physically dangerous than modern times) children have lived their childhood to the full by playing outside for hours, building tree houses, exploring unknown territory, packing picnics, exploring rivers, meeting new people and talking to them, finding out how other people live, people of all ages and both sexes.  Remember in The Railway Childrenhow the three children made best friends with the station master, or how the young Gerald Durrellspent days and nights exploring Corfu, camping out and investigating all the wildlife, talking to total strangers? 

I don't envy our children growing up in the current environment.  They may be safe, but they must also be jolly bored.

Nostalgia Poll

Commanding Suffragette: Just Give Me the Vote and See What Ill Do!

I hope you will all (ladies and gentlemen) be tempted to participate in the new poll on the left hand side about times past.  The previous one (about your views on the Bible) has been taken down as I have now had 50 votes and the results will be published soon. 

The new poll asks: which era are you most nostalgic for?  Please vote, as I will be interested to see the results.  I must admit I have a suspicion as to which one will win!

The Passion

I wrote in an earlier post that this series was being broadcast by the BBC over Easter.  It's good to see our major broadcasting station acknowledging that Easter is not just about chocolate eggs!

I have always loved watching the story of Jesus and, coming from a non-Christian family, series such as Jesus of Nazareth were my first serious exposure to what Christianity might be about.  I really do see it as a timeless and life changing story and am always happy to see a new version.

The Passion differs from other adaptations in that, whilst retaining a fairly reverent attitude, the scope of the story has been broadened and the script writers were obviously given a lot of license to fill in background information;  for example the recent history of Barabbas and the two men crucified at the same time as Jesus.  An interesting angle was that the story was told from three perspectives: that of Jesus and his disciples, that of Caiaphas and that of Pilate.  Consequently, from a historical perspective, the actions of the latter two became understandable (although not acceptable) given the context and the culture within which they both operated.  It also clarifies the clash of the two cultures (Jewish and Roman) which was so extreme at the time, and which must have made co-existence so extremely difficult. 

Apparently many of the details within the programme were taken from the writings of Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, and an important part of the approach of this particular adaptation was to reclaim Judaism as a guiding force in Jesus' life. 

The action takes place from the preparation for passover and includes the resurrection and appearances to Jesus' followers.  In the final episode the resurrection is done with a clever twist that I've never seen before which perfectly explains why it took Jesus's followers so long to recognize him.

The writers asked, and then answered some interesting questions.   What would Jesus and his mother have spoken about when they were alone together, how would Jesus have handled a prostitute who approached him, what personal words of wisdom would Jesus have had for Judas?  Judge for yourself if you agree with their conclusions!

This was very much a naturalistic approach that was meant to appeal to a wide range of people, which meant some elements of the story that might be considered unpalatable or unbelievable were left out.  For example, it is implied that Judas will be accepted in heaven, the temple curtain is not rent and although it is clear that Jesus' death is a form of sacrifice, this is mentioned in passing.  That said, I felt that the actors ultimately portrayed the heart of the message in a very moving and inspiring way.  Even if all it achieves is to encourages people to look again at the story of Jesus then it's done well. 

How to Dress

Glamour Collection II

"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones" Helena Rubinstein

How we look matters.  It matters for all sorts of reasons.  In the Western world we have to wear something every day and, whatever it is, you may be sure it tells the world something about you.  It signals - more quickly than a lightning strike - whether we are fun, clever, elegant, shy, intellectual, dowdy, sloppy, showy...You name it, dress can convey all these qualities and more.  Psychiatrists say that they can judge the psychological health of a person from how they dress - it can speak of optimism, and openness, or despair and utter hopelessness. 

I also believe that dressing at least moderately well is part of proper manners.  Turning up in scruffy clothes to a dinner that somebody has taken trouble with is rude.  It takes the shine off the evening.  Wearing flip-flops to the White House, as some American teenagers famously did, seems to me to show a lack of respect and to speak of an unattractive bolshiness.  We've all known women who've turned up at work in entirely inappropriate gear:  plunging necklines, skirts that are too short.  It is distracting and unprofessional.  But neither have I ever understood why you can't combine glamour with brains.  The fad of some intellectuals for thinking that their IQ depends upon wearing dreary clothes doesn't seem to me to evince much capacity for rational thought.

I also think the older you get, the less you can afford to look scruffy or unkempt.  The young can get away with it, but as time passes it looks less and less attractive, and in the middle-aged and older it can look downright creepy.  

Lucia Van Der Post in Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me

What City do you Belong in?

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

 

Well, this is appropriate.  Anyone want to join me in London?

The Booker Prize & The Life of Pi

Abe Books recently ran a survey to find the most popular winners of The Mann Booker Prize.  The winner was The Life of Pi by Yann Martell, with Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie taking second place and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy the third most popular.  Mr B and I have both read The Life of Pi and thoroughly recommend it.  It is an intriguing story about a young Indian boy called Pi with a real spiritual instinct who, sadly, doesn't understand why he can't practice Hinduism, Christianity and Islam at the same time.  The real story starts when he finds himself shipwrecked for months in a small life boat which contains a Bengal tiger.  The story of his survival is one of the most amazing journeys you will read.

  Interestingly, an official Best of Booker Award (to celebrate 40 years of the Booker Prize), which has been judged by the usual collection of literary heavyweights, has come up with a different top six (with the exception of Midnight's Children).  As usual we see a gulf between what the reading public love and what an official panel of judges chooses, although it should be remembered that all the winners of the Booker Prize were chosen by such a panel of judges in the first place.  However, for anyone wanting to dip into a bit of modern literary fiction, this "literary but popular" top ten would be a good starting place.

1) Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2) Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
3) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
4) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
5) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
6) The Bone People by Keri Hulme
7) Possession by AS Byatt
8) The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
9) Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
10) The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

The Mann Booker Prize for Fiction (one of the most prestigious awards for fiction) is awarded every year for the best full-length fiction novel in the English language that is written by a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (including the UK) or the Republic of Ireland.  A list of all winners is available for those as addicted to lists of books as I am.

Guided by God

Into The Light

In Exodus 13 we read how God guided the Israelites towards the promised land as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, which remained always in front of his people.

Though the details are very different, isn't the principle the same for each of our lives?  We are not alone; if we are willing to lean fully and submit our lives into God's control we can be confident that he will do a better job of running our life stories than we would do ourselves.  We will be provided for, comforted, advised, given many blessings and receive guidance when the time is right.   We don't necessarily know where we are being taken, what we will be doing in one year's time or how things will work out for the best, but we must relinquish our desire for control and place our trust in him.

How are we guided by God?  We can assume, of course, that guidance can come in any form and God is not limited in his means of communication, neither is he silent.  The trouble is that as humans we don't only have the voice of God in our head, we also have a lot of other voices.  The voice of our parents, the voice of our selfish wants, the voice of negativity or escapism, the voice that demands that we compromise and fit in with what everyone else is doing, the voice of anxiety, that little bit of us that just doesn't want to give up control...and so on.

In Knowing God, J.I. Packer explains how God's guidance should work for us.  In summary, we can divide many of the decisions we have to make up into those for which we already have clear guidance and those we do not.  The Bible gives us very clear instructions on all the most important areas of life.  As J.I. Packer says:

Turn from evil and do good (Ps 34:14,37:27) - this is the highway along which the Bible is concerned to lead us, and all its admonitions are concerned to keep us on it

However, the Scriptures are not going to give you guidance on whether or not to marry a certain person, or whether to take one job or the other, whether to live in the town or city or a whole raft of other decisions where one thing will be right for one person and something else for another.  When, then, we are listening for that small, quiet voice, looking out generally for clues that we should turn right or left and wondering what feels "right" to us and what feels "wrong", how can we be sure what is true guidance and what is just static interference?

1. When we feel "lead" to do something, we should check it out against Scripture
2. We must give the matter rational thought, remembering to think through long-term consequences
3. Are we absolutely clear about our motivations?  This is very hard as we are all superb at dressing up what we want to do to look like what we ought to do.
4. If it is of any moment, we should discuss the matter with someone else who will be honest with us and whose judgment we trust.
5. We must be willing not to have the whole picture but be lead one step at a time; in other words, to be patient.
6. If, our decision made, we suffer either a serious knock back or a whole series of minor ones, it could be we made the wrong decision and it would therefore be wise to carefully reconsider our current path, reviewing 1-5 above. 
7. However, it is also possible that what seems like a problem to us is part of God's plan and that good will ultimately come of it.  There are many cases in the Bible when something bad happened and, whether willed by God or simply used by him, it was turned to good in the end.  Examples would be the story of Joseph sold into slavery and imprisoned, or of Moses whose requests for the freedom of his people to Pharaoh were turned down so many times.
8. When it turns out we have gone wrong (as happens to everyone at some time) then once we have realised it we should not despair.  Again, God can bring good out of bad and no damage we can do will be irrevocable.  We must simply do our best to follow his guidance back onto the correct pathway again

The Path to Biblical Womanhood

Beachside Stroll

We probably have a fair idea of what Biblical Womanhood once meant, but the world we live in has changed beyond measure from those ancient days.  Can these words realistically have any meaning for us now?  Well, I have found some interesting resources online about what Biblical Womanhood actually could mean in this day and age.  Of course, much of it runs directly contrary to the modern expectation of womanhood or girlhood.  However, if you're interested in taking the road less travelled you might want to check out some of these signposts along the way. 

Keeping the elusive Proverbs 31 woman as our guide as we walk along the path we should remember to:

Honour our parents

Set apart our "inner sancturary"

Expect to be challenged by our Faith

Celebrate our femininity

Consider the differences between the sexes

Understand the importance of Servanthood

Remember that old fashioned virtue: chastity

Try out  A Month of Modesty

Refuse to Gossip

Always Cultivate Wise Habits

and for those of us not married, consider the busy Ministry of Single Girls 

What's Your Teenager Reading?

Books Carry

A report published in the Spring about children's reading had some good news and some bad news. The good news is that teenagers are still reading. The bad news is that their reading material of choice is Heat  (a celebrity-focused magazine.) Yes, at the age when girls (11-14 to be precise) should be relishing Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or even one of the modern books for young adults I've reviewed such as The Declaration or How I Live Now, their favourite read is a magazine full of celebrity gossip. Can you guess how far down the list of favourite reads a book actually came? Number five (Harry Potter if you're interested). I suppose one can take heart that both Anne Frank's Diary and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe appear in the top ten; I assume this is the real book readers registering.

Boys were included in the survey too, but I am sorry to say they did raise the tone.  Their main contributions at number 2 and 3 were online song lyrics and computer game cheats.

You know, as I write this I do wonder if I come across as an intellectual snob, implying that any teenager not reading a "worthy" book is wasting their life. I admit it, I do think books are the best thing invented by man. I think a life spent without reading books (or listening to audio tapes of books) is a life half-lived. Please feel welcome to disagree. However, I do accept that some people can get immense joy and value out of life without cracking open a paperback. On the other hand, I really don't believe that anyone whose main source of literature is a magazine with top articles entitled Boyzone reveal a shocking secret or Look! it's the BB girls with no slap is enjoying a life well lived. As as one literacy consultant said:

The trouble with reading magazines and reading online is that you don't get the narrative thread of a story in the same way.  By reading a book you are building up the stamina to absorb words for a longer period of time. What you are doing is gradually locking brains with the author, which you do not really do in quite the same way when you read chunks of a magazine or chunks of text on a screen.

Let's look at this from another angle. What do readers of gossip magazines gain?  I think we all know these days that the focus for teenage girls is the world of celebrity. Within the pages of Heat or Bliss girls can, however subliminally learn the importance of being skinny and spending money on designer clothing like Victoria Beckham, or binge drinking like Kate Moss or Any Winehouse.  They can learn that promiscuity and drug taking is normal behaviour, that pregnancy and single motherhood are cool and that, ultimately, we are all sexual commodities.  Is it any surprise that teachers have been warning us about the dangers of a celebrity obsessed culture on our children's educational aspirations? A recent survey found that one third of pupils wanted to be famous for the sake of being famous. The top model for boys is footballer David Beckham and for girls Paris Hilton.

I can't wait for them to grow up.