Issue 8054

THE

INQUIRER £1 | Issue 8054 | 4 March 2023

Inside this issue…

Michael Allured on love Reflecting on a year of war Where is God in an earthquake?

www.inquirer.org.uk

The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

Life on Mars

Stephanie Bisby asks, can science fiction teach us to live on Earth?

Part and Parcel

By Mark Belletini I am part of you, O Truth Unfolding.

I am part of you.

I am part of a cosmos.

I cannot see either its edge or its end.

How amazing!

I am part of a galaxy of a million, billion stars.

They say it’s a pinwheel.

How wonderful!

I am part of a system of planets that swing around a small parent star. How strong the hands of invisible gravity must be to hold it all together, just so!

I am part of a planet, green and blue, along with mountains and seas, sponges and spores, lichen and lava, robins and rain, periwinkles and perch, centipedes and cities.

How great the variety!

How astonishing the mutual dependence of it all!

I am part of a species that belongs to a grouping of animals called mammalia and so is every other human being, equally so.

I am part of a political unit called a nation.

There are many nations, each of them dear in many ways to its local citizens.

I am part of a family with ethnicity, practice, and love in the form of food, rooted in the mountains of Emilia.

Others know other roots, other practices.

I am part of a circle of friends rooted, not in ethnicity or food, but in simple redemptive love.

I am part of a climate region, part of a state, part of a city, part of a neighbourhood, part of a congregation, and part of a staff.

And with you I am part and parcel of this moment, this simple silence which lasts but a few breaths, and then is gone forever.

But like cosmos, galaxy, planet, species, nation, climate, city, neighbourhood, family, and circles of friendship, it is precious, a present for which I give thanks.

Poem from: ‘Sonata for Word and Silence’, (Skinner House 2008) Photo: Earth from the moon: NASA

Stephanie Bisby writes of what science fiction can teach us about real life

Life on Mars I don’t know if other worship leaders do this, but every time I type up my service titles for a newsletter or write Sunday’s sermon, I run a mental check of who I might be about to annoy or offend, either by what I’m saying or – just as often – by what I’m not saying. What’s going on in the world that might cause what I’m saying to land in a different way than how I originally intended it? And some weeks, what with our own politics and events in the global sphere, I have to ask the question, is there really any point in the advertised service?

Early in 2022 I had the idea of Children. But we all read the papers writing a service inspired by the and watch the news and can Google “I love coming to a month of March and its connection just as well as I can, so congregation with the Roman God of war and members probably already figured Unitarian Chapel the planet Mars, and, particularly, out how to do those things. And, because you’ll hear the one of my favourite science fiction like me, they were probably stories, set on that planet. Then, grappling with the truth that what minister quoting from after I’d advertised the service title most of us can do, most of the time, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the but before I sat down to write the is limited. service, Russia invaded Ukraine, You may disagree. But I think, Galaxy alongside the and there was more than enough most of the time, what we need Bible.” being said about war already. The from our churches is not another idea of talking about fictional space invitation to self-flagellation, but exploration seemed frivolous. Who’s an encouragement to do that which going to listen to a word about the we can do for those in need – even red planet when our own planet seems to be on the verge when they are half a world away. And then, to continue of vaporising itself? But talking about robot explorers and serving the world the best way we can, by living as well science fiction stories, or our own beautiful world as Mark and wisely as we can in our own little corner of the world.

Belletini writes of, ‘periwinkles and perch, centipedes and Which means that, whatever is going on in the world, it’s cities’, all pale when the world is burning… (See Belletini’s still our responsibility to keep sharing the best sources poem, left.) of wisdom we can find: the words and images and music The annoying critic in the imaginary front pew inside my which inspire us to live with faith, hope and love. head said, ‘This is not the time for fantasy!’

I once picked up a leaflet about Unitarian worship, and And yet… what could I possibly say in my little corner of there’s a quotation which has always stuck in my mind. the world that would make the slightest difference to even The gist of it was something like: “I love coming to a one person dodging bombs, or others fleeing their homes Unitarian Chapel because you’ll hear the minister quoting with only the clothes on their back, wondering who will from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy alongside the Bible.” take them in? I could advise people to write to their MPs I talk often about the importance of humour, and you find and encourage them to put pressure on the government plenty of that in Douglas Adams’ deliciously bizarre sci-fi to improve provision for refugees; I could urge people saga. But what’s more relevant now is what else you find to donate to the Red Cross and UNICEF and Save the there: a perspective on the details of our everyday lives Continued on page 5 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

THE

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www.unitarian.org.uk Page 4 | Issue 8054 – 4 March 2023

Syria, Turkey need our help Support the British Red Cross efforts to save lives and rebuild devastated areas.

We are sure that our Unitarian Community looks with a deep sense of horror and hopelessness as we see the aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Over the years we have supported the Red Cross in their work of disaster relief, knowing how valuable their contribution has been. We would encourage you to help once more, by making a donation to their Crisis Appeal.

The Rev Sue Woolley, General Assembly president.

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey on Monday 20 February. At presstime, news was still unfolding about yet more deaths and injuries and further damage caused by this third earthquake, near the city of Antakya.

These earthquakes are estimated to have directly impacted 23 million people in Turkey and Syria. The initial earthquakes killed over 44,000 people and a further 70,000 were injured. Thousands of buildings have collapsed. The devastation in both affected countries has been immense.

The probability of finding more people alive has now fallen considerably. The focus has now shifted to providing essential support for survivors, who have lost their loved ones, homes, belongings and livelihoods.

Following these earthquakes the British Red Cross, in conjunction with fellow members of the Disasters Emergency Committee, has launched an emergency appeal.

The Turkish Red Crescent has set up a crisis response operation and mobilised teams across the country. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent is delivering urgent medical and other humanitarian aid.The British Red Cross is providing emergency first aid and other medical treatment, including psychosocial counselling, and evacuating people to safety.

You can make a donation to the British Red Cross to help people in Turkey and Syria directly affected by these earthquakes.

Please donate to the British Red Cross Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal if you can: by phone: 0300 004 0339; by the British Red Cross website: www.redcross.org.uk or by post to: British Red Cross, 44 Moorfields, London EC2Y 9AL. Please make cheques payable to the British Red Cross and earmarked for the British Red Cross Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.

Feargus O’Connor It is with sadness that The Inquirer notes the death of the Rev Ernest Baker on 19 February. Ernest was longtime minister at Underbank Chapel, Sheffield and former secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Send a Child to Hucklow fund – among other Unitarian positions.

A full obituary will be published in a future Inquirer.

“Fiction writers are able to present the truth in unique ways, because, in the words of the poet Emily Dickinson, they ‘tell the truth but tell it slant.’”

Shown left: A still from the film adaptation of ‘The Martian’ © 20th Century Fox Continued from page 3 >

which can make us see our world entirely differently.

As Ursula Le Guin argued in the introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness, fiction writers are able to present the truth in unique ways, because, in the words of the poet Emily Dickinson, they ‘tell the truth but tell it slant.’ Want to talk about issues of censorship without being silenced?

Set your book among animals or in a future where the clocks strike 13 and your TV watches you, and you have Animal Farm or 1984.

All science fiction addresses the state of the world Throw in ‘firemen’ whose job is the burning of literature and you have Fahrenheit 451, a stinging critique of the McCarthy era. Concerned about the sexism inherent in society and religion? Tell the story of a young woman forced to live as a concubine in a society where women are only valued for childbearing, and you might find that even people who’ve never read your book will recognise the distinctive red cloaks and white hoods of the handmaidens in the TV series.

The Handmaid’s Tale was very definitely written to make a political point. But the truth is, even science fiction stories which don’t address the state of the world do address the state of the world.

A brilliant 2015 article in Tor magazine (See: https:// tinyurl.com/TorSciFi) explores the debate over ‘whether science fiction and fantasy “should” or “shouldn’t” address political issues or explore political themes.’ ‘Underlying the debate,’ the article argues, ‘are two distinct, albeit complementary, understandings of what a political message “is” and where it comes from. For some, it is defined by the existence of an explicit, purposive attempt to convey said message... For others, though, pretty much anything is “message fiction,” because the assumptions/ choices operative in worldbuilding, characterisation and narrative are implicit messages in and of themselves.

Really these are two forms of political messaging – distinct from one another and not at all equivalent, but

nonetheless related. All books contain implicit political messages; only a select few contain the explicit ones.’

Religious services, too, can contain implicit political messages; only a select few contain the explicit ones.

Which brings me back to one of my favourite science fiction stories, one I turned to regularly through lockdown, for an infusion of hope, a shot of determination, and a good cathartic cry. Unusually for me (literary purist that I am) I even love the film adaptation just as much as the book.

When I re-watch films that made me cry the first time, they often don’t have the same effect the second time.

But The Martian gets me every single time. When the hero Mark Watney, stranded on Mars after an abortive mission, figures out the solution to a tricky problem and it begins to seem as if starvation may no longer be inevitable, I well up. Alone on the planet, he struggles with dust storms, malfunctioning equipment, boredom and loneliness, in a way that many more of us can relate to now than we could before Covid. And, all the time, the clock is ticking as his supplies are run low, and the chance of him lasting long enough for rescue grows slimmer.

I end up a sobbing wreck Then, one of the NASA engineers on Earth has a genius breakthrough that brings a lump to my throat. And, as if that wasn’t enough, I end up a sobbing wreck when, after the powers-that-be veto the proposed solution as too dangerous, someone else puts his job on the line to try to make it happen.

The worse the world gets, the more I seem to need to hear Mark Watney’s musings on why – partial spoiler alert – the powers-that-be give in and approve the mission to try to save his life.

‘Why bother?’ Mark asks. With no one on Mars, he replies to himself. His answer begins with ‘progress, science, and the interplanetary future we’ve dreamed of for centuries’, but acknowledges this isn’t the whole picture. It’s also Continued on page 7 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

Celia Cartwright, member of the Unitarian Peace Fellowship reflects on the war

Ukraine, one year on What do we/I think about Ukraine? I have, as most have, been horrified by Russia’s almost casual march into a neighbouring country. Help and aid has poured into Ukraine, ammunition, tanks, jets, from European countries and as far away as the United States. Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been a leader for this time, his seemingly endless energy and winning personality has given strength and determination to his people and garnered a great many friends and huge support.

Who would have guessed the the daily reports and the horror or former comedian and actor, elected deaths on a scale that is not easy to to the presidency in 2019 would think about. In the films/movies the have such strength and resilience. goodies win and the baddies lose, Ukrainians fleeing the war have and it’s not easy to wrap one’s head “The British response been welcomed with open arms by around the fact that the goodies to the war in Ukraine ordinary citizens here in Britain, often lose and the baddies win. and across Europe. Our media have Who the baddies are and who the has highlighted its very reported on the tragedy of the war. goodies are is often simply a matter clear double standards.”

But war is always a tragedy, and how of where you live, or what cause you we deal with it is never easy. Some support. Nothing is ever as simple as are celebrating the support with we would like it to be. weapons of war to Ukraine in order The British response to the war in that they might have some hope Ukraine has highlighted its very of repelling Russia. Others are not clear double standards. Whereas happy about sending armaments to Ukraine. I, frankly, Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed in Britain, don’t know. I think I support it. I think this because I am other refugees are castigated, turned away, treated as reminded of the last time a country decided it wanted to criminals and worse, and I refuse to quote the rhetoric take another country with disputed ownership, and set in of our current Government on this. This country has motion World War II. But is that all we can do? Are there ‘lost’ undocumented children, housed refugees in places no other avenues? Are other avenues being sought? that are worse than prisons, split families, forbidden It’s a year since Putin declared war on Ukraine, and had communication. Syrians, whose country is currently his troops march on land he believes should be in Russian suffering the worst earthquake catastrophe in living hands. I suspect lots of us thought it would be over in a memory, have in recent years been turned away from our short time. I suspect there has never been a war started shores, transported, treated as criminals. Though I don’t that lots of people didn’t think would be over in a short know where these particular refugees come from I read time – ‘It will be over by Christmas’ is a phrase that rang today (11 February), ‘three people had been arrested after ever more hollowly during the long years of World War I. I violent scenes outside a hotel where asylum seekers were suspect this hopeful belief is because war scares us. staying in Merseyside. A police van was set on fire. The As time goes on we, on the outside, become numbed to violence was triggered by “an alleged incident on social Continued on page 7 > Page 6 | Issue 8054 – 4 March 2023

Fear and the war in Ukraine Continued from page 6 >

media” and criticised misinformation claiming refugees were ‘featherbedded’ inside.’

So, what do I think about Ukraine?

I think it is dreadful, appalling, sad. I also think ‘we’ feel easier supporting this war than other wars in countries where people are not ‘white and mainly Christian like us’. (I put quotes around the ‘we’ because I know I am, in the main, preaching to the choir here!) What’s happening in Ukraine, the rest of Europe, the Western world, is a response to the fear that

Shown above: National Guard of Ukraine anti-aircraft gunners hunt for Russian drones in Kherson Oblast. National Guard of Ukraine photo.

it’s close to home, and a threat to us. But I also think there are threats from within this narrow view that must be addressed.

The Rev Celia Cartwright is a member of the Unitarian Peace Fellowship and former president of the Unitarian General Assembly.

Life on Mars Continued from page 5 >

‘because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out.’ He cites examples: ‘If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies.’ Anticipating potential objections, he goes on to argue, ‘Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.’

We need stories of survival Sorry for the language, but I think Mark has a point, and maybe he’s right not to sugar coat it. I imagine most of us have been tempted by some choice language over the last year when it comes to those who don’t care; those who treat ordinary people as pawns in their childish power games; those whose thoughtless actions threaten others’ lives and livelihoods. And because those few uncaring people in positions of power are always in the news, we need these stories of hope and resilience more than ever.

We need stories which remind us individuals can flourish, even in the sparsest and most challenging environments; that progress is possible; and that more often than not people do look out for each other. Stepping outside of the confines of our ordinary world is what allows us to tell the truth about life, because as Ursula Le Guin says, ‘the truth is a matter of the imagination.’

The truth, which we have seen over and over again during these last couple of years, “Very often it’s the hard is that nobody ever said stuff that teaches us who life was going to be easy. we can truly be.”

And, if we ask for life to be easy, we’re missing the point. Because, very often it’s the hard stuff that teaches us who we can truly be. In the words of Sydney Knight’s wonderful hymn: ‘We do not seek a shallow faith.’ Instead, we seek a rich, challenging and evolving life. Whatever the circumstances of our real lives, whatever is happening in the world, and whatever we hope for in the future, there’s sure to be a science fiction story which can help point the way.

Stephanie Bisby The Rev Stephanie Bisby is part-time minister with York Unitarians and Bradford Unitarians. She also writes fiction.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

Michael Allured writes that we are all part of a transcendent mystery

It begins with love As Unitarians we gather to do the work of the spirit, to do the religious work of heart and head as we search for meaning and seek answers to life’s ultimate questions.

What is life’s purpose? insights, challenges and wisdom Who am I? revealed by being part of a liberal Where do I belong? religious community who love the Where am I going? questions and are learning to live “We are the bearers of What’s my relationship to the with uncertainty.

Universe and the sentient beWe encourage each other to use each other’s failings. ings in it? tender and generous hearts and reaThis makes for an • How are we as individuals – and soning minds to find and speak our as a circle of seekers – who truths in love. We live and love with imperfect, bruised and embrace freedom, reason, tolour joys and sorrows, with our hopes aching world.” erance, spirituality and truth and dreams, sometimes realised but called to act in the world? often dashed.

These are questions of ultimate We are the bearers of each other’s religious concern which lead us to failings. This makes for an impermatters of discernment, how we fect, bruised and aching world. Too judge what is true in this age where we can so easily feel many human eyes will not see, too many human ears reoverwhelmed with information – and misinformation. fuse to hear. There are children on the world’s streets now We are called to make choices and assess swathes of indying of starvation. There are multi-billionaires who earn formation. Some of those choices and assessments won’t millions in 60 minutes and people who live in destitution matter in the long term. But some will; and the choices in refugee camps. that follow may have life-changing consequences – for How, as people of faith recognising our interconnectourselves and our fellow travellers. edness in the web of life, and believing in honouring the If we have chosen to embrace a religious path – particudignity of each person, should we respond to these injuslarly a Unitarian one – what are the implications for our tices? For me, wrestling with all these questions and finddaily lives? How do we discern truth? How do we decide ing working answers is at the heart of what it means to live ethical questions? How do we summon the courage to do a religious life. what our hearts tell us is the right thing to do?

It seems an impossible task even to hope we can change This is the work we have committed to do together. Yet the world. Yet our religious convictions call us to try – to there are no books of rules, no commandments set in speak what we know to be true in our hearts and to find stone. Just each other: our minds, our collective life expe- strength and courage to speak our truths in words – and in riences shaping and informing our discernment of truth in practical deeds of love. our minds and hearts.

This is what our Unitarian forebears did. Some paid with For me there’s more. That something more is accepting their lives. So as individuals and as religious communities the possibility of the transcendent: that force, that myswe must surely find our ways to do that today. terious mind behind the Universe.

But in an age where truth gets buried, is ignored, goes We seek and discover tentative answers through the unheard because we are awash with opinions and slippery • • • • •

Continued on page 9 > Page 8 | Issue 8054 – 4 March 2023

Continued from page 8 >

claims, how to begin this discernment?

Here are my suggestions. As open-minded spiritual souls we are used to living the questions. Even if that state of unknowing is not always comfortable, we are willing to live with theological uncertainty, the messiness of multifaceted truths. That’s the trade-off we make for not being hidebound by creeds and dogmas.

And yet if we are to discern what our Unitarian attitude of mind is, our fresh way of looking at life and religion, we need a sound theological basis.

But it’s not just a general response to the question of speaking our truth in love and having the courage of our convictions. It calls us to look through a particular lens, to discern our response informed by our own experience, the Unitarian theological outlook we have chosen as our guiding light.

For me, the starting point is the possibility that we human beings and all sentient creatures are part of a transcendent mystery that we cannot fully know. We are born. We live. We die. We are tiny specks in a huge Cosmos. I can’t prove for certain there is a God – however we might understand that word.

But I do hold on to the possibility of a transcendent reality, that source of spiritual warmth in the Cosmos of which you and I are part. That source offers us encouragement and hope in times of darkness.

Like others, I find hope in the Unitarian Universalist Association Principles – for me they are deeply theologically grounded.

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person.

• Justice, equity, compassion in human relations.

• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

• The right of conscience and the democratic process.

• The goal of world community.

• Respect for the interdependent web of existence of which we are part.

Do these not express the true spirit of transcendence which we can surely all embrace as we construct our narratives of truth? Inspiring though these UUA Principles are, however, they require us to work them through every situation and context. Is there a more immediately accessible theological principle to help us when we need to be tough as well as tender?

There is one which embraces all seven Principles: the Golden Rule, the ethic at the heart of all true religion. Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.

As the 1st-century Rabbi Hillel observed, everything else

“It’s not always easy to stand up when we know in our hearts a thing isn’t right and say ‘enough’.” is ‘commentary’. But when we combine power, ego and differing perceptions of truth it gets more complex. Our human instincts are to lash out when we are hurting, snipe back at that cutting remark targeted at us. Ego takes over.

We want to win the argument, domestic, political, theological. So what more do we need to help us on our way to speaking our truth with conviction and in love?

Two things for me: • Acknowledging how little we know.

• Relearning ways of dialogue in the spirit of what Plato called ‘communal meditation’ in order to ‘make a place’ for the other.

Ideals and practices worth nurturing – offering the possibility of tearing down walls, giving us ways of working with difference, challenging really fake news – not without anger, but with dignity and reverence. That’s the message I took away when I listened to Irene Monroe, a black, lesbian feminist minister in the US Episcopalian Church.

With humour and patience she finds the courage to reach beyond the discordant debate when she co-hosts her ‘All Revd Up’ podcast with a black male conservative Evangelical. (See; https://tinyurl.com/3w2nwehu) Together these ‘best of friends’ model ways to talk about their very different positions. They verbally wrestle as they attempt to reach the movable middle and avoid extremes.

‘The task’, Irene writes, (is to) ‘develop a theological language that speaks truth to our unique spirituality.’ It’s not always easy to stand up when we know in our hearts a thing isn’t right and say ‘enough’. But if we are truly a circle of seekers of reverence for life, truth and beauty we have to try – finding inspiration in prophets, sages, poets and each other. It’s from these connections – words inspiring courage, kindness and hope – that we begin to find our voices.

The vital work of the spirit still calls us. So let us ponder our truth and seek to find the courage to speak it – and the love to live it. It begins with love.

Michael Allured The Rev Michael Allured is minister of Golders Green Unitarian Church.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 9

Letters to the Editor Letter to government could have been better

Gavin Lloyd Member, Oxford Unitarians

To the Editor › On 16 January, I read an email circulated by the Unitarian General Assembly, inviting signatures to a letter on the subject of climate change and ‘the Erosion of the Fundamental Right to Protest’.

I was eager to read the letter and add my signature – until I read the contents – which to my mind needed heavy revision. I now note that the circulated letter was sent to the Prime Minister on 26 January, then published in your edition of 4 February, bearing four signatures including those of the Unitarian General Assembly president and chief officer. The second sentence of this letter read, ‘the conclusive evidence of scientists and environmentalists is too numerous to state’. The collective noun ‘evidence’ cannot be described in numbers! Why not use the adjective ‘cogent’? Or simply ‘the evidence of scientists and

environmentalists … is conclusive’?

I was not happy about the assertion in the letter that, ‘this government seems more interested in arresting climate change protesters’. What incidents or statements could have been specified in support?

Again I was unhappy about the leading question in the third paragraph, ‘How can it be right that protesters are imprisoned for urging the implementation of sensible environmental protection?’

The reasons for imprisonment are certainly not the ‘urgings’ of this kind but the breaches of specific legislation.

Then there follows the assertion that ‘social impact is precisely the point of protest’. True, but this of itself cannot justify interference by protesters with the ordinary rights of individuals such as going to work to earn a living in these difficult times, stocking up

‘Barmy bishop’ and compromise Margery MacKay Member, St Mark’s Unitarian Church, Edinburgh

I was interested to read Alan Ruston’s recent article (Inquirer, 18 February) on Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh. He has been well known to us in Edinburgh for many years and has spoken at St Mark’s Unitarian Church on a few occasions in the past. I love his philosophy of ‘Engaged Doubt’.

Perhaps it should be mentioned here that the Scottish Episcopal Church voted, in 2017 I think it was, to amend canon law on marriage.

The removal of the stipulation that marriage is between a man and a woman was carried by the Synod in Edinburgh. This meant that gay Christians from any Anglican Church could ask to be married in a Scottish Episcopal Church and marriages have subsequently taken place. Clergy who wish to officiate at gay marriages have to ‘opt-in’, which I think is a good solution. Of course not everyone in the Scottish Episcopal Church agrees with this but this compromise seems to work well.

at a food bank, emergencies, errands of mercy and health. Yes, the need for peaceful, orderly protest is vital, but protesters are not above the law; their rights are not superior to those of Joe Public. Abuse of the right of protest merely plays into the hands of oppressors and is the enemy of true democracy.

History shows that the best changes are brought about by diligent enquiry, education, research, publicity, open mindedness and enlightenment.

During Epiphany, especially, Unitarians should proclaim this, as does the title of this newspaper.

Would it not have been better for a letter expressing the legitimate concerns about the erosion of rights of protest to have come from our stalwart and hard-working Penal and Social Affairs Panel?

Inquirer letters policy: Letters should be succinct. It is preferable that they are sent by email to inquirer@ btinternet.com Typewritten or legible handwritten submissions may be sent to the editor at 46A Newmarket Road, Cringleford, Norwich NR4 6UF. Letters should be signed with the writer’s full name and, if applicable, the name of the group or congregation with which the writer is affiliated.

A postal address and telephone number are required, for verification purposes. Letters will be edited for length and content and may appear in an excerpted form. Any affiliations listed with letter writers’ names are for identification purposes only, and should not suggest the view expressed is representative of that body.

Love sometimes conquers all My liking for autobiographies takes me down some interesting avenues. I have enjoyed the occasional TV appearances of Dr John Cooper Clarke, popular performance poet and comedian, so picked up his memoirs, I Wanna Be Yours (2022). Alas there is very little of his poetry in it and little of his humour. He is articulate on his world-wide travels and performances at pop concerts. He name-drops hundreds of singers and groups, with detailed descriptions of the fashionable clothes they wear. Much attention is given to his drug addiction, disturbing to read. It has led him into various criminal activities, periods of poverty and paranoia and two near-death and resuscitation experiences. Fortunately, a happy marriage and family life came to the rescue. Love conquers all. *** The struggles in the Church of England over same sex weddings could, if I let them, make me feel smug. Several of our ministers openly carried out what were then called ‘gay union’ ceremonies 50 years ago, in our churches.

The C of E’s recent compromise, allowing their priests to bless civil same sex marriages afterwards in church, brought back a memory. In my earlier ministerial days, I often conducted weddings for divorcees who had been turned away by the parish priest, forbidden to perform re-marriages. The C of E then compromised and said that civil marriage of divorcees could be blessed in church afterwards. I recall the late Arthur Long, then tutor at Unitarian College Manchester, remarking, ‘If it is all right to bless such a ceremony after it has happened, why can’t it be blessed while it is happening?’ I wonder if that question has been put to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the present controversy. *** The recent, excellent TV series Happy Valley included a mention of Todmorden, when one police officer spoke excitedly of sightings of UFOs there. Another responded, saying it was ‘strange to think of aliens coming all that way through the galaxy and ending up in Todmorden.’ The wry response to that was, ‘Well, I suppose they’ve got to end up somewhere.’

Weddings are still taking place in Todmorden Unitarian Church despite it no longer having a congregation. The website provides a list of charges and facilities. Weddings start at £1500, plus some extras including the ringing of its set of bells (£200). How busy the church is for such occasions I don’t know, but the website shows that the 3 Valleys Gospel Choir loves to rehearse there weekly.

During Covid they rehearsed by Zoom. How on earth did they do that, I wonder? They are now back in the church. ‘It’s an amazing building with great acoustics and a joy to sing in!’ says the choir co-chairperson. I assume

FUNNY OLD WORLD

By John Midgley

that they sing gospel music because they love it, rather than in an attempt to promote evangelical Christianity, though I wonder what the spirits of the church’s dissenting Unitarian founders think when they hear it. *** It’s good to learn that the Winter Walking Weekends at the Nightingale Centre at Great Hucklow are continuing and are well subscribed. These began back in 1986, when the late David Dawson was chair of the management committee. They have continued ever since, missing only one year because of Covid, attracting both regular stalwarts and newcomers. Led nowadays by Cathy Masztalerz, there are usually two weekends planned, one of them family oriented. This includes walks and activities with children in mind. A selection of walks is always planned, for varying energy levels. Walkers enjoy Nightingale Centre hospitality, the clean air and Derbyshire countryside, lovely even in winter. The evenings offer fellowship and fun. Watch out for the dates of next year’s walks and book via the manager. *** As memoirs go, much more congenial is Back in the Day (2022), from broadcaster, journalist, writer, presenter, interviewer, commentator, novelist, screenwriter and parliamentarian, Melvyn Bragg, Lord Bragg of Wigton in Cumbria. After years in the world of the media and now a member of the House of Lords, he retains a deep affection for Wigton and a second home there. He describes his upbringing and the town itself, wandering every street, shop, school, place of worship. He remembers all the neighbours plus the characters who frequented the Black-a-Moor Hotel, the pub of which his father was tenant manager. (Should they change this name?)

When Melvyn’s mother reached the age of 90, he arranged a celebration lunch at a Lake District hotel and prepared a speech. Mother did not welcome this. ‘She hated show and hated being picked out. But she was 90.

About two sentences in I caught her gaze, straight on me, hard. But I had to go on. After about six sentences she turned to her best friend and said, very clearly so that it seemed to ring around the crystal air and reach across the valley, “I always wanted a girl.” I proposed the toast and sat down.’ www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Where is the God of Love?

I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. (Isaiah 45: 6-7) I am all-powerful Time which destroys all things. (Bhagavad Gita 11: 32) Wherever you be, death will overtake you: though you put yourselves in lofty towers. (Qur’an 4:78) In the face of earthquake, wind and fire, the disasters we call ‘natural’, we turn to prayers of desperation, prayers for deliverance.

Is there ever an answer?

It sometimes seems so, and we call it a miracle.

But such miracles are all too few.

So where is God in the midst of disaster?

Where is the God of love?

Within nature? In the vast and empty void, insouciant and unfeeling?

It hardly seems so.

But there is a strange and wonderful potential in the Great Mystery.

We see it revealed in humanity as love and courage, compassion and wisdom, mercy and integrity…

It is where we find and recognise Divine Love, the transcendent spiritual reality that redeems our weak humanity and our cold, indifferent universe.

God is not the Deus Ex Machina , emerging from nowhere to stop the earth from shaking, the towers from falling, the disasters from happening.

That is not what God is.

God is in the people, not above them.

God is in the rescuers, the relief workers, the medics, the selfless volunteers, the men and women digging in the rubble with their bare hands…

And God is in the generosity and heartfelt sympathy of people far away, doing, giving what they can. God is in the true miracle of human goodwill. This is where prayers are answered and God is made flesh.

The love of God acts in the loving deeds of humanity.

The voice of God speaks in the call of conscience, the call to care.

And it speaks against the weakness that is human corruption and dishonesty, meanness and selfishness, ignorance and folly…: the evils which make a natural disaster so much worse.

Where is God when disaster strikes?

Within human hearts that love their neighbours wherever they may be.

May our hearts be among them.

Cliff Reed Shown above: Syrian Arab Red Cross photo of workers on the scene of the Earthquake in Latakia. See a Red Cross Appeal on page 2.