iGod

Friend or Foe?

The Irish poet WB Yeats once said, “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met yet.”

We might have come along way from the appalling signs of guest-houses that once read, “No Irish, no blacks, no dogs” but the question of immigration still remains a lively topic and continues to potentially derail any carefully planned dinner party. So how keen are we to welcome strangers to our shore? It’s a debate that will only heat up more as the country prepares for a referendum over Europe.

With the large exodus of displaced people fleeing from Islamic extremism only expected to grow, if not double in size, it feels like we are a nation struggling to come to terms with our conscience as much as our identity.

I heard one well-known Church of England clergyman suggest that the most Christian thing to do is to let every single immigrant in. I have heard another say we must preserve our Christian/British heritage and keep them out.

Then I hear of Iranian Muslims pretending to be Christian converts because they hear that is how to get asylum in the UK. That might a have a few of us up in arms, but then I wonder if it is any different to families pretending to be church-goers to get their children into local Church schools.

Jesus tells the lawyers around him that if they want to inherit ‘eternal life’ they are going to have to love God with everything and, just as importantly, love their neighbours as themselves. That includes loving strangers. Jesus then goes on to tell ‘the Parable of the Good Samaritan’. First century Jews treated the Samaritans with suspicion, not least because they did not share the same religious and cultural values as themselves. Yet, it was the kindness of the Samaritan, which left Jesus’ listeners most challenged. Their own countryman, who is left for dead, is found and cared for by the stranger, using his own money to make the man well.

Recently I heard how the Church in Kenya paid tribute to a Muslim man, Salah Sabdow Farah, who died helping save the lives of Christians. Mr Farah was on a bus in Mandera, north-eastern Kenya, when Islamist militants belonging to al-Shabaab stopped the vehicle and demanded that the Christians be separated from the Muslims.

Mr Farah, a teacher and father of five, was shot as he stood alongside other Muslims who had refused to be separated from the Christians. Two died in the immediate attack and Mr Farah was wounded, but he died later during emergency surgery.

The stories of ‘The Good Samaritan’ and ‘The Good Muslim’ challenge me to the core to see all strangers as ‘friends I haven’t met yet’.

We have a saying at our church: “Come as you are!” In other words, be yourself and we’ll do our best not to judge you. We are not saying don’t change, but the first step of friendship surely is accepting each other, even when our differences make us feel uncomfortable.

ASD

The beauty of blind faith

On the evening of 1^st February, 1924, the New York Syphony Orchestra played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Carnegie Hall in New York. The performance was broadcast live on the radio. A couple of days later, the orchestra received a letter of thanks from a lady called Helen Keller:

“Dear Friends, I have the joy of being able to tell you that, though deaf and blind, I spent a glorious hour last night listening to Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony."  I do not mean to say that I "heard" the music in the sense that other people heard it; and I do not know whether I can make you understand how it was possible for me to derive pleasure from the symphony.  It was a great surprise to myself.

“Last night someone suggested that I put my hand on the receiver and see if I could get any of the vibrations. They unscrewed the cap, and I lightly touched the sensitive diaphragm.

“To my amazement, I discovered that I could feel not only the vibrations, but also the impassioned rhythm, the throb and the urge of the music! The intertwined and intermingling vibrations from different instruments enchanted me. I could actually distinguish the cornets, the roll of the drums, deep-toned violas and violins singing in exquisite unison.

“When the human voice leaped up trilling from the surge of harmony, I recognised them instantly as voices. I felt the chorus grow more exultant, more ecstatic, upcurving swift and flame-like, until my heart almost stood still.

“Of course, this was not "hearing" but I do know that the tones and harmonies conveyed to me moods of great beauty and majesty. I also sensed, or thought I did, the tender sounds of nature that sing into my hand—swaying reeds and winds and the murmur of streams.”

She concludes, “As I listened, with darkness and melody, shadow and sound filling all the room, I could not help remembering that [Beethoven] who poured forth such a flood of sweetness into the world was deaf like myself.”

Helen Keller went on to become a great activist for people with disabilities and, in the process, she had experienced an unexpected and profound revelation of beauty and creation. It is hard for me to describe the experience of God, but this I can tell you, he far transcends the best rational explanation I could possibly give.

The philosopher Wittgenstein once poured a cup of freshly ground coffee and asked his students to describe the smell. When they failed Wittgenstein said, in effect: “If we haven’t got words to describe the smell of coffee which we can hold in a cup in our hands, how can we think we have the words adequately to describe God?”

Jesus often chose to speak to the crowds with stories (parables). He recognised people’s limitation to grasp a revelation of who he was and what he was about. He said on one occasion, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. Even when presented with all the facts it was not enough to convince some people.

When appearing to his disciples after his resurrection, Jesus praised the many would believed in him even though they did not see the physical proof. Jesus told Thomas, the one who doubted, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Maybe we are one of those who blindly believes. We may not go to church and may have issues with some aspects of religion, but something deep inside of us recognises God’s existence. My advice to you is to pursue that belief and just see where it takes you.

ASD

Foodbanks - a welcome addition to the festive season

Dr Eve Poole, associate faculty at Ashridge Business School, writes for EA's Friday Night Theology on the value of foodbanks and makes a strong case to go shop for families and individuals in crisis at Christmas.

Often we have to explain that our Storehouse, a Vineyard church initiative inspired by Ann Watson (wife of the late David Watson), is not a homeless programme, but a hard-pressed programme. For whatever reason people fall on tough times. We feel strongly that ours is not to judge, but to show mercy.

Eve Poole cites that "fewer than 5 per cent of those who use foodbanks are homeless. Most of them are ordinary families with cashflow problems from rising bills, spiralling debt, or delayed benefit payments. Many are suffering from unexpected sickness, bereavement, or unemployment."

As our own church prepares for its second weekend at Waitrose, I would recommend having a quick read of Eve's article and letting the stats soak in.

Meanwhile, if you are not near Sudbury Suffolk, there are plenty of other foodbanks around, not least those that are franchised through the Trussell Trust, so why not get involved?

Let's go serve somebody!

ASD

 

Storehouse – offering more than a can of food

A number of years ago I fell for this girl. She was beautiful, bright and played the cello, but she also had something else that made her attractive, well at least to me. It was an unselfish desire to do something for others in desperate need.

I don’t mean simply giving money to an appeal that comes through the front door or handing in half-worn out clothes to a charity shop, but actively doing something.

And that was how I got involved.  She and I became part of an ambitious homeless project called the King’s Table, which was started by a couple of London Vineyard churches to provide food and clothing to the down-and-outs in central London.

After a church service cars loaded up with large vats of hot food, along with a rusty white transit van full of boxes and clothing rails crammed full of donated items, left for the Embankment, off the Strand. We spent two hours giving away the stuff, as well as befriending and praying for people’s needs.

On my first visit I was staggered to find a queue of over 100 people waiting. Quite honestly, I felt more than just a little out of my comfort zone.

The team leader of The King’s Table, gave me a simple, idiot-proof task. “Andrew, can you collect the ticket numbers? They need to hand them in before they can get food. Got it?”

Got it! What could be simpler? However, it was not long before there was “an incident”. A young man came up with a friend and said, “My mate ‘as just been stabbed, Whatcha gonna do about it? The bloke who done it is over there.” He duly pointed to this moody older man to make his unequivocal point. I really wish he hadn’t.

As I looked down I saw a dirty, shaking hand clutching a wound through a blood-soaked t-shirt. I stole a glance to the older man just an uncomfortable 30 yards away.

“Well, what are you going to do about it?” The lad now glaring at me awaiting a firm and resolute response.

“Do about it? Mate, I just collect the tickets!” Actually, I just thought that.

Eventually I muttered something utterly pathetic. “Oh dear, that does look bad. Dear oh dear. Goodness! I, er, well, goodness!” I caught the eye of one of the team. I must have had a look of abject desperation and uselessness because he rushed across and immediately stepped in. The boy was mercifully taken away to safety by an ambulance and the older man arrested. I heard later that he made a full recovery.

It’s not easy reaching out to people with extreme needs. Often they are the unlovable and undoubtedly some of us are emotionally equipped to help more than others. However, for the Christian it is part of what we are called to do, to show the same compassion of Christ. In fact, Jesus talked about how the poor will always be with us, so it demands a compassionate human response.

Homelessness often comes with mental illness and gut-wrenching stories of broken families, sexual abuse and bullying. Sadly for some drug abuse and alcohol problems are never far behind. For me, that first day with the King’s Table changed me forever. My heart was simply broken.

It is one of the reasons I was keen that Stour Valley Vineyard Church made the value of compassion a central part of its local vision.

Our social programme, Storehouse, has now been going for five years. We have provided hundreds of food bags to those in direst need. They include items such as, pasta, rice, cereal, tinned vegetables and meat, tea, UHT milk, as well as essential toiletries. These are then thoughtfully put together to suit maybe a single mum and their baby, or a teenager who is “sofa-surfing” or someone sleeping rough in a tent. It comes with no judgment or strings attached, just a lot of love.  

On Sunday mornings at the Delphi Centre food and household items appear at our Storehouse collection point from members of our church, along with valuable midweek donations from a couple of other local partners.

But it is one thing to give a hand out and another to give a hand up. We have recently assisted someone with a background of drug addiction and prison to move on to start a degree and a new life for himself. Something he could never have imagined once upon a time. 

We also provide a free three-week Money Management course for those who struggle with their finances and slip into debt. No-one at our church gets paid for doing this. It just comes with the satisfaction that today maybe someone’s life might have just got a little better.

The problem is the need is growing, which sadly reflects the national picture. And as the need grows we want to do more through Storehouse. If you are an organisation, church, school or individual we’d like to invite you to help. Could you support Storehouse with a financial gift or donate a couple of cans a week? If so, why not drop a line to our team or ring 07973 710905.

By the way, I married the girl. And grateful I am too.

ASD

Stour Valley Vineyard is a contemporary church with traditional beliefs. It meets on Sundays 10.30 am at the Delphi Centre, Newton Road, Sudbury (apart from the first Sunday of the month).

'Red Rev' Giles Fraser?

Just reflecting about the resigination of the Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, Rev Dr Giles Fraser. While left-leaning The Guardian fetes the man, I hear, maybe not surprisingly, the Daily Telegraph takes another view.

Whatever side you take, he typifies the need for the Christian to speak up and get involved in politics and injustice, even when it doesn't always make you universally popular with your own peers.

US Christian activist Shane Clairborne says:

"Theologian Karl Barth said, 'We have to read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other.' For too long we Christians have used our faith as a ticket out of this world rather than fuel to engage it.

"In his parables, Jesus wasn’t offering pie-in-the-sky theology… he was talking about the real stuff of earth. He talks about wages, debt, widows and orphans, unjust business owners and bad politicians. In fact Woody Guthrie breaks it all down in his song “Jesus Christ.” The song ends with Woody singing, “This song was written in New York City. If Jesus were to preach what he preached in Galilee, they would lay him in his grave again.”

"The more I read the Gospels, the more they seem to confront the very patterns of the world we live in. At one point Mary, pregnant with Jesus cries out: “God casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly… God fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty…”. You can’t help but think if she were alive in contemporary America some folks would try to accuse the Virgin Mother of being Marxist or promoting class warfare. But all through Scripture we see this–over 2000 verses about how God cares for the poor and most vulnerable.

"What would Jesus say about Wall Street?"

 What would Jesus say about the Square MIle?

Would he be for locking up St Paul's Catherdral or for an open air church service?

The thing I am taking away is that if we want our message to be heard we have to first hear what culture is saying. This is not so much about wanting to sound populist like a politician, but to help us avoid sounding pompous like an old fogey.

May God grant us wisdom and courage in these times!

ASD

What are you doing for Hallowe’en?

I am conscious at this time of year there can be some embarrassed coughs over the mention of Hallowe’en parties. As a pastor I have parents coming up to me in church and other places asking what they should do when their child gets invited to a Hallowe’en event. These are not necessarily all Christians either. Whether we have faith or not, there is a lot of squirming and sighing around the 31^st October.

Other people ask me questions like is it really all that bad? After all, what’s wrong with a bit of dressing up and fake blood? Aren’t Christians just getting a little bit anal about the whole thing? Is Satan really waiting around the corner to pounce on our children as they put on their plastic skull mask and latex severed fingers?

Here’s my take.

The thing I find most abhorrent is not the direct allusions to the darkness of horror, although they do concern me greatly, but the way manufacturers and supermarkets prey on the vulnerable with their vast array of related products. It is unrelenting.

Already poor, struggling parents are creaking under the social pressure to keep up with the ‘haves’ with supplying their darlings with DS Ninetedos, Wii, iPods etc, along with all the other seasonal gift occasions of the year. Then the Hallowe’en train comes to town with its expensive Scream masks, flimsy ghoul costumes and devilish chocolate products. Asda alone is expecting to make £280m from the event.

Most of us know that this growing annual event has come from the States, but do we really want to become as obsessed as the Americans with it?  I have lost count on how many US vampire films and TV programmes have been made in the last few years, but that seems to be an ever-growing genre.

Am I simply being a killjoy or could it possibly have an unhealthy underside to it all?

I recently read in one newspaper how grown adults in the UK will be dressing up and pretending to be zombies on the streets in some cities in mock battles to mark the occasion.

Maybe these people have too much time on their hands, but you can’t help but be a little concerned at the level of involvement in this year’s Hallowe’en.

To question the fun, light-hearted spirit of Halloween may get you labeled as an earnest bore who is quietly tiptoed around in the school playground, but you know what? I’ve stopped caring.

I wonder why we have become so accepting of this American import. Fireworks Night was seen as our main thing, but it feels like it is being usurped by Fright Nights instead.

Now I have no doubt there is some fun dressing up in a white sheet going wooo-oooo, but when the sheet is replaced with a mutilated corpse carrying a plastic axe and going ‘Aaaaaagh!’ enough is enough surely?

Then there is the dreadful trick or treating. (sorry I am on a roll!) Is it really okay to knock on a random stranger’s door at night trick or treating? You know what, it really does scare elderly residents and very young children. It is only fun if you are in on the joke.

Besides, I bet their parents are probably the ones who take offence when in the daytime the JWs come knocking. Intrusion is intrusion, but at night even more so, especially when opening up the door to a pack of menacing children.

The Church of England in one of its more thoughtful outspoken moments said recently: “Halloween trivialises evil”. I think it needs to be said loudly and clearly. Hallowe’en sucks as much as a ravenous vampire.

A writer in the Times said last year they saw a Jack the Ripper Hallowe’en costume on sale for £10.99. They commented: “They are still available online this year, with an adorable accessory kit of “doctor’s bag and bloody knife” — a nod to Jack’s penchant for draping women’s reproductive organs around their necks. Well, if you can’t have a giggle over serial killers, what’s the world coming to?”

So, harmless fun or a bad tasteless joke?

The most disturbing side to this all is that we are becoming desensitised to what is good or bad. The lines are blurred with our response being everything is acceptable in moderation. The trouble is Halloween is not moderate, just plain OTT…and annoying.

Of course the Church will not be listened to. Not with the current hostility of Humanist groups and celebrity New Atheists holding centre stage.

My fear is though when faith groups and the odd humourist writer in a quality newspaper stop putting up an opposite view I wonder what happens next. History is not littered with great examples when faith views are excluded.

For me personally, the real evil is in the exploitation of vulnerable people whose lives are already just about held together with duct tape and string.

It is easy to see Halloween as a fun distraction, but ‘evil’ doesn’t not always come with cloven feet, pointy tale, goatie beard and a trident, it is much more subtle and seductive, like consumerism and capital greed.

The alternative is to offer something inclusive and non-consumerist. Christians celebrate God’s Light coming into the world to expose the darkness, but it needs a little imagination to see what that practically looks like.

One thing I know it isn’t is preaching to young children that they are going to hell. Maybe a better place to start is to stand up to injustice and the exploitation of the weak in times of financial pressure and much uncertainty.

Last year a Rector in County Durham urged people to boycott Hallowe’en, as many children already live hard lives and “there is enough darkness and evil to be going on with”. Hallelujah to that.

ASD

Sweeping change

Well, what an interesting time we are having as a nation. If you are from the US looking in you may well be wondering what on earth had gone on or for that matter gone wrong. 

This week I spent time with two financial guys. One whose business it is to advise the football world on buying and selling clubs and the other to advise normal people, like me, how best to invest their hard earned money to aim for a half decent retirement, among other things. The latter tells me that he has seen 20% of value has been wiped off the Footsie 100 in less than two months. Not a good time if you are looking to cash in your pension. It is something, as we have seen Stateside, that politicans seem unable to influence or affect the outcome.

And if that is not enough we have had the erruptions on the streets of our beloved country. After the peaceful demonstration over the death of Mark Duggan last weekend the term rioters has been quickly replaced with Looters. Yet, some politicians such as the Mayor of London tell us that Britian is not broken. At this point that remark feels very English and stiff-upper lipped. Others might say it is just sheer denial.

Social network platforms such as Twitter and Blackberry Messenger Service have been criticised for fanning the flames of angst-ridden teenagers. But actually, surprisingly, I have come out in support of Twitter and other social platforms. As much as they have been used for bad they have also been redeemed for good.

The community has struck back - with a broom in its hand. It has drawn communities together, black, white, young and old, not seen for a long time. Now no communtiy leader or church leaders seems to know exactly what the Conservatives mean by 'The Big Society', but something has happened without too much involvement from the politicians themselves. This, perhaps, could be described as a great example of their philosophy. Dunno.

A friend of mine who runs a young peoples' charity in South East London is plain exhausted with the constant round of meetings with police, politicians and local organisations, but as a Christian leader in the community he has been encouraging supporters to do acts of kindness.

For instance, I heard how one police station in SouthEast London had had delivered to them a load of cookies to their exhausted and emotionally tired officers. With all the recent bashing the police got from politicans the public alternatively has shown their solidarity with their local bobbies. I cannot stress that these expressions of love are equally important as any rushed through law or government initiative.

if you are near a police station that has been on the frontline, maybe this is something that your church could organise to do.

The church, at its best, shows compassion through practical outward signs of invisible grace. For as James said, "faith without works is dead." We stand with all, we cry with all, we shout justice for all. This is God's love in action.

This is the outward-focused church at is best. It is not idle, a talking shop, inward-looking or obsessed with evangelism programmes or simply going deeper with God with discipleship courses. It is loving, generous, kind and sacrifical. It loves without terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, on a more mundane note, our church is about to own a football team, but not sure we will be using the services of my city banker friend. Apparently there is no money in it for him. Ah well, that's the fickle world of football.

ASD

 

 

 

 

Christians volunteer more than others - Survey

In the spirit of, you could say, the Big Society, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have pulled together some interesting statistics on volunteering. They show how Christians consistently volunteer more than others.

The data is based on opinion polling, and although the question wasn't asked in 2009, it is clear that every year it has been asked for the past six years Christians shown higher levels of volunteering that others.

BRIN point out that this is in line with other studies, including the British Social Attitudes Survey and the Citizenship Survey.

It has been mooted that perhaps part of the reason why Christian motivation is figure high is because the [traditional] Church has a greying older demographic, which therefore tends to be more community-spirited per se.

Undoubtedly there is more than an element of truth that when you retire you will have more time to volunteer than someone bringing up a young family, working all hours under the sun to provide for them. However, I want to throw some doubt over that conclusion.

In my own tribe, the Vineyard movement, our demographic is much younger, which inevitably has to do with being a young movement. Yet I have to say almost all of our regulars are involved in a voluntary ministry in church life, which, if you think about it is pretty impressive. Well, I am impressed!

This is because we see volunteering as 'serving', as it falls out of our relational worship with God. Our giving of our time is an important and central manifestation of our sacrificial offering to God. It is an act of thanksgiving. It is so much more more than being community-spirited. In short, the two are inseparable in the Kingdom of God. 

Deut 4:6 says that emphatically that we are to love God and love others. Volunteering is a outward response to an invisible grace.

Therefore, as it is impossible to separate serving the community to serving the Lord, maybe we should argue more confidently that our motivation has more going for it than merely being down to an ageing benevolent congregation.

ASD

 

A muslim cleric's view of persecuted Christians and the UK Church

I heard last weekend about an interview on a radio station with Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini, founder of Scripture Reasoning and Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Leo Beck Rabbinical College, has said that the ‘church hierarchy’ in the UK is to blame for Christian persecution around the world because it ‘simply doesn’t care’ and only offers a ‘whimper’ in response to incidents:

The one thing we Muslims can absolutely rely upon is that whereas the tiniest thing kicks off in Gaza or the West Bank and there are protests in Muslim cities all the way from Jakarta to Timbuktu, in the case of persecuted Christian minorities—horrendous machete attacks take place in Nigeria, Christians in Iraq are burned out of their houses, Christians in Pakistan are stoned or attacked on the slightest pretext, Christians in Palestine suffer under Israeli occupation—in all cases what we will hear is just a whimper.

Interestingly and, perhaps, surprisingly, he calls upon the Church to be a voice for justice for persecuted minorities, which he claims would speak ‘into the heart of the Muslim community.

He saves a lot of his criticism for the established church in this country, which he says is more concerned with social position and power than fighting the injustices on behalf of the poor in other parts of the world.  If it was, it would be a faith worth listening to.

Although, there is perhaps some truth in the cleric’s words, maybe we should remember that this is not an excuse for bringing daily misery to the lives of thousands normal Christians who are just trying to survive as a minority in a religiously hostile environment. But an interesting and useful perspective all the same.

ASD

Living in a growing culture of distrust

Is society broken? Now there’s a question.

It is something that I have asked myself repeatedly this weekend when reading the newspapers. Here are three quick cases in point.

Firstly, just down the road, not far from where I live, in Great Tey, Colchester, I heard how a dinner lady has been suspended for telling a bullied child’s parents what was happening to her at school. Apparently, the school was not amused that confidence had been being breached. However, friends, neighbours and fellow parents have rallied around this popular woman in an act of community-led solidarity.  

Secondly, I read earlier in the week in another part of Essex how a boy aged just nine was allegedly accused of racism for making the gun shape with his fingers towards a friend during a lesson. After a conversation with the deputy head he went home to ask his parents what racism was.

From what I understand the child was simply playing a game, but because the other boy was Polish it was seen as more sinister.  Hmm!  

Thirdly, I hear that school teachers can no longer apply a plaster or antiseptic cream to a cut or graze. Instead they give a child a damp cloth to put on it. At the end of the day the teacher has to ask each child if they have been hurt at all and then write it up to report back to each parent. Of course, at 5 years old children see this is as a game, not an exercise in health and safety.

All this leads me, and probably you, to think what is happening to our society. It seems to be equally gripped by fear and good intentions. It is not hard to see how stories like these breed distrust while earnestly no doubt trying to protect the vulnerable. Of course, there are always two sides to a story and I suspect the teachers have been misrepresented along the way for just trying to do their jobs.

There is undoubtedly an element of good in the original thinking, but I am concerned by the increasing reaction by some who should, perhaps, rediscover the merit of giving the benefit of the doubt. Now that’s a phrase that isn’t heard too much nowadays, is it?

In the school playground, in the workplace and among neighbours our society is being taught to become suspicious of others. Nothing is to be taken as innocent anymore. Not a great place to build good relationships from.

It has been my experience that even when you have known someone for a long length of time they can still think the worse of you. Is it something you have done?  No. The problem often lies with the insecurity that has been exploited in us. They have been taught not to trust, to think the worse, because that is how you survive. How sad.

Remember Jesus’ words: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind”?

I find our Lord’s words becoming increasingly relevant these days. Trust has become an unreliable word. Church leaders aren’t trusted. Doctors aren’t trusted. Police aren’t trusted. Politicians definitely aren’t trusted.

The notion of trust needs to be redeemed. It is a central tenet in Christian thought and is part of the common Christian experience. We should not underestimate how trusting someone empowers them and gives confidence. Not least helps them be fulfilled as adults. With trust comes responsibility. Surely that is no bad thing.

If ever the church can find space to stand out for something in these insecure and fearful times it is by living out a culture of trust in church life.  Of course, this will mean from time-to-time people will take advantage of us, but that is part of the cost of vulnerability. We have to be willing to be fools for Christ for people to see the wisdom of his words.

Meantime, in our church we will do our government-required CRB checks. We will do our best to practice grace to all; acceptance of all. We want to live by the Christ-like principle of giving people the benefit of the doubt, not thinking the worse.  

And just for the record, the teachers in my kids’ schools do a wonderful job.  They have my trust. Furthermore, if one of them broke the ranks and stuck a plaster on my child’s graze they would not be hearing from my solicitor, but probably my wife, along with a letter of indebted thanks.

ASD