Curate Conundrums

There is sometimes a strange wisdom in children and young people. I’m bot saying they’re always right, or wise. Often they do things that make no sense, and those of us with a bit more experience know aren’t going to work, but often they come out with things that are so wise it can take your breath away, and you pause and say. Wow, yes you’re right. There was a thread on Twitter recently about young children naming everyday things with alternative names, and there’s a strange wisdom in what they call things, some of them are hilarious. Here’s some genuine examples. Crow becomes a ‘Halloween Eagle.’   A Rhino is a “Battle Unicorn.” Gloves are “Hand socks.” Earmuffs are “snow headphones.” A Harmonica is a “cowboy trumpet.” I think there’s a genuine wisdom in these names, a practically   based wisdom, I think we should let five year olds name more things. These names aren’t wrong really are they? They’re just looking at things from a different perspective to the rest of us

I’ve been watching on Netflix a show called ‘F is for Family.’ It’s a cartoon comedy set in the early 1970’s and revolves around the lives of Frank and Sue Murphy and their three children Kevin, Bill and Maureen.   Of all the characters Bill, he’s 11 years old, quite shy, physically weak and is characterised as being a bit of a ‘wet blanket’, I won’t use the word they use to describe him in church, but it’s another word for a cat. Bill is by the standards of the early 1970’s not a proper boy, he doesn’t stand up to people, he’s no good in a fight. He gets picked on by a much bigger boy. Due to a series of unfortunate events, and Bill’s innocence and lack of support he’s lead to a point where he thinks why bother being good? What’s the point, all of the bad things happened to him despite being good. Because of this lack of support, it leads him down a deeper and worse path, he starts to steal things, and ends up in a mess all of his own doing. All because he was to

Lost sometimes amongst the twinkling lights of this festive time of year is the season of Advent. A season when the church traditionally looks at meaty subjects such as heaven and hell, the eschaton (that’s the last things to me and you) and the judgement. As human beings the thought of eternity scares us. Some of us have probably got some idea of what eternity is like, if you’ve ever been to deanery synod for example. That seems to go on for an eternity. I joke of course. The theme I’d like to explore with you today is just that, the theme of judgement. Judgement often brings about a sort of, hand wringing embarrassment in some Christian circles. The judgement has been used as a tool to control people for centuries. Before the Reformation English Churches, like this very one would’ve been covered in pictures for the illiterate to see. Many would’ve contained gruesome images of what awaited those who didn’t believe the right stuff after death, or even worse, those who d