Comment (October 2009)
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Bishop’s Letter
with Bishop Martin Wharton
A little while ago someone gave me a book on improving the efficiency of one’s life style. I think they were trying to tell me something. The first chapter was devoted to “Clearing the Clutter” and I confess that I didn’t get past the first few pages.
“Clearing the Clutter” is what Bishop Paul will be doing over the next few weeks as he prepares for his move to London and his forthcoming retirement. His Farewell Service will be at 6.00p.m. on Sunday 25th October, at the Cathedral. I hope we will be joined by the clergy and people of the parishes of the Diocese to offer our gratitude to God for Bishop Paul’s ministry amongst us over the last eleven years. All are welcome. No tickets are required.
Thinking about “clutter” I am becoming more aware of how, not just my house, my office and my garage, but my whole life has through the years become overloaded with it. Not only have I probably amassed too many possessions, too much paper certainly, but there may also have been too much activity – far too much of the Martha, and not enough of the Mary.
The approaching years is a gruelling reminder of this. And my battle with clutter brings home the fact that the whole pattern of our lives should involve a readiness more and more to let go of what is not essential. Life inevitably reduces us in the fullness of time to the essential simplicity of children. One day we shall have to let go of everything…
In good times we are reminded of the folly of building barns and clinging on to material benefits that in the end don’t matter. If in our earlier years we are challenged to live life to the full, gradually as time goes by we become clearer about the ultimate value of emptying ourselves and being content with the only thing that is necessary.
Whilst this is a personal challenge, I also become more conscious of how the Church over the centuries has to learn a similar lesson. It’s a tantalising thought to consider how the twelve apostles would fit into the rather cluttered life of the modern church. This isn’t to devalue the importance of this growth of tradition, but at least to challenge us to always keep in mind what is truly basic.
When I was a member of the staff of a theological college, training further priests, I remember an old parish priest telling me “You know, I spent years learning the answers to all sorts of complicated questions and for forty years now I have been looking for someone with the questions to which I have the answers.”
The prayer of St. Richard of Chichester reminds us that the touchstone for each of us in evaluating our own lives as well as the church’s teaching and practice is simply: “May we know you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly day by day.”
A simple, but necessary step in creating a better world for ourselves and for others, is for each of us to tackle the clutter which all too easily encumbers us. And there’s no better time to start than today.
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Prisons and punishment – a problem for us all
by Diane Packham, former Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne
“You haven’t been for two month!”
This comment from a young man at Castington Young Offenders Institute (YOI) some years ago has long stayed in my memory. It brought home to me how important social contacts were for young men in prison. This happened during a visit to Castington with members from churches in Jesmond. After joining in a service we would talk to them afterwards. I could not attend every month and regretfully had to discontinue visiting Castington. In this context the young men seemed very much like many others. They obviously appreciated a bit of mothering, though I doubt whether any of them would have owned up to that.
I next went to Castington at the beginning of 2007 when I was Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne. I had wanted to do something for the three centres of higher education in my year of office. Newcastle College is responsible for the educational provision at Castington, The college wanted a reception at the Mansion House to showcase the achievements of their students in the hope of persuading local firms to employ the young men after their release.
Consequently I was given a privileged visit to the education facilities at Castington. The Y.O.I. world had changed since my previous contact. Then the prison population could be categorised as male, young, and school failures from broken homes. Nowadays it seems that the population is more mixed with offenders being drawn from a wider range of backgrounds and overall having a much higher level of educational attainment. This change is attributed to drugs.
However, I was surprised when I went into a cookery room where the boys were eating together. Their teacher commented that the lesson provided a good opportunity for the boys to have a meal together. Seemingly at that time the boys would collect their meal and take it to eat in their cells. I was rather shocked at this. Sharing a meal is the cornerstone of family and any kind of shared, communal life. To deprive young people of such a basic form of human interaction seemed a great loss and not conducive to civilising them and making them sociable beings.
Of course I do not know how extensive the practice was in the Y.O.I - whether it was temporary and caused by staff shortages or part of the management strategy for dealing with potentially very difficult, even dangerous, young men. The treatment of prisoners - particularly young people - often features in the press. The prison population has soared to its highest level yet. There will inevitably be problems with resources keeping up with demands. However, the problem of punishment for young offenders is not just for prison managers but something for us all to solve.
I remember from my teacher training days at the Institute of Education in London Professor R.S. Peters brilliantly describing what the concept of punishment entailed: namely, it should be a deterrent, retributive and reformative. The mind of the general public, if the popular press is any sort of guide, seems to be strong on the first two elements but less so on the third. Prison must not be just about taking young men out of circulation so that they stop offending and harming other people and themselves in the process. It must be the start of an improved and better way of life so that young offenders can learn to treat themselves and others with respect.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Dame Anne Owers, has had some trenchant words to say on the conditions in our prisons for young offenders. As part of the Northumbria University Annual Public Lecture Series, she is to give a lecture entitled: “Young People in Prison: what should be done?” on Wednesday 14th October. The lecture will take place on the ground floor of the Newcastle Business School/School of Law on the splendid new City Campus East near Manors Metro Station, starting at 6.00 p.m. Dame Anne will speak for around 45 minutes and her lecture will be followed by a question and answer session. The University will provide refreshments after the lecture so that there will be an opportunity for people to meet and talk with the Chief Inspector informally.
This lecture is partially supported by funding from the Lord Mayor’s Centenary Appeal, which I ran during my term of office. The use of the Centenary Appeal funds came out of discussions at St Nicholas Cathedral on the Year of the Child and the need for anti-violence work. Given this context it is very good that the Dean, the Very Revd. Christopher Dalliston will be replying to the lecture and thanking Dame Anne. The lecture is the first of three about children and young people, which are being supported by the Dean and Cathedral. The other two will take place at the Cathedral on 21st and 5th November and will focus on the vision of childhood in the writings of Thomas Traherne and the spiritual dimension of a good childhood.
If you would like to attend the lecture by Dame Anne Owers, please reserve a place by e-mailing pr.events@northumbria.ac.uk or telephoning (0191) 227 3025.
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Older people, mental health and chaplaincy
by Brian Allen
I have been a full time mental health chaplain for twenty one years having previously been a parish priest and higher education chaplain. This now means that not only am I often the member of staff who has been around the longest but I am more often than not the oldest member of staff in the room!
I am beginning to find that some people, especially much younger shop assistants, are starting to talk to me in the way that I have noticed previously reserved for older customers.
My older brothers are a retired psychiatrist and former school teacher who retired early on grounds of ill health having lived with a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder for some years. We were all involved with our mother’s final journey which included travelling through the land of confusion and forgetfulness. The landscape of the personal and professional is indeed a thin place in which to dwell.
As an older man (well, at least I have a bus pass!) I read with some personal and professional interest Mind’s recent report on men’s mental health. This reminds us that although one in four older people have symptoms of depression, people over the age of 75 are 16 times less likely to be asked about suicidal thoughts than young adults. It also states the obvious in as much as when men get older they may need to adapt to significant life changes. Retirement can bring a new lease of life to some but for others the loss of a career can lead to a lack of purpose and reduced social interaction. If their partner dies, elderly men may suddenly find themselves in a position where they are the sole person in charge of running a household.
Bereavement or divorce and accompanying loneliness can also lead to depression. It is estimated that there are half a million older men living alone and that one in five people with an elderly father is not in contact with him (Office for National Statistics, 2008). Perhaps because of this isolation, the suicide risk in single, older men is three times greater than that of married men in the same age group. Apparently this pattern is not reproduced among older women. What Mind does not point out is the research which shows the benefit to mental health to older people who have some faith, either in their background formation or current practice.
The Christian Council on Ageing’s Dementia Group project work was carried out here in Newcastle and its fruits are well documented (see “Crucible” article and references including access via Leveson Centre website). Paying attention to the challenges of dementia care has occupied a reasonable amount of my time in mental health chaplaincy and I am currently involved in a small piece of research outlined below. Please let me know if you or any one you can identify might be interested and willing to be involved. You’d make an older man very happy!
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