‘Spiralling Up or Spiralling Down?’

Actor Sam Neil lays out be basic choice we must make as we face the COVID pandemic – ‘Spiralling Up or Spiralling Down’?

We pause on a chart that may help us make personal decisions if we are to ‘spiral up’.

Isaac Newton and Nelson Mandela remind us that social isolation can foster profound new ideas that can change the world. 

The BBC releases an encouraging video portraying positive possibilities in the face of the pandemic.

Singer-Poet Ralph McTell reminds us of the isolation of the homeless with his beautiful song ‘Streets of London’ and responds to what we can do.

‘Playing for Change’ render a powerful rendition of ‘Lean on Me’.

Why a World Service?

I was ringing a friend who was recently ‘let go’ from her job at a university.

I love the irony of that phrase, ‘let go’; as if previously tethered and now presented with freedom! ‘Let go’, I thought to myself, might inadvertently say a lot about the attitude of an organisation toward its employees. But anyway…

It was Monday and her last day was the previous Friday. I was mindful that change, whatever it is, brings with it its own grief. Most of us know about Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her ‘Five Stages of Grief’. She would know them. But there’s a big difference about knowing about them and experiencing them.

With the pandemic distancing rules, there had been no Friday afternoon farewell drinks. So I was wondering how she was getting on, such rituals denied her.

She told me that on Sunday morning she was looking around for some encouragement and inspiration. She had nearly clicked on to a church service online, but it didn’t feel right.

This got me thinking. How many non-church goers might be looking for something deeper than Facebook for inspiration? The chaplain in me couldn’t resist. The result is ‘The World Service’ – a ‘service’ to bring inspiration, encouragement and hope from the on-line world back to the on-line world.

Here’s my first attempt. I hope you enjoy it.