The Winds of Change

If the last week made me think of anything it made me aware of how much things can change in the flash of a moment. There I was a week ago running on a daily basis and this week hardly able to walk any great distance and longing to feel my feet hit the ground at pace.

Such is the way of life. I was walking one day in the hills, I stepped up on a small rise to see the view from a better angle. Having seen what I desired I stepped back onto the path. As my foot hit the track I felt it slip from under me, within no time at all I was hurtling to the bottom of the ravine some fifty feet below. The journey from the top to the bottom was the start of an even longer journey.

At the top I was a parish minister, a preacher, by the time I arrived at the bottom I had decided that if I lived I would no longer be doing this. Having been rescued and ambulanced to hospital the next day I awoke a different person in more ways than one. My hair had turned almost white overnight, but more importantly I had decided that I was no longer able to remain as a parish minister. That day I applied to become a teacher of philosophy and world religion and my new life had begun.

We live in an age when advertisers tempt us to make changes. Change to our product and you will never regret it. You should have this product, “Because you deserve it.” Or, “You should have this because you are worth it.”

Yesterday the government was planning to introduce legislation that will make all smoking products be sold in plain brown packaging. This I think was the strangest ever idea I had heard in ages. It has always been the case for me that more secretive and unknown something is the more attractive it becomes. When I played in a band I would never ever have desired to smoke pot, if like cigarettes I could purchase it over a counter.

I have said many times before and will no doubt say it again, life is full of change. Some we welcome with open arms, others are thrust upon us. But in all things we are masters of our own destiny. But do not tell the marketers and advertisers that because they are now busy wondering how to make brown boxes seem even more attractive.

On my other blog I discuss the above artwork and the thoughts that lie behind it and its inspiration.

West Wind Blows

Accept people As They Are

Yesterday I was down at my garden plot, a spot of weeding and watering of my plants. I always find such moments a time to consider and think. Here I was working in the soil about three miles from where I had been born and brought up. I had not come very far in life when you consider it. I used to walk past these very plots with my father as a young boy, and watch as the owners then worked the soil. The very soil I was now working.


In reality I had moved a long way. I had changed profession three times and in the process changed the lives of many people. In the process I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people, and as I looked over at Archie in his plot I saw I still was. I have been very fortunate because I have been allowed into the lives of people in a very intimate way. I wondered why?

As I stopped for a coffee and one of my favourite chocolate biscuits I realised why, as I remembered two very true and in there own way funny stories.

The first was of the young girl who obviously came from a very poor family. She and some friends used to come into my classroom first thing every morning. Life’s bullied and unwanted. This girl every day brought me a biscuit for my first coffee. One day I said to her, “You should not do this; your mother cannot afford to give me biscuits every day.” She replied, “Ah, its ok my mum works in the factory, she brings that one out for you each day in her knickers.”

The other very true story was the one where a girl who worked in the same factory was being interviewed on the radio. She had worked in the factory for fifteen years doing the same job. She explained her job to the rather snooty interviewer. Her job was to take biscuits off the line and pack them in boxes. When asked if she liked her job she told the interviewer that she had a laugh and had many friends in the factory. The interviewer could not believe her. “Do you never get bored?” she asked. “No,” said the interviewee, “they change the biscuits from time to time.

I have been blessed because I have always been able to accept people on their terms and unlike the interviewer impose my way of life and values onto others. What I value may not be the same as others and what makes me happy may be a bore to others.

May today bring you happiness in what ever you do.

This is the way of the Tao.

This blog is linked to my other. Dave