IT IS NOT TOO LATE

The UK is currently negotiating an agreement to leave the EU some seventy years after peace was declared in Europe; after a war the horror of which most present-day UK citizens never knew or have completely forgotten.

As the spirit of nationalism walks the streets and cities of the UK, it is not too late to remind the people that the two world wars were fought because of Nationalism.

In WW2, Germany under Hitler set out to subjugate the countries of Europe and at its height occupied Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

Following the peace treaty, the efforts of the peacemakers established the League of Nations and later the United Nations aiming to produce a system of arbitration to defuse potential wars. 

Albert Schweitzer in his 1954 Nobel Peace prize lecture said:

Even today, we live in an age characterized by the absence of peace; even today, nations can feel themselves threatened by other nations; even today, we must concede to each nation the right to stand ready to defend itself with the terrible weapons now at its disposal

Nationalism of the worst sort was displayed in the last two wars, and it may be regarded today as the greatest obstacle to mutual understanding between peoples

Yet we in Brexit are planning to cut our ties with the organization of the EU that arguably has been the instrument of peace in Europe for over 50 years.

But it is not too late to jettison the whole EU enterprise and return to the path of cooperation and mutual support.  Say No! to Brexit

                                                   

Andy Murray Cries

Andy Murray cries: 

            The sight of Andy Murray crying recently when describing his hip problem and his decision to retire appalled this observer. This young man has had the privilege of being one of the world’s greatest tennis players. Sure he has worked hard but so have thousands of others who have not been successful. Now at the age of 31 he is having to retire for medical reasons. How sad the pundits say as they watch his tears roll down his cheeks and share his plight.

            How sad? - not at all- how wonderful that he has been blessed with such a career, so fortunate to be born into a family who supported and encouraged his natural skill until he reached the pinnacle of Tennis- No 1 in the world, an Olympic Gold, winning Wimbledon and many others including accumulating enormous wealth.

            Have we lost our way, are we now immune to the plight of others so that we are sympathetic with a Giant of the sport who cries when he has to retire?

Tears of Joy or A thought for tomorrow

‘Tears of Joy’ or ‘A thought for tomorrow.’

‘Don’t cry Daddy, don’t be sad.’

‘I’m not Andrew, these are tears of joy.’

It’s that time of year when I am drawn back to my past- the passing of time, time that moves faster and faster each year and departs so quickly. I almost dread the finality of December as the present year moves into the past. That moment when the clock strikes one and the New Year is ushered in. No time to change anything. At that moments all regrets are imprisoned, set in stone for all time, a memory happy or otherwise, good or bad. Nothing in the past can now be changed.

It’s a time to wonder if only? - if this or that hadn’t happened, he or she had been spared. How could I have done better, been kinder, more generous, less selfish?

Was I really able to change anything or was it all already determined by my nature and nurture? How do I accept the way chance plays a role in my life, the lottery of birth? So many ways in which it could have been different, better or worse. Was I the one in charge? How did circumstances steer me into one direction or another? Am I a free agent, the master of my destiny or just 'a piece of plastic on the ocean of time?'

There is no way of knowing. It is perhaps when we look back over our lives and ponder on some of the decisions we made or were made for us that we might, only might, have a greater understanding.

I want to believe that every life is a unique opportunity to fulfil her or his potential, to grasp the opportunities offered and to live a life of love and beauty. That is what life offers but how many are able to achieve that through no fault of their own. How often does the chance of their birth cruelly dash any hopes of this being fulfilled?

It must be changed but how?