TONY ON CHURCH, FAREWELL & MORE

Including Writers’ Island, which sadly finishes today. Hence, the poem.

Welcome to my Friday magazine post.
There has been a split amongst Anglicans. Some conservatives have launched a new global Church to save it from secularism and pluralism. Although not a practicing Anglican, I find this disheartening.

There are 70 million Anglicans worldwide.

It could so easily be a global force for good. Sadly, though, the problem is my beautiful but irritating fellow Brits. We don’t ever seem to do anything – until we have to; then the world tends to shake. We are a people of compromise in everything.
Thus, leadership of the Anglican Church is the same as leadership of the Church of England – the Archbishop of Canterbury. And too much of our compromise is annoying proper religious people in the world.

There is an answer.

Canterbury should be removed as leader of the national Church, with the Archbishop of York taking that role. This leaves us English to be wishy washy, discussing flower arranging over tea, whilst Canterbury builds the global Church Anglicanism should become.
This sense of compromise also explains why Globalisation is destroying Britain and its institutions. Britain, you see, can never be extreme. This is why communism and fascism failed here, as do all fanaticisms – in the end.
Globalisation realizes this. Hence, it panders to our sense of compromise and complacency – which is also why it is the greatest threat my country has ever faced. Told that British traditions are wrong, the silent majority compromises, even though they know they are right.
Until we say no. And then, this vile globalization will end.
Happy Fourth of July to all my friends across the pond. Next magazine post, Monday.

(c) Anthony North, July 2008

GOOD ISLAND

I sail the sea of my conceptual mind,
searching for ideas, concepts to find,
poems to write, stories to tell,
human enigmas upon which to dwell;
I anchor, often, by Good Island, true,
peopled by like minds who always view,
the written word as a noble cause,
with ideas to make us occasionally pause;
Good Island is a marvellous place,
of writers and thinkers full of grace,
writing and sharing, it is their way,
forever finding new thoughts that stray,
until, sadly, it goes away;
So Rob, many thanks, best wishes, and good day

(c) Anthony North, July 2008

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GONE – Fiction

It feels good. I can’t tell you how good it feels. For so long it’s been with us – all of us. Clinging to us, restricting what we do.
Of course, it was Pete who came up with the solution. ‘We catch it,’ he said. ‘We collect it all up.’ He produced a box. ‘And we place it all in here.’
At first, we looked at him, astounded – we thought he was mad. But he insisted. Which immediately presented the problem of how to collect it all up.
‘Well, it always begins with a wish – a hope that we can do it.’
So that’s what we did. We wished it to be so, and in no time at all, it was banished to the box, and Pete firmly taped it up.
We looked from one to the other. Said: ‘What now?’
Pete collected lots and lots of stones. ‘We stone it,’ he said. So, there were we, repeatedly pummeling the box with stones.
Soon we were exhausted, and in a way refreshed, changed, as if we had said farewell. And when Pete took out the battered box and set it alight, we knew there would be a celebration, for it had finally gone. And we would forever be grateful to Pete for allowing us to conquer our fear.

© Anthony North, July 2008