Order of the Bath

…who from their labours rest,

What a great start to an ordination service. After many years of study, finally the candidates have passed out to the satisfaction of their tutors and their bishops and they come together for that final blessing. The confirmation of their calling.

who thee by faith before the world confessed,

Many years ago they felt moved to talk to their vicar and subsequently put themselves forward for training. Braving selection boards and an interview with the, perhaps formidable figure, of their potential sending bishop. Now finally they can proclaim to the world that this is their life.

thy name, O Jesu, be for ever blest:

And this is what their life is all about; a deacon’s first duty is to proclaim the gospel for, traditionally, they are presented with only a New Testament (though today I noticed they were given a full Bible).

Alleluia, Alleluia! William Walsham How, 1864

We are thinking particularly, today, of the new Revds Tanya Lord and Dr. Caroline Yandell. It was a great service this morning in Bristol Cathedral. Starting with a sensitive welcome from Bishop Lee before breaking into the hymn above. Through the necessary formality of the ordination culminating in a standing ovation, followed by the controlled chaos of the peace. Then the Sanctus—a setting I haven’t heard before by Herbert Howells, sung gently by the girls choir which brought back the air of holiness to the whole proceeding. And at the end, an exit to a wonderfull sunny day for greetings, congratulations and photographs.

A grand day out.

China’s latest move in the censorship of the internet is to require all new PCs to come preinstalled with nanny software known as Green Dam – Youth Escort. The intention is to “protect” their younger citizens from corruption by porn and other unwanted things like democracy and the Falun Gong. Like all nanny software, it fails by ignoring some things which it should stop and stops some things which no one can see any reason for. It has also been subverted by methods which are widely publicised and has become a laughing stock. What is new is the inventive way that they youth of China have expressed their contempt for the whole idea. They have come up with a manga style mascot to express their opinions which is known as Green Dam Girl. She comes in a variety of hand drawn versions but common themes are highly symbolic code features such as the can of paint to cover up filth, a degree of undress (some quite explicit or self censored), the toy rabbit which is the Green Dam software logo and the river crab badge which in Chinese is a pun on “harmony” which itself is a code word for censorship. This is my favourite but there are lots more if you look for them.

If you are not familiar with it, let me introduce Freecycle. It is a method of disposing of unwanted gear that is either not saleable or you can’t be bothered to try and get money for. The principle is quite straight forward—one member offers something, other members take up that offer and arrange to collect the goods. As it says in their introduction, “It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.” The types of things that are offered vary from old mowers, computers, hi-fi and household goods right down to one I saw yesterday which was two boxes of cereal which they discovered no one in the family liked.

Some local admins, however, have been suggesting that you shouldn’t take up the first offers but wait and pick what seems to you to be the most deserving cause. This has come about as a result of complaints that people are picking up stuff for free and then selling it on by local ads or eBay and making a profit out of the system. There is certainly evidence that some people will bid for anything that looks like it is worth a bob or two.

My reaction is “good for them.” If I can’t be bothered to sell the stuff then why shouldn’t they. I have achieved my objective and got rid of it. It doesn’t end up on the city dump and someone else is using it, whether they had to pay for it or not. These people are filling the vacant role of the rag-and-bone man. I have been disposing of some potentially quite high value stuff but which is not easy to sell—vintage hi-fi and computer gear. This generally attracts a lot of bidders and my only criteria is that if you bid quickly then you must collect quickly, or at least confirm a collection date. If I don’t get a confirmation response within 24 hours then I move down the list.

If your objective is charity then I suggest you give your goods to a charity shop, if they will take it. But Freecycle is not about that, it is only concerned with re-cycling.

If you are one of these people (like me) who can’t pass a skip without peering in to see if there is something useful, then now is the time to walk the streets of the student district in your town. It is incredible what they throw away come the end of the year. Either it doesn’t fit in daddy’s Volvo or gets left behind for the landlord to chuck out. This weekend is going down time in Bristol (other Universities may vary). Do the council (and the environment) a service and pick up the useful looking things. If you don’t want them, put them on Freecycle.