We watched the final episode of the BBC's wonderful adaptation of Little Dorrit last night. It's made me want to read the book - like all good adaptations do.
I was struck by the fact that the news was full of the implications of the $50bn Bernard Madoff fraud and the episode opens with the fall-out from Merdle's suicide with all the ramifications for families and businesses being ruined by his fraud.
It just showed how prescient Dickens was. He writes about how moral infection flows from the greed and financial sharp practice of those who ought to set an example in society. And he suggests the humble can point the way to salvation - though even the humble need to be redeemed in some way. Shaw said Little Dorrit was more seditious than Marx's Das Kapital! Maybe he was right.
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I've been reading your blog since I stumbled across it after reading about Graham Kendrick being a bad influence on Britain.
I commented a few times on your posts and we had a bit of dialogue. It was quite an entertaining and enlightening discussion.
So I'm just a wee bit sad that the last few posts have been about various things including the music you've listened to, the books you've read and the Christmas cake you've iced.
Now, I don't have a clue what you do when you're not writing a blog - well, I can guess some of it, being that you're a vicar.
What puzzles me is that while you comment on the impact of financial misfortune and how Dickens knew a thing or two about the love of money, there seems to be no practical help for people out there in the real world.
There's people all over this country suffering from job loss, depression, money worries, pain, hurt, abuse and torment and I can't understand what the church is offering.
It's unfair of me to criticise you or your blog, but as an outsider, I am puzzled by your commentary on things. While I am sure your Top 15 albums of the year is fascinating and your Christmas cake decorating skills are legendary, I struggle to find a message of hope or an understanding of how being a Christian will help me in the tough times as well as the good ones.
A quick scan of your postings seems to reveal that you spend alot of time listening to music, reading books or analysing bits of theology. I guess your sermons are very well researched and wholly biblical and that your blog is just a little bit of extra in your leadership of the church - much like politicians have theirs.
It just seems a bit out of kilter with what it's like in the real world, outside of church circles. With your blog you have a wide audience of people around the world. Given this possible global audience it just strikes me that what you write about is sometimes tangential, occasionally trivial, or worse trite.
I just wonder, if Jesus had a blog, what he'd write?
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