Sometime in the 1960’s we were the last family in the street to get TV. My old man thought it was a manifestation of the devil. Given its current content he could well have been right.
On one of those black and white shows was a documentary hosted by a bloke called Malcolm Muggeridge whom you may or may not remember. He was a Cambridge-educated lecturer, journalist metamorphosed into radio and TV broadcaster.
He was a top notch intellectual. On this occasion his victims were two gentle-natured saintlike nuns.
He was quizzing them about the origin and underpinning of their faith. He was merciless and supercilious in his attack. Which did nothing but label him as an obnoxious twerp. That was then. As he got older, approaching his own demise he had a change of heart, writing several renowned testaments to Christianity, among them Jesus Re-discovered, Paul, Envoy Extraordinary, Jesus the Man who Lives and Something Beautiful for God. There is no record of any apology to the nuns.
Although it may sound a bit heavy for this holiday time of the year, herewith a sample of his newfound enthusiasm. Just think of it as one of your harder New Year resolutions. “In washing the disciples feet Jesus demonstrated once and for all that the Son of Man was the servant of men; that whatsoever was arrogant, assertive, dogmatic or demagogic belonged to the gospel of power, not to his gospel of love; that humility is not just virtuous but the very condition of all virtue, and that in abasing themselves, men attain the highest heights, as, in glorifying themselves, they sink to the lowest depths.
Every court has its Fool, and the Fool is Jesus. If the greatest of all, Incarnate God, chooses to be the servant of all, who will wish to be the master? If he receives orders who will venture to give them?”
Oh yes – and we had the year’s first successful bric a brac sale a couple of Saturdays ago. At a few dollars for a chair, turntable, vase or pre-loved designer dress they’re all bargains. Especially suitable for impecunious students or superannuitants.
