Pope Francis and the future

Earlier today Pope Francis died after a struggle over many weeks with pneumonia. Just yesterday, Easter Sunday, he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's in Rome to utter a few words to the faithful who'd come in the hope of seeing him. He wasn't his usual self, and wasn't able to deliver his traditional Easter message, but his appearance was significant at a time of a major religious festival.

Now Pope Francis is at peace. It's always sad when someone dies, but when it's the head of the Catholic church a successor must be found. As the saying goes, "The King is dead. Long live the King." With the Vatican, there will be another Pope. Among the front runners are only two Italians. We could have an African pope in Peter Turkson, something that would recognise that the power base of rank and file Catholics has shifted from Europe to other regions of the world.

In the past Vatican employees received a financial bonus when a new Pope was elected. Pope Francis abandoned this tradition, instead offering the money to charitable causes. Pope Francis always tried to do things differently from his predecessors. When first elected he chose not to live in the splendour of St. Peter's. He had a gentle touch that saw him revered by many Catholics, but also put noses out of joint in the Vatican hierarchy.

For now the institution of the Catholic church continues whilst the Cardinals arrive from around the world to elect a successor. When the white smoke comes out of the Vatican chimney signaling a successor has been found, one thing is for sure, it will be a man👨!

My favourite pancake toppings

It's Shrove Tuesday today, the day when Christians use up all their remaining flour, eggs, and milk before the month long Lent fast. This year it is also (more or less) aligned with the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. So as we prepare the batter for our pancakes, let me ask the important question. What id the perfect pancake topping?

Before we answer that, we need to agree on the best batter recipe. As a child, it was a simple combination of flour, eggs, and milk. Over the years vegetable oil, sparkling water, baking powder, and even vanilla extract are added. All of these are just wrong. Stop messing with perfection. While I'm having a moan, make it plain flour not self raising. That's just cheating.

OK now we've settled that argument, let's talk about toppings. You can't beat the classic castor sugar and lemon, but I'm willing to accept that the more sophisticated palette requires something more.

This is where what you add depends on where you live. In the US you'll probably add maple syrup, but then you're pancakes are way too thick. Besides you have them to breakfast. Wrong! Thin is the way to go. The healthy toppings include some form of fruit. That adds some balance to the carb heavy meal, but if you're worried about a healthy diet, don't eat pancakes! Go the full hog and add Greek yogurt and honey. Maybe bananas, my personal choice.

Pancakes are such a versatile savoury dish, that you can top them with just about anything. Nuts, even ham has been known, but that is just showing off. What ever you use to top your pancakes, enjoy. Just don't use Nutella!

All I want for Christmas is...

I don't particularly enjoy Christmas. There, I said it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against Christmas. I enjoy bits of it, but could do without its paraphernalia. My friend's wife sums it up perfectly. "I could do without the faff." she says. I couldn't agree more.

As an introvert, I find some of the Christmas traditions a little tiresome. For example, there's pressure to be more sociable. At work it's the office Christmas party. I haven't been to one for 25 years, mainly because I like to keep my work and social life separate. Also because younger sales staff dominate most Christmas knees-ups determined to get as drunk as possible. I like a drink, but I want to remember what I got up to.

What is Christmas for me?

Christmas for me has always been about family. That suited me fine coming from a small family. Neither my sister nor I had children, so Christmas Day was a small, quiet affair. We'd meet up in one of our houses to eat, drink, and be merry before falling asleep on the sofa. It was more about spending time with people we loved. It was a quiet and circumspect day, but it was fun.

My Godson's family also got together each year. It became a tradition that on Boxing Day they'd invite members of their extended family and us over for lunch. We're old family friends going back decades, so it was good to catch up. It was a very formulaic event always ending up with silly party games for the children.

The problem was, as the children grew, the fun aspect dried up. The silly party games were now just silly. It was still good to meet up and catch up on what everyone was doing, but this could have been done in a hour or two. Drawing the event into a nine hour marathon really started to grate.

What about presents? 

From early on, we had a limit on the amount we could spend on someone's present. It wasn't a massive amount, but enough to buy something useful and meaningful. It worked reasonably well, and the surprise factor of opening a present wondering what it was in the parcel rarely dulled.

The problem was that over time, the fun of choosing a present for someone disappeared. The run up to the big day was spent asking folk what they wanted, only to receive a, "Let me think about it" answer. By the time an answer was forthcoming, it meant a frantic dash to buy said gift before it went out of stock. Even worse, folk sometimes bought something they wanted, gave it to another family member to wrap it and give it back to them.

In the end, I suggested we stop buying each other presents. That went down like a lead balloon, but over the years they saw sense and the present buying stopped.

My new family

These days the Christmas Day extravaganza is even bigger. My spouse's family is big. As one of four sisters, most of whom live fairly close to each other, any family event involves close to 20 people. The requirements of such a large group, make the organised lunches of yesteryear a thing of the past. Memories of having elbow room at the table are long gone. It's all a bit manic and disorganised. As someone who likes things neat and tidy, I find this difficult.

The joke goes that you don't marry your wife, but also her family. That is certainly true. Things aren't helped by not particularly liking certain members of my wife's extended family. I wouldn't have changed my decision to marry one iota, but I wish her brother-in-law's father didn't have such racist and sexist views. He's a lovely guy, but I find myself avoiding bringing up certain topics to avoid a row.

My perfect Christmas

If I had my way, Christmas would be a quiet, gentile affair. I love the tradition of Christmas, but modern day commercialism has made us forget about what it really means. I love singing Christmas carols and hearing Christmas records on the radio. I love eating my roasted parsnips and pigs in blankets. I also like my peace and quiet, something I don't get with a large gathering. I like my space.

I'd be happy with just my wife and I alone on Christmas Day. I'd wake up and go for a run in the park. On returning home my wife would be up and after a shower we'd have a leisurely breakfast together. We'd make the obligatory phone calls to family members abroad, before cooking lunch. The rest of the day we'd play by ear. We'd do whatever took our fancy. I've been known to spend an hour or two gardening on Christmas Day!

The reality

My perfect Christmas is highly unlikely to happen. Family is very important to my wife. She's more of a social animal than me. She wants to ensure contact is maintained with our nieces and nephews as they grow up. I get this, but most are of an age where they want to be out enjoying themselves with friends rather than talking to their aunts and uncles.

As an introvert I'm not particularly keen on large gatherings. I find you can't be yourself. You have to present a version of yourself. It's all a bit formal. So I go along with the status quo. I do enjoy these occasions, but I wish that sometimes things could be different. Doing the same thing year in and year out makes the event less fun. I enjoy a bit of sponteniety. The excitement of Christmas past was the unexpected.

I sometimes wonder if part of my negativity toward Christmas is due to us not having children. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of younger family members brings some of the magic back into the season. Without that, Christmas descends into an endless spiral of tradition and commercialism. We're told you must have turkey for lunch, and watch the King's speech at 3pm. Blow that. We're all individuals with different personalities, cultures, and opinions. Let's celebrate that without forgetting what the Christmas story is about.

The religious bit, sort of!

Christmas is the biggest religious festival for Christians. It celebrates the birth of Christ. A new life. A new beginning. Even if you're not a Christian, it's this message of renewal that is important. Like Diwali for Hindus, Upavasatha for Buddists, and Eid for Muslims, you should take time to think about what's gone well and what could be done better.

More than anything, it's a time to be thankful. I always think of those less fortunate. I welcome celebrities who participate in campaigns to reach out to those on their own. I praise the landlords of a pub I know who open their doors on Christmas day to anyone on their own, giving them a free meal and a beer.

So if you've got this far, thank you for reading this post, and in the spirit of it let me know what I could do better. In the words of Tiny Tim, "Merry Christmas one and all."

St.Who's Day?

Today is St.Andrew's Day, Scotland's national day. Scotland has only had a national holiday since 2006, which surprised me. Which makes me wonder why a country's national saint doesn't get as much publicity as say a certain Irish saint. His feast day is celebrated around the world on March 17th. Even those with no links to Ireland seem to claim St.Patrick as their own on that day.

Like other saints, St.Andrew is claimed by lots of other countries too, with Romania, Greece, and Ukraine among the frontrunners. Even Barbados stakes a claim to him! In southern parts of Europe, on the day before St.Andrew's Day there's a superstition that a young lady sees her future husband. It also happens to be the most popular day for vampire activity. I trust the two aren't connected.

Anyway, back to St.Andrew. Why isn't he celebrated in the UK more widely? If the Irish can successfully market a Welshman as their own, why can't Scotland market one of the original twelve apostles? Heck! The Catholic Church never even formally canonised Patrick yet still is a saint! 

Admittedly, Andrew didn't banish all snakes south of York. He didn't use the thistle to illustrate Christian thinking. In fact, there's precious little we know about him. Many books of the Bible don't even mention him. Andrew may have been a humble fisherman, so it is hard to find his unique selling point.

Perhaps that's it. He's just not as sexy as good old Paddy.

The influence of church or state

Today in the UK House of Commons our MPs voted in favour, by a margin of 330 to 275, of a bill calling for assisted dying. This free vote, meaning an MP was not obliged to vote a particular way by their party’s whip, means that the first steps in changing the law have passed. It now need to go through the rest of the parliamentary process, including a vote in the House of Lords, before it can become a reality. 

I’m unsure which way I’d have voted given the chance. I’ve watched relatives and friends with serious illness suffer towards the end of their life, so I understand why this debate happened. However, I’d want to ensure that the appropriate safeguards were in place to prevent people being forced or coerced into accepted their fate. There seems to be sufficient thought made to this. For example, it will only be available to those who are terminally ill and must be approved by two doctors and a judge.
 
The issue for me is that I can’t be sure what I’d want until faced with the reality of a terminal diagnosis. It’s all right saying I’m in favour of having the option of an assisted death, but I may think differently when faced with making the choice. Having the option is very different from saying you want it, so that’s OK, and you can always change your mind. That’s why I’m sympathetic.
 
As someone brought up in religious household, what is interesting is the disconnect between the church and state. In the UK the monarch is head of the Church of England, but thanks to Oliver Cromwell, no longer has control over their government’s policies. That said, I doubt this vote would have even taken place, let alone pass, 50 years ago. Attitudes have changed, and so has the power of the religious bodies to influence how we think. 
 
We’ve seen religious influence wain in other countries also. In my homeland Ireland, the pull of the Catholic churches influence is nothing like it was when I was growing up. Recent years have seen votes pass there on same sex marriage and abortion. My aunt, a missionary nun, would be proud of her church if she’d have lived to see the law pass! She was an educated lady, who saw firsthand what the absence of choice did to people. In her own way she was able to voice her thoughts within the confines of her role.
 
Whatever your thoughts on assisted dying, remember that people are coming from the right place. It’s a complicated topic, with different experiences and emotions. Whatever the result of this vote, let’s remember that this is about peace and dignity at the end of a person’s life.