Christian Bookshops - A Vic the Vicar mention (1)

A shameless plug for Measham's  bookshop 'Books and Bibles' as one of the few remaining places to buy stuff now Wesley Owen and the like have gone.

I will be putting places of merit on this blog (merit being in no small measure down to the fact that they still exist) and thought this warranted a mention as they are helpful and friendly (and let me in!).

Books & Bibles

Annfield Place, Leicester Rd

Measham, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE12 7JG

Tel: 01530 515041

Click here for web

My Books - Things I never knew

One of the things that define me for some is the fact that I am not only anti-semantic (Most of my friends are words) but also have a few books too. It is in the book area that I found myself surprised yesterday as I went through the process of lending some of them to one of ours who is embarking on training for ministry.

I don't about you but I really don't have a clue who is the most prolific author of the books on my shelves but there a natty little facility by the name of 'charts' has appeared on the programme I use. Wondering what it was and did I clicked on the button and this is what I got:

Moving on I found this little piece of information interesting too (must add my Pratchett collection as he'd surely be in at number one!):

Seems that I have catalogued 2,738 books in all and to see Barth sitting in pole position is, to be honest, a bit of a shock :-)  Mind you, McNab and Ryan were a bit of a shock too. Good to see Brueggemann take the inside line on final bend to edge it over Moltmann :-)

Still - goes to show that I'm not all about reading theology and religion I guess.

Still have a large pile of books to be added to the system and think C S Lewis might be moving up the table shortly :-)

And can someone tell the wife that knowing how many pages a version has (or celebrating that nice Mr Dewey's system) is not at all odd?

Now That's What I call Library - Volume One

Yes indeed folks, my return to St Alban's yesterday not only reacquainted me with that marvellous building but let me savour the classic delights of a 'proper' library! There were none of those Personal Computers anywhere to be seen and all was just as Melvil Dewey would have liked it to have been back in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It even had proper machines for producing type-scripted work:

In fact there were TWO of them (and a cover!):

This is the sort of library I think is REAL - no virtual books, no whirring PC products - just proper books, that smell like books are supposed to smell and an instant data retrieval system that keeps running even when the power goes (and no UPS anywhere to be seen!):

In fact there were TWO of these as well - dual random access storage and retrieval facilities - this is what libraries are supposed to be like:

I have found the promised land and it looks like the library in St Alban's Abbey - how close to God must they be to have such a treasure, how close?

Hallelujah for the Hudson Library :-)

A Good Read: Woodbine Willie

I found myself a new book this week: Woodbine Willie: an Unsung Hero of World War One (Bob Holman    ISBN 978-0-7459-5561-2)

In 1914 a simple, unknown parish priest enlisted as a Chaplain. This man became one of the most famous personalities of the 14-18 war and although few might have recognised the name, Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, as 'Woodbine Willie' he was a hero!

His habit of passing cigarettes around and being with the troops where the action was; braving shells and bullets to do what Chaplains did then (and continue to do today). He maintained morale and when war ended, took up another battle against poverty, unemployment, war itself and injustice.

A man who brought Christian and socialist thinking together and did rather than just talk about it. His money and his mouth were firmly to be found residing in the same place! The dean of Westminster Abbey refused him a funeral in that place because he was a 'socialist' (always good to see the days when we were perhaps the much vaunted 'Conservative Party at prayer'). But the man wasn't a political type, in fact he had a dislike and distrust of them (because he been to war and seen that politicians start them and soldiers either end them or are ended in them?).

This is one of the first practical theologians and looked to the Church to stand up against, poverty, poor living and  the condemnation of the class system. 'If we share we have enough,' was his mantra, and many ignored it; but some didn't and that's part of the man's appeal - he was ahead if his time!

This is man who knew long ago that Church is the 'Big Society' and that we have a new Commandment to live by that goes into no man's land with those who are about to die; and ministers to the wounded and dying too!

This is a hero of the 20th Century and I can but commend the man (and the book) to you as an exemplar of what it means to live the Christian message and take up your cross to follow Christ.

Enjoy

ps. I was privileged to see a painting of the man hanging in the vestry of Worcester Cathedral whilst preaching there recently. I have to admit that the thrill of seeing it and the memorial (below) was one of the (so many) high points of that day:

My beloved books . . .

Hanging by an inch by eight screw!

There I was, typing away and getting stuff sorted now the Easter rush has passed when I heard a creak!

Realising that whilst much of the Church might be at sea the study certainly wasn't I stopped to listen  a bit more and looked towards the place where the noise had come from. The shelves at the top appeared a bit nearer. Three inches or so nearer -  it was moving!

As I watched the central part of the shelving suddenly darted forward and I darted upwards to relieve the shelves of their contents before the rest of them fell down! As I did I became aware that all that stood between me and a bibliographic-avalanche was about eighteen one-inch screws and my ability to divest the wretched shelve of my beauties.

But I did (phew) and now being the proud possessor of some substantial rawlbolts fixings, will hopefully see the shelving refitted and refilled safe in the knowledge that this time it will be the wall that collapses!

I hope :-)

Interesting donated things

One of those who read yesterday's 'donated things' blog asked what the top ten things were. So here goes (but there's thirteen):

1. Videos (VHS) - no one wants them and even the local tip refuses has stopped specifically having a place for them - it's the general landfill for them!

2. Electrical items that have stopped working or become dangerous - strange how people think that a non-working bit of electronics might work if given to the church.

3.Pottery - especially the three-legged shire horse and the amazingly chipped stuff.

4. Holiday mementoes - funny how sombreros and many other 'holiday' related stuff ends up here. Rarely finds a home outside that big tip in the sky!

5. Surgical and prosthetic stuff - yes, really. Crutches and the like (including bed pans) have all arrived at our doors as the tide of live ebbs away. The intention is accompanied by the sadness of loss and this is always a tough area. This sometimes leads into

6. Wheelchairs - Which are always pretty useful as I supply other churches so that they can offer one for visitors (and their own if the need arises) and increase their welcome.

7. China - sometimes wonderful, often mixed and not matched, chipped and being thrown away because they are not fit for use anymore. But still they come.

8. Glass - vases, glasses and kitchen stuff - can be useful and passed on, but often chipped, cracked and as useless to us as it was to the person who donated it!

9. Kitchenware - always useful if serviceable, just not always serviceable. Often find a home for this with the homeless we help locate and settle in.

10. Books. I love them but they are bulky and often no one wants them. If only I had the time to read many of the books because they are books! No more reason needed from my part, but they are bulky, heavy and difficult to store and so get passed to someone who uses them on stalls at various charity fairs.

11. Toys - many old McD toys plus many puzzles (incomplete) and stuff that kids have broken or grown out of (which our girls buy and bring home :-( ).

12. Children's clothes - which oddly rarely go anywhere as everyone seems to want new stuff, and

13. General clothing - which almost always, without fail, ends up going for rags (and so blesses the Air Cadets).

I hope this gives some insight into the sort of stuff that arrives (I've left out furniture and the numerous 'cottage suites') and provides some food for thought for the next time you fancy dropping stuff off at your local church building. We aren't charity shops and they are beginning to hate us for trying to offload the stuff given to us, so please think before you donate.

What do you mean there isn't a single pair!

pax

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