Stuff!

Posted by David Ward on 13/11/2009
Posted in: Personal thoughts, Pilgrimage. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It’s amazing how a ‘simple’ thing like a house move can make you acutely aware that the way you think you live your life is not, in fact, the way you actually do.

Since I was young I have always determined that I would not be materialistic, that I would be content with whatever little I was blessed with and, above all, that I would not be encumbered by amassing hoards of stuff.

I have moved ten times in the 14 or so years since my divorce, which should have given me some indication that I had a problem, but somehow I managed to avoid any deep awareness of what had happened.

This time, we have moved out of a relatively spacious rented house into a less spacious one. We have also chosen to move cheaply, using cars over several weekends rather than go for one big push (we have a months overlap of rent between the two properties, so why not!)

Suddenly I am confronted by just how much stuff this non-material boy has accumulated…where did it all come from, and when did the slippery slide begin?

Worst culprit of all is…my precious collection of books, now boxed and unboxed from shelves to shelves far too many times.

So I’ve been doing some heart searching. My friends tell me that there’s nothing wrong with having stuff, it’s the attitude you have towards it. By and large, I think my attitude is fine. I lend stuff, share stuff, regularly recycle stuff I’m no longer using to new homes and, (apart from my books) little is ‘sacred’.

What’s actually got to me is the sheer impracticality of trying to live a pilgrim lifestyle when every time we move on we are encumbered by all this stuff, legitimate stuff, lovely stuff, but a darned nuisance to keep packing and unpacking!

Some friends, who I have always felt had an admirable attitude towards stuff, recently moved from the Mother House of the Northumbria Community to a small monastery in mid-Wales, their worldly goods packed into a relatively modest van. On arrival, one of the other members of the monastic community is said to have remarked, “You’ve more stuff in that van than we have in the rest of the monastery.”

Makes me think!

Another Border Blunder!

Posted by David Ward on 01/10/2009
Posted in: Personal thoughts. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

We last updated our wills in about 1997…they’re still lodged with a solicitor in Prestatyn, North Wales…a lot has happened since then so when we finally had enough money to get on with an update we duely made an appointment to see a solicitor in Berwick.

The day came for our update visit. The solicitor was very pleasant and we were soon chatting through the changes we wished to make to the will.

“By the way, what’s your current address?” she said.

“We live in Foulden Deans, just across the border into Scotland,” I replied.

Even as I said the word, “Scotland” I realised an awful truth, which was quickly confirmed by the solicitor…

“Scotland…then I’m afraid I can’t help you. I’m not allowed to practice Scottish law; you need a solicitor in Scotland. She helpfully gave us some possible contacts and we said our embarrased goodbyes.

Will I ever get the hang of this cross-border stuff…

Paradoxical Poverty…

Posted by David Ward on 09/09/2009
Posted in: Personal thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Once upon a time I was part of a Christian band that travelled all over doing concerts and stuff. I want to use two short stories from that time to introduce this relatively simple posting.

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It was late. We had just finished a concert at a city church. We were tired.


He leaned across the bonnet of his Jag, pulled a fat wallet from his sharply tailored suit and peeled off a single ten pound note.


“Something for your petrol lads,” he said.

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The smoke from the last fireworks still hung in the city air as we cleaned the dogs’ muck off our cables. We had managed not to have any of our equipment stolen, and had had a fantastic night playing to large crowds on a field in the middle of an inner-city housing estate in Manchester. The local church were thrilled by the positive results of the night that they had organised and took us back to their church where they fed and rested us.

As we left, the church treasurer came to us, looking slightly embarrased, and saying, “We wanted to honour and appreciate what you’ve done for us with this gift, but we’re so sorry it’s not more.

When we opened the gift we were completely bowled over by the amazing generosity we had been shown. We found out later that this small, inner-city church had pretty much emptied its bank account to give us a gift of love and appreciation.

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It is no secret that my family are currently struggling financially. I am also constantly aware that our ‘poverty’ is nothing compared to what some people have to contend with…all the same, it’s grindingly wearing for us!

We have friends who are in a similar position to us. Over the last couple of months we have received gifts of food, fresh vegetables from the garden, hot loaves of freshly baked, crusty bread, gifts of money and invites out for meals…all from people who are giving out of what they have. Riches are, I guess, really not measured in the way we so often think they are.

Two questions leap out at me:

How is it that the poorest people are often the most generous, sharing their homes, lives, goods and love freely and without strings attached?

And the second question, which worries me no end, is can we , in our time of relative poverty, share what we have, freely and without strings, with those who need our love too?