Cock-up
As the old year subsides into a snowdrift, readers will have observed that this blog has been doing the same. There’s not much going on. Forgive me, then, for getting out my baseball bat and once more shattering the kneecaps of the Co-op. Yes, it’s boring. But Ebenezer Google and his tribe of scribbling Cratchits […]
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away
Here’s an extract from the blog of a religious minister (clerk in holy orders, he terms himself). I like his rigour. Very bracing. You wouldn’t expect me to enjoy humanist funeral services very much. Perhaps ‘enjoyment’ isn’t the right word for funerals anyway, but you know what I mean. I’ve been to a couple and […]
End of life care for the homeless
The NHS has just published this booklet: End of life care – achieving quality in hostels and for homeless people. It is “designed to provide a practical guide to support hostel staff in ensuring that people nearing the end of their life receive high quality end of life care.” The average age of death among […]
A job with QSA?
If you live in London you may be interested in this job. If you don’t, you’ll still be interested in what Quaker Social Action is doing. In its own words: Quaker Social Action exists to resource, enable and equip people living on a low income in east London. We work to tackle social exclusion, seeing poverty […]
Sleigh to go
If ever I am surprised by genius and give birth to a great idea I always offer it up for adoption at the mewling and puking stage. This is because I am a 99 per cent inspiration 1 per cent perspiration person. The last great idea I brought into the world was Viking funerals for […]
Burning issue
There was much excitement when Davender Ghai won his case for open-air cremation at the Court of Appeal in February 2010. It established the legality of the principle of open-air cremation but, as Rupert Callender noted at the time: “this is only a battle that has been won, not the war. The next impenetrable ring […]
Bringing death to life
Like you, I haven’t a clue what this ‘ere Big Society is all about. They say, I think, that it’s all about empowerment. It sounds more like the government walking off the job. It certainly means less of everything and of course it’s entirely like politicians to try and kid us that less = more. […]
Bloggledegook
When someone passes away in your family, your house gets all gloomy and miserable. Aside from consoling yourself for the passing away of somebody you adore, you should also try to be there for the rest of your family. From time to time, everything could be just so upsetting that all you want to do […]
Two o’clock in the morning
Seventy per cent of us want to die at home, surveys tell us. Probably ninety-eight percent of us, having cared like mad for a dying person, want the corpse out of the house as soon as possible no matter what time of day or night. I don’t get it. Why the hurry?
Newsy morsels
Two really nice stories here. First, a marvellous and extraordinary insight into funerals in Gaza — community, ritual and politics. Here. Second, the ten most loathsome lunacies of the Westboro Baptist Church (the GOD HATES people), who are so biblecrazy they once protested outside a shop selling Swedish vacuum cleaners after a Swedish pastor was prosecuted for being horrible […]
