The Right To Vote

The first question to ask is why bother going to vote at all? If you think that all politicians are the same and what is the point in voting at all then please read on.

Having the ability, no, the right to actually cast your vote is something which people have fought for. In the recent elections in Iraq, the electorate i.e. the normal people like you and me were so determined to cast their vote that they braved bombs to be able to do it.

Did you know that all men in the UK over the age of 21 and all women in the UK over the age of 30  (bar a few exceptions e.g. those committed to asylums etc) only received the right to be able to vote in February 1918? That’s right only 92 years ago. Prior to that most people in the UK were not entitled to vote.

Obtaining the right to vote was through the determination and action of many men and women who fought long and hard for us to have this right (known as universal suffrage). We are now in a position where every UK citizen over the age of 18 has the right to vote in an election irrespective of income, property ownership, gender, colour, religion or background.

So in the last 92 years following the right to vote you would think that we would all be grateful and would turnout to use our vote. There are 45.2 million of us in the UK who are eligible to vote. (Obviously there are a lot more people in the UK but to be eligible you have to be over 18 and a British citizen.)  Unfortunately the average turnout at an election is only approximately 70% of those eligible to vote which means that approximately 30% which equates to over 15 million people couldn’t be bothered to vote. That is an insult to these brave men and women the world over who are so desperate to vote they will do so amidst the threat to their very lives.

The men and women who were determined to get us the right to vote did amazing things for us – they chained themselves to railings, threw themselves under the Kings horse at the races resulting in  death (of Davison), marched for miles, spoke at rallies and directly disobeyed the police by having public gatherings, endured hideous treatment in appalling prison facilities. The womens suffrage movement had some very militant protesters one of the most famous being Emily Pankhurst.

What do we do when we want to start a protest or make our voice heard in some way – we start a facebook group or some other social media networking (and yes there is intended irony here).

You have an opportunity to cast your vote – you may not know who to vote for, you may not believe in politics and the democratic system as it is currently modelled but do you think that by staying away from the polls anyone is going to take account of you in anyway. Even if all you do is attend the polling station, take your ballot paper and scribble on it a comment to the effect that all politicians are the same and don’t listen to us or are just in it to line their own pockets or whatever then at least you have made your opinion known officially. This would spoil your ballot paper and it would not count but I believe by law the Electoral Commission must retain the spoiled papers so at least your comment / opinion is being heard so to speak.

But wouldn’t it be so much better if you just took a little time to ensure that you are registered to vote and investigate the policies of your local MP candidates and their parties and cast a proper vote. It certainly can’t hurt can it. However, not casting your vote could potentially hurt by allowing a party candidate into office who didn’t represent you and your interests. For instance in Bradford we have an absolutely ridiculous fiasco going on where the whole of the city centre is a hole – a great big building site costing goodness knows how much for the sake of a park, yet other facilities are left undone and our council tax keeps going up to pay for these councillors to keep on making these idiotic decisions. Who is the party in charge – yes the council in Bradford is a Conservative council!

We all have a responsibility to exercise our vote. Imagine if we were in a situation where you either ‘use it or lose it’ and then we would only have ourselves to blame.

If this note has moved you to consider voting in the next election then please make sure you are registered by following this link

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Politicalpartiesandelections/DG_073239

The Time Travelers Wife & Jesus

I originally wrote the following just after seeing the movie but today is Easter Sunday and the sentiment is still alive today so here goes:


"Okay so I've just seen the movie and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed that my best friend lives outside of time and yet he's with me in every moment of my life - sometimes I feel that he's here with me more obviously than at others. I am completely loved by him so much so that he entered time to pay a price for me to spend eternity with him.

When I saw the movie I felt so sad that we each have to die, not that dying is bad but, feeling sad for those we leave behind. When we marry we cleave to one another and become one so when one of a couple dies then it must be the worst kind of wrenching and feeling as if you're no longer complete. I know that we are complete individuals when we marry but we grow together and become co-dependent.

I know that when I close my eyes in this time and space I will open them again in eternity and see the beauty of my best friend and be able to completely immerse myself in him but what about those I will leave behind. I would hate to think of them grieving for me. I truly hope that my husband and my daughter and my mother know how much I love them.

But then on the way home, I was listening to the Hillsong CD - Faith+Hope+Love and the first track says that Jesus is the Alpha & the Omega, the first and the last.

It amazes me that Jesus has been with me through every single season of my life and that he knows my end and my beginning and that he is my best and dearest truest friend for all eternity.

And finally... how irritating is it that people are silly...people will insist on comparing a book to a movie - a book is a book and a movie is a movie - they are two radically different types of media and tell stories in very different ways. A book and a film should never be compared as they are not like for like. I am thrilled that I choose to see movies first and then read the book and if they are different then so much the better as I get blessed twice !!! This rant is based on the fact that as I was leaving the cinema people were loudly complaining that the film hadn't done justice to the book upon which it was based. This kind of felt like cold water being thrown on me while I was on a high. Who are they kidding it was a great movie - just appreciate the movie on its own.

If anyone who reads this hasn't seen it yet - I hope you enjoy it. If you've already read the book don't expect it to be the same just enjoy it for what it is. I know that now I am going to enjoy the book.

Church

Okay so I have been attending the same church now for over 8 years since the very last Sunday of 2001. I hated it at first as it was so alien to everything I thought I knew about church but I started going back each Sunday in 2002 and attended an early morning bible study where we read through the whole bible cover to cover during the year. I came to truly love reading God’s word to us and really connected with God and felt that everything I had searched for all my life was complete in this new relationship. I also started to enjoy being part of a church which appeared radical in that it really genuinely did what it could to help other people. I became a part of this amazing body of people and got involved with feeding and helping the homeless, attending bible studies, informal prayer groups, youth meetings and eventually joined the camera team. You see this church produces a weekly tv programme which is broadcast all over the world and is filmed purely by volunteers of which I was one. I became totally immersed and loved the person I was becoming and felt freed from a lot of baggage I had been carrying around all my life.

My relationship with God was the most important part of this new life but I was also loving the life that I was living and eventually met and married a wonderful guy. His parents had been a part of the church when he was born so he had seen the church go through various transitions as people came and went. He was a part of the sound team and often did the sound for the tv programme in the studio which is how we met really.

After we married we suffered the terrible loss of our first born son which hit us both very hard and our marriage has dealt with a lot of other stuff over the years. At this time, I joined the choir and soared in my love for God because he had proved himself completely faithful to me and although I still grieved I just loved being able to worship God through the pain and the tears.

However, now I am really struggling with the church I am a part of. In some way I have gone from being a part of it to just attending. You see the church made the decision to scrap the choir which is fair enough but there was a joy to being a part of it which went beyond singing on a Sunday on the stage. I think it was about being excellent as a person and being focussed on my devotional life so that what I was singing was what I was also authentically living and feeling. This could have continued after the choir but well it didn’t, no excuses really.

Then a woman who I had learned so much from and who was a part of the senior leadership team left at a similar time to a lot of other people who I had also learned from. She was such a big influence and role model in my life that I named my Gorgeous Baby after her. When she left the church it really rocked my world. I couldn’t understand why so many great people would choose to leave as I still loved the church and didn’t think there was anything wrong. 

The worship music is great, in fact world class but it's about really, truly connecting with God and not about performance just the simplicity of honest, true worship. 

I contacted someone who I knew had left the church at a similar time who has given me some great advice and recommended two books by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis and Jesus Came To Save Christians. It was great that I was able to connect with someone. I'm definitely going to check those books out along with some serious soul searching and prayer. All I really want is the reality of Jesus and more of him in my life, and to be able to gather with others who know and love Jesus.

I think I've found that within the community of believers that  get to do life with and each step along the way I am always learning and growing.