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The Bishop of Leicester as been reflecting on the dramatic events in the Middle East and North Africa, and has suggested that we ask ourselves some important questions, even though the full consequences and significance of what’s happening cannot yet be fully grasped.

Firstly, do we need to rethink some of our assumptions about freedom within Muslim countries? The demonstrators are clearly wanting the freedoms, rights and opportunities we enjoy. Secondly, what does it tell us about about politics in an age of social networking and mass communication? People now have the means to mobilise themselves against dictators, and are “not fundamentalist Muslims clamouring for Sharia Law, but citizens who seek the freedom to voice their opinions and change their societies in very much the same way as we do”. Thirdly, what do we mean by “Western values”? Because patterns of thinking are changing in front of our eyes.

He concludes, “That is an inspiring vision for all of us. As a Christian I believe we should be praying for those who are risking their lives for change at the moment. And perhaps we should be praying too that we will have the wisdom to see and to understand the meaning of the changes that are happening and to support a vision of a more peaceful and just world”.

You can read more here!

Today is Education Sunday, a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone involved in the world of education. For more than 100 years there has been an annual recognition of Education Sunday in England and Wales (traditionally on the ninth Sunday before Easter). 2011 marks the bicentenary of the National Society (of the Church of England), one of the many denominational providers of church schools. The church schools it established (and which it continues to support) helped lay the foundations for mass, and, later, free school provision in England.

This year’s theme is Firm Foundations because one understanding of education is laying the foundations needed for life. In Christian terms we see Jesus Christ as our foundation and whether we are educators at school, church or home we need to build on that foundation with regard to our faith.

Currently I have the opportunity to worship at Leicester Cathedral on Sunday mornings (no, I haven’t left the Salvation Army) and I find it very helpful sharing with the people there, many of whom are good friends. It’s also good to receive the bread and wine as physical symbols of the body and blood of Jesus, who died and rose again for us. In addition, I enjoy the music of the choir and organ which is of a high standard.

This morning Canon Barry Naylor reminded us of the need to place the qualities of the Kingdom of God at the centre of education and to help everyone develop their full potential: not simply imparting knowledge, but building a just society based on the equality of all people.

So you might like to pause for a moment to consider ways you might be able to further these aims, support the work of our schools, colleges and universities, and be an educator in your everyday life – by the way you live and the example you set!

I was just walking behind three young men when one of them threw a plastic bottle on the pavement! I picked it up, caught up with him, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, “Hey! You’ve just dropped something!” He was so taken aback that he actually took it to the litter bin I helpfully pointed out! I told him he was a clever boy now! Bet he loved me!

I was up bright and early this morning to cycle to Leicester Cathedral for a bi-monthly breakfast at 7.30 am. Invitations from the cathedral team go out to people who work in the city centre as an opportunity to network, listen to a guest speaker and ask questions. This morning’s guest speaker was Aatin Anadkat, the managing director of Hotel Maiyango in Leicester. He has a commitment to the local economy, and has built links with educational establishments and community groups. Aatin likes to give young people a chance, and is involved in training them to work in teams at the highest quality. His interesting talk showed a passion for supporting suppliers and services in Leicester. It’s good to regularly meet people who are so positive about what can be done to improve the life of the city.

Every time I cycle into Leicester city centre I pass this plaque, although it’s easily missed! There’s so much of interest around us in our everyday lives that’s it’s worth slowing down sometimes and noticing these things. The plaque records the 17th Century tradition (now generally discredited) that at the Dissolution of the Monasteries the body of King Richard III was disinterred from his tomb at the Greyfriars in Leicester and thrown into the River Soar. You learn something new every day if you keep your eyes open!

…continued. An interesting film was about the Bristol Cycle Project. They take old or unused bikes and make them available to people in the community. So many bikes are just in storage in people’s garages, this project gets them back into use. In their workshop they rebuild or service the bikes with the assistance of the people who will benefit from them. They help people to help themselves, involvement with the project and commitment of time and effort means they value the bikes and can contribute something. Asylum seekers are particularly finding the project helpful. There is much misunderstanding about asylum seekers, and the film told some terrible personal stories of refugees from Somalia and Afghanistan. A bike gives freedom and independence, and so becomes a physical metaphor for what these refugees long for.

Freetown is the capital and largest city in Sierra Leone and, over 200 years after the abolition of slavery, the people living in poverty here still see themselves as slaves. The question has to be asked, are these people really free? In a film made up of entirely of people voicing their thoughts and feelings, it became clear that that are still captives to the rich and powerful, both inside and outside their country and to a system which allows it. The women were particularly vocal in expressing how their voices need to be heard. Ironically, one of the streets in Freetown is called Wilberforce Street!

A very colourful and energetic film followed showing a Latin American carnival in Nottingham. What came through very strongly was the importance of the arts for culture and community. We neglect the arts at our peril, for they help to define people’s culture, identity and freedom.

The final film I watched was about Alice Hawkins, a woman who lived most of her life in Leicester. She was a factory worker who became a suffragette and champion for women’s rights. Alice’s story is an inspiring one, and there is a website set up by her family to honour her memory and work.

It was a great festival and plans are in hand for the DocFilm Festival in 2012, but over 3 days instead of 1!

As I mentioned yesterday, the Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre hosted the first DocFilm Festival in Leicester today and, as I write this, it’s still happening until 11.30 pm with live music! It was organised by my friend John Coster and Citizens Eye, and I was pleased to be involved in a very small way – I helped to put up posters! It was an energising day; creatively, culturally, socially and physically (I cycled there and back).

The Phoenix Centre is an excellent venue for events such as this, one large and one medium sized cinemas, a more compact film room and many other user-friendly rooms. A variety of documentary films were on show during the day, from shorts (some less than 10 minutes) through to full-length features. The main film I saw was A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash which presented a stark vision of the world as we run out of cheap oil.

The first short I watched was entitled Leicester Diversity, something I’ve experienced first hand since moving here. Leicester is a wonderful place to live, and a wide range of national statistics back this up. A Zimbabwean political refugee described how he escaped Mugabe’s regime, arrived in London and eventually settled in Leicester. He described it as the quietest (?) and best place he’d lived. Manjula Sood praised Leicester’s diversity and encouraged communities to believe in themselves and celebrate their different cultures.

This was followed by a film that expressed hope for people with a disability through a beautiful song. The basic message was that the main character was born on a different side of life, but he felt the same as anyone else! Stars reach out and tell us there’s always one escape. We made our lives on wasteland, as through the barricades. The film ended with him finding love and fulfilment in life.

A documentary about life on a Leicester estate since 1945 followed. It showed the effects of economic policies and trends on family life over those years, and the focus was particularly on the Thatcher years and the resultant poverty and despair. The next film was more uplifting, and it was good to have the film-makers, fathers and children featured in the audience. It presented very positive role-models for fathers and their children, and I found it refreshing.

To be continued…

On Saturday 22 January 2011 the Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre (Leicester) is hosting the first DocFilm Festival in the city. This is being organised by my friend John Coster and Citizens Eye. If you live in Leicester, maybe you can come along for all or part of the day. It runs from 11:30 to 23:30, and there is live music in the evening. Plans are already in hand for the DocFilm Festival in 2012 over 3 days!

As I cycled across Leicester today, to attend a weekly meeting of the University of Leicester Chaplaincy, I was thinking about the gears on my mountain bike (21 by the way, but I generally only use the middle 7). The gears, of course, are known as derailleur gears, and that got me thinking about the title of the classic rock album by Cream.

The title of the album was taken from an inside joke. Eric Clapton had been thinking of buying a racing bicycle and was discussing it with Ginger Baker, when a roadie named Mick Turner commented, “it’s got them Disraeli Gears”, meaning to say “derailleur gears,” but instead alluding to 19th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The band thought this was hilarious, and decided that it should be the title of their next album. Had it not been for Mick’s turn of phrase, the album would simply have been entitled “Cream.” (Wikipedia)

Incidentally, the album contains the track Sunshine of Your Love which is largely responsible my interest in rock music after I heard it covered by a school rock band called “The Dark” in Northampton. With hindsight I should have bought the album they released, because I heard a few years ago it had become a collectable!

While walking into Leicester city centre after a helpful strategy meeting (and excellent lunch) at the University of Leicester Chaplaincy, I popped into the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery to revisit the exhibition in the title of this post. German artist Gerhard Richter is considered to be one of the most important living painters in the world. Much of his work has been an exploration of how photography has changed the nature of painting, and this is reflected in the exhibition. His work asks questions about the relationship between the subjects of the work and the paint or photography through which they are presented to the audience. Click on the links in the text for more information and click here for Gerhard Richter’s website. The exhibition continues until Sunday 27 February 2011.