• Predictions for 2024

    1. General Election in UK – Labour landslide. PM – Sir Keir Starmer. (No great change in policies from the Tory government that Labour will replace).
    2. US politics will continue to be dominated by Donald Trump
    3. In the US Presidential election in November there will be victory for the Republican Party.
    4. AI/Deepfakes have a significant effect in electoral politics.
    5. Conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine unresolved by end of 2024.
    6. No progress for those wanting marriage equality in the Church of England.
    7. Twitter goes bust or is sold or both.
    8. The world will be warmer in 2024 than ever before.
    9. Another country will join Nato.
    10. A new agreement is reached between the UK and Greece on the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles that opens the door for at least some of them to be displayed in Athens.

8 responses to “Guides and God”

  1. Tim Avatar

    I like the change from `country’ to `community’ most of all.

  2. PamB Avatar
    PamB

    I still remember my Brownie and Guide promises, but think that the Chorister’s prayer takes a lot of beating.
    Bless O Lord us thy servants who minister in thy temple. Grant that what we sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and what we believe in our hearts we may show forth in our lives, through etc, etc.
    Don’t know why this isn’t an essential part of the Voice for life scheme, same as the Brownie/guide equivalents are to their development process.

  3. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    The only one of the above I could take (Pam’s chorister’s apart) without serious finger-crossing is the Rainbow pledge. I MIGHT want to serve my community, but it would usually be by challenging it, and that is, based on childhood experiences and why I never got to play Mary in the nativity play (despite being in every other way well qualified) that is NOT what people want from children, generally. Or adults, by and large.

  4. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    > To be true to myself and develop my beliefs,

    This is meaningless. Beliefs, in themselves, are neither good nor bad. Nor are all beliefs equally valid or moral – people can have horrible beliefs.

  5. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Indeed Robin -and similarly, on occasion setting about me with a mace would have been being true to myself, and not a good thing to do, but THINKING about what one believes, and being kind and helpful … yes, let’s stick with the Rainbows.

  6. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    Agreed. I like the Rainbow pledge.

  7. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Yup – promise less, deliver more. Way to go.

  8. Erp Avatar
    Erp

    Don’t forget these also go with the Brownie and Guide Laws (the Rainbows don’t have a separate law)

    Brownie law
    * A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a good turn every day.

    Guide law
    A Guide is honest, reliable and can be trusted.
    A Guide is helpful and uses her time and abilities wisely.
    A Guide faces challenges and learns from her experiences.
    A Guide is a good friend and a sister to all Guides.
    A Guide is polite and considerate.
    A Guide respects all living things and takes care of the world around her.

    What I like is the organization consulted with the Guides and even the Brownies when considering changes to the promises and not just those over 18.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Should there be missile strikes on Syria?

    It has taken me a little while to work out whether or not missile strikes against Syria are justified by the UK at the moment. It seems to me that there are quite a lot of people who don’t seem to need to take their time and know instinctively that military action either should or…

  • Easter Sermon

    A number of years ago, I was put in charge of the Information and Communications Board of the Scottish Episcopal Church. This meant that I was in charge of trying to formulate the church’s internal news and helping to work out our message to the outside world. I think it was fair to say that…

  • Good Friday Preaching – The Servant Girl

      The truth is, I only really noticed her on Sunday. I’ve never payed her the blindest bit of attention before. I guess no-one ever did. The servant girl who answered Peter back. She’s a woman in John’s gospel but a servant girl in the version that Matthew and Cedric were watching on Sunday. There’s…

  • Why Billy Graham’s legacy is complex

    News appeared this afternoon that Billy Graham had died at the age of 99. The significance of this moment is clear – he was someone who lived an extraordinary long life, met the great and the good of all the world, changed the lives of countless thousands who were not the great and the good…