We have just got back from the first drinks party of the year. More to come. Before going I did two Advent Masses so I was fairly tired when I got there but it was well worth the effort. The house had belonged to a friend's mother. It sits on a bend of the creek at St Just, looking out to sea on one side and up to the bar on the other. Its in the most perfect position imaginable and is very beautiful. It has been renovated of course as have most of the homes in and around this area.
Now is the time to admit that almost everyone round here has money. Recession seems unlikely to do more than stir the surface but you never know.
A few years ago a new couple moved in and instantly joined everything, all the clubs, bought a boat, and settled down to a joyful life of social activity.
They had a lovely five years and then were found dead one morning by their cleaner. The suicide note was stark. They had run out of money. Fearing they could no longer operate socially and owing money to people was too much for them to bear but the note went on to say that they had always known they hadn't enough, they just decided to enjoy themselves and then go together.
This shocked me more than I could ever say. No one has ever criticised them in my hearing and got away with it. It was long before I became a priest but even now I wonder if one of us could have done anything.
Events like today alway are very enjoyable but they do accentuate the difference between the very rich and the not so rich.
Living in a community like this would suggest that you have to be rich to live here but this does not apply to the people born here. Any funeral I take for someone who was born and bred here is crammed with people I never see at any other time. They are all there but often do not ever come to church unless someone dies.
My Catholic friend Father Terence has noticed the same thing. It is our stated aim and a common concern that we must somehow try to bring these two separate communities together.
We have a long way to go.
5 comments:
...and you have taken some significant first steps already - just by talking about it!
Precisely, as David said. Also time to talk to pub landlords, police, local shops etc.
What you describe is common to most communities around the country. Within our urban village you can see where the wealthy live and where those well off live. Larger houses, well maintained and kept and bigger cars. However, it seems from your experience that appearance is not all, who knows what debt is hidden by a picture of affluence.
Living on a pension has shown me over the last year or so, that luxuries which I thought nothing of while working, are now just that, a luxury. And I am much more careful on how and where I spend - as I am unable to afford the type of lifestyle I enjoyed previously.
And, I have a reasonable government pension, how those who only have the state pension survive is beyond me, I can only presume that they are reliant on benefits in one form or another.
We intend to move to be closer to our Parish in Canterbury in a few years time - our question will be, can we actually afford to live there. Housing is at London prices - being snapped up by commuters and housing for those born locally is un-affordable. Social housing is a dirty word and is not being built to satisfy the need.
We also have the issue of people coming into church for births,marriages and deaths, but we look on this as an opportunity for evangelism, gently, but with the hope that our encounters will result in some commitment. So far, it seems to be working - several couple recently married due to a family connection, have become regular attenders and we are seeing more baptisms. It will be interesting to see if this feeds through to the next generation.
It sounds as though things have not changed a lot in the 28 years since I lived in a tiny village in the Cotswolds. Then, there were the villagers who frequented the pubs, had kids in the village school, and attended the church across the road. There were also a few "gentry" who lived the life you are describing, but who also gave parties, and went to the races, and ate at the ever so expensive hotels. We were fortunate because, as USAF Americans, we were accepted by both groups, and made friends easily in both camps. We rented our house (one third of the old manor) from Lord Rotherwick of Charlbury. The two cottages on the lane and another third of our house were occupied by pensioners who had worked all their lives on the estate. The other third of the house was occupied by one of the Lord's overseers. Even then I could tell that the pensioners were strapped for money, but they at least had a place to live. I would love to return and see how our village has fared.
Thank you for your comments....and even more for your positive suggestions. I am firmly now entrenched in the middle of the great divide. My role as a school governor brings me in touch with both the affluent and the less than affluent side of the village. I do already meet the local fishermen and farm workers when I go for a drink in my local. I still visit some of the bereaved whose partners I've buried. Most importantly I go to the "Golden Age" club to talk to them and to eat with them..they supply wonderful pies and cakes and they are all true locals. I am fully accepted by them all.....BUT I cant get them into church. This Sunday will be an exception. They turn out in force for the Christingle! Mostly because I spend Friday afternoon in school making them with them.
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