Message

The monthly message from one of the clergy that is published in Outlook

The Abandonment of Excellence

As I write this letter, the news that the MS Society is to put Woodlands up for sale has just been reported in the press and local radio. The reason given is to improve the spread of the Society's financial resources across a greater area of the country and to give those with MS greater choice of how money should be used to help them. At two meetings in Woodlands with staff and volunteers, the representatives from the Society reported that the survey it had conducted among 200 people with MS had shown that most who responded preferred to make choices for their respite care in other ways. What was not made clear was how many respondents had actually experienced the respite care centres and what level of disability they had. Woodlands supports those with the most severe forms of the disease. A number of these people would be unable to complete such a survey.

I have yet to meet anyone who rejoiced at this news. Reactions have ranged from outright anger, disbelief, shock and weeping. It is like a sudden bereavement. There is huge concern for the vulnerable guests and their carers for whom Woodlands has been a life-line.

The immediate future was sketched out to those present at the meetings. The Centre will continue to function as normal for 2010 but the MS Society will be actively looking for 'another group' to take over and buy them out. If this does not happen by the end of 2011, the Centre will be forced to close. The land on which Woodlands is built has a Covenant on it and so it cannot be used for anything other than providing care for those who need it.

In the ten years I have been going into Woodlands I have been very privileged to be a part of a community of staff, volunteers and guests which has functioned like a family. Woodlands has a very high occupancy rate and its standard of care is exceptional. Across York, and particularly here in Heslington parish, there is a degree of commitment to Woodlands and the guests who come which would be virtually impossible to quantify in any statistical survey. Many in this local area have been involved with Woodlands since it opened nearly twenty years ago.

I understand the MS Society's desire to ensure that there is a fairer distribution of its funds but it seems hard to understand that they are planning to sacrifice a facility which has brought so much into the lives of such vulnerable people, the very people the Society is designed to help. I hope that by the time you are reading this letter, some formula for saving Woodlands from closure can have been found.

Nancy Eckersley

I have had a request to keep the following message from Rory on the website because several people have found it both profound and helpful - Webmaster.

Dear friends,

It is a strange thing living in a country that has been at war since early in 2003 and it seems as if it will be for some time to come.

When we fight, we do so for what we believe to be right and good, for ourselves, for others and usually as a last resort. People on different sides of the same conflict are equally convinced that their reasons for fighting are legitimate and even praiseworthy.

Violence destroys life, whatever form it takes. People suffer and the lasting legacy of armed conflict takes years and decades to be erased from the landscape, but it seems never to leave the hearts and lives of those caught up in it as it happens. It has been horrible living with the images and stories of the suffering in Iraq, in Sudan, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan. And closer to home in the recent past, in Northern Ireland and in my homeland, South Africa.

Why mention these places specifically? Because a common thread runs through them all. All this violence is committed in the name of God. The problem is that in many cases both sides think that God is on their side. That there is some divine sanction that makes fighting right. Religion and faith are the cornerstones of these conflicts. Well, God simply has no favourites. The sooner the world realises that the better.

The song that the angels sang to the shepherds that first Christmas was one of peace and goodwill amongst all people. God arrived into humankind with a message of reconciliation, of healing and friendship. This is God's deepest desire. Anyone who says that they act violently on behalf of God must be measured against this. Human history tells us how wrong they can be.

The world we live in needs peacemakers. Not politicians and diplomats who negotiate tolerance, but those who help us find each other, respect each other, give life to each other. Jesus tells us quite clearly that within the Christian faith, we are these people. We cannot ignore this as we celebrate our way through the Christmas season. Whatever each of us believes to be true about God, the challenge remains the same. Are we up for it?

Take care.

Rory