Post #49
August 4, 2021
Claire Bodanis
On the eve of her summer holiday, Claire remembers what this blog is really all about. You, our readers.
‘In Scotland for August, hurrah!’ is my cheery response, when people ask what I’m up to for the summer holidays. And I thought I’d get away with no blog this week, since you’d all assume I was off already instead of departing at the end of the week. But, as sometimes happens when I’m in a sinning mood, I’m brought to task in the gentlest of ways by the coincidence (or divine intervention, depending on your persuasion) of something that pricks my conscience while I’m drowsing in my pew on a Sunday morning.
As many of you blog readers will know, our non-stipendiary priest is a particularly kick-ass lady, whose day job is being a partner in a City law firm. So her sermons are always of the down-to-earth, what-does-this-all-mean-for-our-daily-lives type – compelling listening, however sloth-like one is feeling. And she gets her point across in a persuasive rather than a finger-pointing manner. (Hmmm, perhaps I should recruit her for some annual report writing! I digress.)
Anyway, this last Sunday I was in a particularly un-Christian frame of mind. ‘Why does everyone want something all the time?’ I complained to myself. ‘Why do I have to do it all? What thanks do I get? Why do I bother?’ You get the idea.
Cue the Gospel reading, which was the lesser-known follow-up to the famous loaves and fishes story, in which Jesus feeds the 5,000 with five loaves and a couple of fish, everyone stuffs themselves and there’s still plenty left over. The follow-up story – which I must confess I’d forgotten, or perhaps never even remembered in the first place – is actually an acute observation on human nature. What happens? Instead of being grateful, and recognising the miracle for what it was, the crowd chases after Jesus wanting another ‘sign’ (yup, more bread, more fish). And, as our priest pointed out, if we’re feeling harassed and unappreciated in our own lives, just imagine a crowd of 5,000 chasing after you, all clamouring for a fish-finger sandwich.
This cheered me up in two ways. First, by making me realise that, in the grand scheme of things, my burdens are pretty small compared with so many others who have far more difficult demands made of them, particularly with the pandemic still upsetting so many lives. And second, it reminded me to look outwards, not inwards: what am I grateful for, instead of who should be grateful to me?
Which brings me back to you, lovely blog readers. Over the years, many of you have thanked me and said kind things about this blog, so it’s easy to think of it as a service FW is giving to you – particularly when it’s spreading the word about something new and/or useful in reporting. But, if I’m honest with myself, I get at least as much – far more, no doubt – out of writing it than you get out of reading it.
I like writing. I like saying what I think (no surprises there). I like the discipline of the monthly demand (yes, demand!) to find something useful to contribute to furthering the cause of good reporting. And, as almost all writers will confess in their hearts, if not in public, I like my writing to be read.
So, as I wind down for the holidays, I decided to write an August blog after all. Not to contribute anything thought-provoking, or clever, or witty, or even that useful. Rather, simply to say thank you, FW blog readers, for your loyal and supportive following, and to wish you a very happy and peaceful summer holiday.
PS I will be on holiday until the very end of August, so there’s no September blog (first Wednesday being also September 1st). So please look out for the next blog on Wednesday 6th October, which I promise you will be about reporting, and (I hope) will be useful and interesting too.