jonmagee's Open Salon Blog

Honour to world war leader, given in music

Sun, 3 Oct 2010 08:10:09 -0400

Born 136 years ago, the man who inspired Britain to victory in the Second World War, Sir Winston Churchill, is also the oldest person to make the pop charts.

'Winnie' is one of the performers in Reach for the Skies, the official album of the Battle of Britain, which has soared to No.4 just one week after its release.

Such is its appeal it has even outsold other new albums by pop and rock legends Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Neil Young.

Released to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the battle, Reach For the Skies features the Central Band of the RAF and some of Churchill's most rousing speeches from 1940.

'The Few' and 'Their Finest Hour' are set against (approriately reverential) music for the first time.

The album also includes war classics such as the Dambusters March, Battle of Britain March and 633 Squadron. It is dedicated to 'The Few'.

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot said: "It is great that to a long list of Official Chart stars including Elvis, Madonna, Cliff and The Beatles, we can now add Winston Churchill.

"It is also a tribute to the amazing sacrifices of our servicemen that the British public have bought this RAF album in such large numbers."

Dickon Stainer, president of record label Decca, added: "Churchill's speeches are as potent today as they were 70 years ago when they motivated the RAF to one of the greatest victories in British history."

Any body got a room for Christmas?

Sat, 2 Oct 2010 14:10:24 -0400

The following arrived in an email. I know that not everyone shares the same theological position, and some are very sensitive about posts that lean in a Christian direction. However, I still thought that this would be something that some would appreciate if it was copy and pasted here.

No room in the inn for Jesus 2000 years ago, but even room for a dog in this scene of Jesus.

(Yes, I know its not christmas yet, but, well, if the shops can be selling now why not the rest of us ....lol)

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard.

During the night the folks came across this scene.

An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep.

He chose baby Jesus as his comfort.

No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night.

    We should all have the good sense of this dog and curl up in Jesus' lap from time to time.

This is too sweet not to share.
No one mentioned that the dog breed is a "shepherd!"

BABY HEART "FIRST". Operation on day - old girl!!

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:09:43 -0400

Another day of discovering the clippings kept by my late mother. Two newspapers with similar headlines. Both of them are reporting the same story.

The Daily Mail has the headline "One day old baby saved in major heart operation", with a sub heading declaring "It was a tremendous piece of surgery. A few years ago she would have died".

The Belfast Telegraph in Northern Ireland has the head line seen in the title above.

BABY HEART "FIRST". Operation on day - old girl!!

In the 1970's the regular news in Ireland was of death and violence as terrorism took its toll on innocent life. But these headlines, dated in November 1977 took news in a different direction. It was a message of hope in a world of hopelessness.

The story recounts how Professor Philip Caves, aged 37, a native of Belfast, performed this operation in Glasgow on a baby one day old. One can sense how delicate this operation was as they described the heart being operated on was a mere 3 inches in size, and it "was so tiny it was like mending a watch".

The baby was born in a small hospital in the north of Scotland in Elgin, before taking the journey first to Aberdeen, and then flying by helicopter to Glasgow. The 3rd daughter of an Electronic Technician in the air force and his wife.

Hope, in the midst of what seemed impossible!

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Those were the headlines, the public face of what was happening in November 1977. What about the private moments away from the glare of the media? A father and mother, talking through those anxious moments. A sea change of emotions through those brief days. The elation of new life, the puzzlement at the added interest the staff was taking in the maternity unit, the anxiety and concern, realising that life can be so fragile.

There were the moments of tears, along with the times of encouragement as humanity showed its caring face, encouraging and consoling in times of uncertainty. Always hoping against hope, though knowing the worst thoughts can always be possible.

The operation was a success, and Professor Caves did a wonderful job. Yet at 3 days of age the baby of hope was to come to the end of her short life, not because the operation was a failure, far from it, but because a further heart defect undiagnosed had emerged.

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Faith Dawn Magee, as the baby was called, was OUR baby, our 3rd daughter. It is therefore, for us, more than a headline in the media. I remember hearing those words that no parent wishes to hear, and taking that long walk to the room where my wife was as a patient, wondering how I should share the news.

These are situations that have no clear answers. Later we were to discover that this all resulted from Diabetes that only appeared through pregnancy, but there will always be questions that have no answers.

Yet there are some positive things that we cling to. We know the operation was a success, and we are concious of the amount of time and effort was given to that wee life. We are aware that much was learnt fom those few days which have been the means of giving life to other wee children. And though there are questions that are never answered we know that we could not have moved on in our lives without the confidence that we sensed that we were not alone, and in our faith we felt the comfort of the God who gave to us life, albeit for a short time, in our own wee baby, Faith.

He promised He would never leave us, and for us that was more than a scriptural verse open to debate beween those of differring persuassions, it was our experience.

Paradise island, heavenly journey............ danger at sea!

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:08:08 -0400

We live in an age when we can journey the world with such ease. The story of "Paradise island, heavenly journey" is set at a time when that was not the case. As a family our journey to the Far East was by ship, voyaging over a number of weeks. I was the youngest of six children, dad would often have gone ahead to attend to his duties. Mum would be left to care for the 6 of us on her own in the middle of the ocean. Believe me, that was quite a handful. There are many incidents that can come to mind in that context, including the family facing the prospect of the need of the lifeboats. The exerpt today reflects some of that story:

"There was a fire on board! This was not merely a practice, came the repeated message, this was for real! The thought sprung through the mind, what an inconsiderate timing, but the reality is that disasters will often spring forth at the most inconsiderate of times, at a time when it was least expected."

Mum had been in the bathroom as the alarm sounded, and someone else was responsible to see we all arrived on the upper deck.

"Violet would have wanted to be with her children, but she realized that for their safety it was equally imperative that she allowed someone else to accept the delegation of responsibility, rather than them waiting till she was ready.

She could hear people moving out from their cabins, and then heading along the corridor towards the lifeboat deck. As they passed by, Violet could visualise the routine that they were all going through, having attended so many life boat drills during her various voyages. She had been there so many times that she could have gone through the motions even in her sleep. As the passengers and crew assembled underneath the lifeboats, one group to the port side and another group to the starboard, their names would be called out from the official passenger list. The deck officer in charge of each lifeboat verified the names to make sure that nobody was missing."

"Violet appeared to be the last passenger to make her way along that deserted corridor to safety. Panic seemed to be the order of the day as she arrived on the deck as many people appeared out of control in the midst of fear and distress, and some of them were seen to have dashed hurriedly on deck in all manner of state of dress, with some merely wearing a towel that was wrapped loosely around them!"

"As she looked at each of them, she began to be filled with alarm with the discovery she made. One of the children was missing! Even with six children, a mother soon knows that one of her own is missing. There was no doubt in her mind, she had looked at each one of them in turn and only five faces could be seen returning her concerned looks. She called across to Margot, “Where is everyone? Where is your brother? I cannot see him anywhere!” He was missing!"

"Timing was of the essence, the saving of a young boys life depended on it. She was a mother, and any mother would no doubt have reacted in much the same way when realizing that she had a child that was in danger. The first hurdle, however, was to find a way of getting past the crew that was guarding the doorway back into the heart of the ailing ship. No one was permitted to return in that direction. Violet was small in stature, some four foot ten inches, and slightly built, but not one member of the crew were big enough to prevent her going through, no matter how huge they may have been in terms of physical stature. She was small, but the words vertically challenged did not seem to be appropriate as she challenged the seamen that lay before her. They were a human barrier between her and the child she was missing, but in this moment in time she was determined they would not remain as a barrier, they were merely hurdles that were placed there for her to overcome.

Physical stature is not everything when confronted with such a desperate situation as this. The crew explained to her that there will soon come a time when the door will be shut. The whole area she was seeking to reach would be completely sealed off. No one will be able to move such heavy doors which are designed to keep any flood water contained to one part of the ship, as well as acting as a break against the spread of any fires that may possibly develop. If that happens whilst she is situated on the wrong side of the doors then there is little hope for her survival.

A mother’s love will always put everything into a different perspective. George Bernard Shaw once said.

The risks were clear and real. Would she find the child? Would they both make it back to the lifeboats before the heavy doors completely blocked the way to hope?

http://open.salon.com/blog/jonmagee/2010/08/26/paradise_island_heavenly_journey

http://open.salon.com/blog/jonmagee/2010/08/29/paradise_island_heavenly_journey_an_introduction

Paradise island, heavenly journey, an introduction.

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:08:36 -0400

Over the next few days, I shall be posting extracts from my latest book, "Paradise island, heavenly journey". My last post gave the comments of others who have already read my work. Here is the introduction. Next will include, well, why dont you take a peek and see when it arrives. So, the introduction to "Paradise island, heavenly journey".

Introduction

My previous book, “From barren rocks ... to living stones”, majored upon my experiences regarding the events in Aden in nineteen sixty six and nineteen sixty seven during the terrorism of the time and the major British evacuation in nineteen sixty seven. These were major historical land marks, but it was the people who made the story so real. “Paradise Island, heavenly journey” looks back to the experiences in the Far East in the nineteen fifties. I was far younger, but history was still the issue, surrounded by people who had adult concerns following the Second World War. It is the stories of the people that will be found within this book.

“Paradise Island, heavenly journey” seeks to draw out some of those personal stories that puts the meat into the years lived out in the world, the real history that exceeds the isolation of politics on their own.

Someone rightly said that no man is an island. We see the wealth of our personal stories as we see how we interact with each other, and as the stories of those we have walked the journey of life with reveal how we each have some influence upon each other. We have a story to tell because the story of another has guided us onto a new milestone of life. This book speaks of my early life and the family I grew up with, but it also will draw on the stories of those who touched our lives as individuals and also as a family.

During my own schooling, history meant nothing to me for many years. It was merely a dry catalogue of dates and statistics that seemed, to me, to be so boring. That was to change with the arrival of a new teacher to the school. He brought a new approach to the class room which opened my eyes to the present day relevance of all that was taught. His excitement as he spoke of the story was evident, and it was as if he lived out every detail of the story for himself, a real person at the centre of the events. At that moment, there was a new dimension that had arrived on the horizon for me. Immediately the realisation was there, this was about real people, just as today must be looked back on by our descendents recognising our lives and aspirations as people must always be paramount to their study. This is the heart of the excitement that can be ours today as we reflect upon the past.

http://open.salon.com/blog/jonmagee/2010/08/26/paradise_island_heavenly_journey

http://open.salon.com/blog/jonmagee/2010/08/29/paradise_island_heavenly_journey_danger_at_sea