Canon Chris Chivers, the Cathedral's Canon Chancellor and the director of exChange, the cathedral's community cohesion and interfaith development agency, explores signs of an intergenerational and cultural crisis.
The other evening I went to the Lowry in Salford where they're showing Rafta, Rafta at the moment.
It's a reworking by Ayub Khan-Din - the author of the East is East screenplay - of Bill Naughton's play, All in good time.
What goes around comes around, so they say.
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Bill Naughton told a story based on what he saw in the white working class communities of Bolton where he grew up, a story about a young couple unable to consummate their marriage because they begin it in the confines of the groom's parents' home.
Ayub Khan-Din transfers the scenario into a contemporary Asian-British context.
Of course, in both contexts there's a huge amount of amusing mileage to be had about a scenario where young lovers are stifled by the over-protective nature of their parents.
But there's a piercing poignancy about the intergenerational issues, the different expectations and cultural mores, the lack of understanding, the confusion, the down-right hostility, at times, which emanates from a family context but which affects the whole community.
The production is superb - it was at the National Theatre for most of 2007 - with actor, Harish Patel, perhaps the pick of the bunch.
But as I left the theatre I found myself thinking how odd it was that we supposed, thirty or forty years on from Bill Naughton's play, that the issues now belonged fair and square with simply the Asian community.
That's too roughly put, of course.
But it does seem to me that in a place like Blackburn - which is predominantly a white and Asian community - there are issues here for both heritages.
Walk round our town on a Friday night and we see the cultural crisis for both communities.
Young - often very young - white girls scantily dressed - wearing less clothes in Winter, it seems, than in Summer! - 'boozed-up' and 'on the pull'.
They're teenagers of course and need to be given plenty of latitude in one sense because they're exploring their identity.
But what are they saying about themselves in terms of their own self-respect or lack of it?
What, one wonders, is the parental input here?
Are these young people able to relate to their parents and vice versa? To whom do they go for advice?
Walk around the town on a Friday night and we see young Asian men too, many of whom will have been to the Mosque at lunchtime, but who have now forsaken their 'cultural clothes' and have donned trendy, bling-decorated designer wear.
They're also 'boozed-up' and 'on the pull'.
They similarly deserve latitude as also we could ask the same questions about the inter-generational conversation in which they find themselves.
Now, this is of course social caricature. It applies to some not to all young people by all means.
And there's certainly a whole other story to be told about the amazing gifts and talents of our young people, the countless kids who offer voluntary hours to the community, the inspiration of sporting achievers and the musically-gifted in our own cathedral community for instance.
I do realise all that and spend quite a lot of my time trying to trumpet it!
So bloggers, please don't assail me with accusations of gross distortion or exaggeration!
I know that what I'm writing is exaggerated.
But as with All in good time and Rafta, rafta social caricature nonetheless holds up a mirror to reality, draws out some common threads and invites us to examine them.
Above all else it invites us to reconnect the realities as also the inconsistencies of what we're saying and doing.
That's what Lent is all about. And we're meant to do it on a community-wide not just a personal basis.
It's not meant to be about naval-gazing - we Christians are so good at that! - it's supposed to offer us the chance to get to grips with difficulties society-wide.
Are we avoiding them because we suppose that what they tell us is that our society is so out of control, people like me don't even know where to begin the conversation that might help us all to understand what's actually going on or being said?
And if we don't avoid the difficulties, what does in fact need to be said - and done - to change such a disconnected and confused culture?
Posted by: Simplysimon, Burnley on 12:12pm Fri 22 Feb 08
One of the things we humans like to do is focus on the symptoms. We grapple with the symptoms and try to invent policies and proceedures to effectively deal with them.
The behaviours of others is a common addiction. He did this, she does that, they did the other.
Life is not about them, Life is not about her, Life is not about him. Life is all about You.
You are the central character.
Of course you can help people, you can give them what they require, you can give them what they need. But sometimes we try to give them what we think they need. What we [bold]think[/bold] would be best for them.
Obviously, this method does not work. No matter what we do we cannot control everything. We cannot create a Perfect world.
We cannot create Perfection because Perfection has already been created for us. The Truth is that we have accepted the doctrine that nothing is Perfect. We have accepted that we have to wait for Perfection. We have accepted that Perfection is someone elses responsibility. We have taken 100% responsibility for war, hostility, conflict, dis-harmony. So we spend our time looking for remedies, looking for solutions to problems.
The problem is that when you fix one problem there will be another one waiting. Problems have been around a very long time. Even cave-men had problems with the neighbours.
Perfection has to be invited. It has to be courted not created. We don't have to wait for it. We need to accept our own need for it.
Every Man needs to identify his own need for Perfection. Don't wait for the government, don't wait for God, don't wait for religion, don't wait for ideal circumstances.
Within Man a need for Perfection has been placed. Identify that need and Perfection is never far away. Perfection shows up for those who can Identify that need.
One of the things we humans like to do is focus on the symptoms. We grapple with the symptoms and try to invent policies and proceedures to effectively deal with them.
The behaviours of others is a common addiction. He did this, she does that, they did the other.
Life is not about them, Life is not about her, Life is not about him. Life is all about You.
You are the central character.
Of course you can help people, you can give them what they require, you can give them what they need. But sometimes we try to give them what we think they need. What we think would be best for them.
Obviously, this method does not work. No matter what we do we cannot control everything. We cannot create a Perfect world.
We cannot create Perfection because Perfection has already been created for us. The Truth is that we have accepted the doctrine that nothing is Perfect. We have accepted that we have to wait for Perfection. We have accepted that Perfection is someone elses responsibility. We have taken 100% responsibility for war, hostility, conflict, dis-harmony. So we spend our time looking for remedies, looking for solutions to problems.
The problem is that when you fix one problem there will be another one waiting. Problems have been around a very long time. Even cave-men had problems with the neighbours.
Perfection has to be invited. It has to be courted not created. We don't have to wait for it. We need to accept our own need for it.
Every Man needs to identify his own need for Perfection. Don't wait for the government, don't wait for God, don't wait for religion, don't wait for ideal circumstances.
Within Man a need for Perfection has been placed. Identify that need and Perfection is never far away. Perfection shows up for those who can Identify that need.
Posted by: Simplysimon, Burnley on 12:36pm Fri 22 Feb 08
Mankind has become disconnected from Perfection. He is more attached to his remedies and confusions than the Clarity of Perfection.
Perfection is the Completeness of Your Heart. If the Heart is not Complete, Fullfilled, at Peace, at ease, there can be nothing but dis-ease in any community.
We need to be attentive to our own Heart. It is our Heart, our own Being, that needs our attention.
Man has learnt so much about so many other things, but has he Understood who he is.
Mankind has become disconnected from Perfection. He is more attached to his remedies and confusions than the Clarity of Perfection.
Perfection is the Completeness of Your Heart. If the Heart is not Complete, Fullfilled, at Peace, at ease, there can be nothing but dis-ease in any community.
We need to be attentive to our own Heart. It is our Heart, our own Being, that needs our attention.
Man has learnt so much about so many other things, but has he Understood who he is.
Canon Chivers,
Just to say thanks for writing this thought provoking blog. There's a lot to think about here. As a teenager myself, I can associate with this 'latitude' that is required for the development of identity, and perhaps society should look more leniently on the youth culture. After all, isn't it natural to explore who we are? Hasn't it always been the case that teenagers are viewed as being something of a problem, across history? I personally think that this fact is often overlooked.
As you identify, there are asian/white differences in teens. I find this remains marked in sixth form life, but we manage to 'live and work' with each other in the common room, and I have some great asian friends. I guess that with the current generation of asian teens becoming more your archetypal adolescent culture, society has had to shift to accommodate this new group over the past 50 years. But my point is that surely if a closed community like our sixth form manages to survive happily, then wider society should be able to also.
Canon Chivers,
Just to say thanks for writing this thought provoking blog. There's a lot to think about here. As a teenager myself, I can associate with this 'latitude' that is required for the development of identity, and perhaps society should look more leniently on the youth culture. After all, isn't it natural to explore who we are? Hasn't it always been the case that teenagers are viewed as being something of a problem, across history? I personally think that this fact is often overlooked.
As you identify, there are asian/white differences in teens. I find this remains marked in sixth form life, but we manage to 'live and work' with each other in the common room, and I have some great asian friends. I guess that with the current generation of asian teens becoming more your archetypal adolescent culture, society has had to shift to accommodate this new group over the past 50 years. But my point is that surely if a closed community like our sixth form manages to survive happily, then wider society should be able to also.
Posted by: Simplysimon, Burnley on 4:32pm Fri 22 Feb 08
Dear Tom,
Finding out who you are is the whole purpose of your Existence. Don't be put off by grown ups. They rolled over a long time ago and decided it was best to just fit in with a confused world.
That is where teenagers and so called adults interface. The new generation challenges the old way of seeing things.
Who am I? is the most fundamental quesion that needs to be addressed. Grown ups prefer to plaster over that question with a shed load of formulaes, rule books and vague notions.
A willingness to Discover your True self takes courage and humility, It takes acceptance, it requires a willingness to understand.
Not just once, but every single day of your Life. Perfection is within. Every day you can re-discover the Beauty of Perfection.
On this Journey of Self-Discovery, You are the Original and Authentic Pioneer!!
Dear Tom,
Finding out who you are is the whole purpose of your Existence. Don't be put off by grown ups. They rolled over a long time ago and decided it was best to just fit in with a confused world.
That is where teenagers and so called adults interface. The new generation challenges the old way of seeing things.
Who am I? is the most fundamental quesion that needs to be addressed. Grown ups prefer to plaster over that question with a shed load of formulaes, rule books and vague notions.
A willingness to Discover your True self takes courage and humility, It takes acceptance, it requires a willingness to understand.
Not just once, but every single day of your Life. Perfection is within. Every day you can re-discover the Beauty of Perfection.
On this Journey of Self-Discovery, You are the Original and Authentic Pioneer!!
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