DIARY P.D. JAMES
Anong the responses to John Gum- mer's Spectator article on women priests and his strictures on the revised liturgy of the Church of England was a letter in the Guardian from a clergyman in Lichfield stating that `those of us who have to stand up each week in front of a church full of people less intellectually able and aestheti- cally pretentious than Mr Gummer ... are very grateful for the "Tesco-speak" ver- sions of the Bible because there are fewer and fewer people who understand the Old Curiosity Shop version'. He pointed out that churches which use the new translations are usually fuller than those who don't and ended, 'Perhaps this is Mr Gummer's worry: people who can understand and put into practice the teaching of the Bible are more of a threat to the status quo than those who just like mouthing the words.' I had not realised that I had for the last 65 years been merely mouthing Cranmer's words, nor that the main purpose of wor- ship was to threaten the status quo. But I congratulate the gentleman concerned on his economy in managing to embody in one short letter so much that many find dis- tressing about the present state of the Church of England. Meanwhile, other mouthers of the words might like to be reminded of plans to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of William Tyndale on 6 October 1994. Following the initiative by Sir Edward Pickering of Times Newspa- pers Ltd., a committee has been set up and it is hoped worthily to commemorate a man whose translations of the New Testament and part of the Old entitled him to be regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in the development of our literature, liturgy and language. Sir Edward has written to the appropriate authorities in the hope that a commemora- tive stamp will be authorised. There was no stamp to celebrate Archbishop Cranmer's quincentenary in 1989. We must hope that Tyndale won't be similarly neglected.
Isometimes amuse myself by imagining what great figures from the past would say if confronted with certain events and phe- nomena from modern life; Wellington exposed to Desert Storm, Mrs Gaskell to an episode from Eldorado, Shakespeare to one of our more innovative director's inter- pretations of Hamlet. any of the great Vic- torian philanthropists, a Wilberforce or Shaftesbury, to the television pictures of our recent inner-city riots, the cars over- turned and fired, the violence and the loot- ing. They would probably enquire from what appalling slums of degradation these young people came. I wonder what their response would be when I told them that the hooligans were not homeless, although
they lived in dull streets of drab uniformity, that they had received free education to the age of 16, and had opportunities at evening classes at colleges for further education, that they had benefited all their lives from a free health service, that there was a tele- vision screen in their homes which not only provided constant entertainment, but showed them appalling misery and mass starvation in other parts of the world. My visitors might enquire whether anyone had taught them their catechism, a question which is probably no more irrelevant than some of the theories which are put forward to explain young male aggression.
Apparently there are now as many counsellors as there are patients suffering from 'Aids. I'm sure all of them are giving useful help, but some illnesses are certainly more fashionable as well as more terrible than others and I wonder how many arthritics receive counselling while waiting for their knee or hip replacements. The police are counselled after dealing with fatal road-accidents, as are the survivors of mass disasters and the bereaved, and since 'He's very embarrassed at being linked with Tiny Rowland. . counselling has now apparently become so traumatic the counsellors themselves need counselling, a sequence which could go on almost indefinitely. I prefer not to believe a recent report that a primary school teacher is prepared to reintroduce competitive games providing there is counselling for the losing side. Should unsuccessful athletes at Barcelona be counselled, I wonder, and if so, individually or on a group basis? Coun- selling is certainly a growth industry, and I wonder whether this is because in a secular age people no longer seek solace from a priest or minister, or whether it reflects our greater isolation and loneliness and our inability to communicate with those closest to us. During the last war, there was no counselling as far as I remember, either for the bereaved or those bombed out, or for returning prisoners of war, although some of the latter, particularly those who were prisoners of the Japanese, might perhaps have benefited from it. But it must surely be difficult to accept counselling from someone who hasn't himself or herself experienced the trauma. This is why sup- port groups, such as Cruse for widows or Alcoholics Anonymous, are helpful: at least the people who join know what they are talking about. One of the worst tragedies human beings can experience is to lose a child, but if this happened to me I don't see what help I could get from the visit of a stranger whose children were alive and well. At the heart of it all seems to lie our modern belief that life is intended to be pain-free and that when it isn't something ought to be done about it. Could this be part of the reason for the tragic rise in young suicides: the belief that to be miser- able is not only unnatural but somehow wicked? Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children is the knowl- edge that some unhappiness is inseparable from being human, and the strength to cope with unhappiness when it comes. But perhaps counsellors would say that is pre- cisely what they are trying to do.
One disadvantage of liking to live in period houses is that they crack, bulge, slip and occasionally fall down, particularly when built on London clay. Part of the ceil- ing in my London house has just narrowlY missed my secretary and we are facing some weeks of mess and disruption. I am grateful to have a builder who comes when he promises, stays until the job is done, doesn't drink, smoke or require the con- stant blare of pop music nor moan and suck his teeth when a job brings more difficulty than expected, and who tidies up before he leaves. No, it is no use writing for his name and address. I have enough work to keep him busy for the foreseeable future.
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