Not-The-Good-News Network?

 

Today (August 12, 2020) I must confess a frisson of irritation with my Morning Jolt of Good News, a daily email I receive from the Good News Network to cheer me up, as I contemplate the other daily bulletins and botherations of life in this twenty-first century. (High among those botherations at the moment are the endless customer satisfaction surveys I’m being badgered to complete, all of which ask me to please rate the vendor involved as having “exceeded expectations” or as a “10,” and to answer an enthusiastic “YES!” to all questions as to whether or not my sales representative met my needs and discussed everything from the price of tea in China to the right way up to plant tulip bulbs in the Fall. At this particular moment: Nissan wants to know if they met my needs when they sold me my new Rogue Sport (love it BTW); the crematorium which took care of Mr. She at the end wants to know if I am satisfied with their efforts on his behalf (umm…argh); Allstate wants to know if I’m delighted with the expeditiousness with which they removed his name from the policy and wrote me a new one; Target wants to know if I’m happy with the velveteen coat hangers I bought a couple of weeks ago (not-so-much since I saw exactly the same things at Sam’s Club the other day for about one-third the price); and Staples (Staples!) would like to hear what I have to say about Avery Removable Inkjet File Folder Labels, 2/3″ x 3 7/16″, White, 30 Labels to a page. I met with my financial advisor this afternoon and told him I really hoped that PNC wouldn’t start harassing me in similar fashion about my conversation with him–he, rather shamefacedly, admitted that they probably would.)

And those are the ones that spring to mind off the top of my head. I’m sure there are plenty more.

So, this morning, I was ready for my Morning Jolt of Good News. And I thought I’d found it here.

It seems that a fellow who does wood-carving as a hobby bought a “box of stained glass” at a London auction, and when he arrived to pick it up and subsequently unpacked it, discovered that what he’d actually purchased was the stained glass windows from St. Mary’s Church in Sheffield, Yorkshire, windows which had been removed to protect them from German bombers during World War II. (Sheffield, being, like my ancestral town of Birmingham, a center of manufacturing and steel production, was a prime target for the Nazis.)

The windows, which date from the mid-19th century, are lovely. Here are some images:

So, all good, I thought. Lovely story. Windows to be returned, and appreciated, to their original home.

But, no.

Here is what ‘Reverend Claire Dawson’ said when she refused the generous offer from the purchaser to return the windows to St. Mary’s, after he had cleaned and restored them, and once he realized what they were:

“The windows are an important part of the church’s history which dates back to 1830 but, as nice as it would be to see them, so much has changed for the church for the better and it wouldn’t be practical to have them back. We are so much more than we were in 1939. We have a beautiful new window which was installed above the altar and is a celebration of the journey from the church’s beginning to the present day” [emphasis mine].

Excuse me? So much has changed for the church for the better, and “we” are so much more than we were in 1939?

What we were in 1939, Reverend Claire, were the generations, and the people, who saved your sorry future, through the course and aftermath of two World Wars whose struggles, privations, and dangers you can’t even begin to imagine, so that you could grow up in freedom and safety from dictatorship and tyranny and have the latitude to mouth vacuous, politically correct, platitudes like those above. You may have a “beautiful new window” (I haven’t sought it out; I’m not sure I even want to know), but couldn’t you at least muster up the grace to show some gratitude, and to find a way, and a space, to honor the Church, and your parishioners of 1939 and before, and their sacrifices, by putting a few pieces of the glass on display?

Shame on you.

Crimenutely. What a downer.

I might need to find a new church tradition.

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There are 26 comments.

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  1. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Wow. More and more churches are acting all woke lately, and it isn’t a good thing. What on earth is wrong with the old windows? Too many white men? Good grief.

    • #1
  2. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    I’m sorry to hear of your loss of Mr. She. May his memory be a blessing and comfort to your heart, as you navigate your life without him by your side.  

    • #2
  3. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    The young man who restored those windows has a windfall, and seems to be the best owner of those relics. 

    I feel confident the windows were divinely guided to him. 

     

    • #3
  4. She Member
    She
    @She

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    The young man who restored those windows has a windfall, and seems to be the best owner of those relics.

    I feel confident the windows were divinely guided to him.

    That is a very good way to look at it, and I think, sad as it is to say so, that you’re right.

    And thank you for your condolences and prayers.

    • #4
  5. She Member
    She
    @She

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    Wow. More and more churches are acting all woke lately, and it isn’t a good thing. What on earth is wrong with the old windows? Too many white men? Good grief.

    I suspect it’s that the windows have an explicitly religious theme.   Would not be surprised if the modern window is much more incoherent, that is to say, “diverse” and “inclusive.”

    • #5
  6. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    My, my, my.

    • #6
  7. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    History just doesn’t ring for some people they way it does for others. I don’t know what is wrong with them.

    • #7
  8. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    She (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    Wow. More and more churches are acting all woke lately, and it isn’t a good thing. What on earth is wrong with the old windows? Too many white men? Good grief.

    I suspect it’s that the windows have an explicitly religious theme. Would not be surprised if the modern window is much more incoherent, that is to say, “diverse” and “inclusive.”

    Cast not your pearls upon swine. They sacred relics will find their proper home, if they have not find it in their restorer. 

    I actually find some comfort in this story of discarded items finding appropriate reverence in a new home. 

    • #8
  9. Al French of Damascus Moderator
    Al French of Damascus
    @AlFrench

    Crimenutely is right. 

    • #9
  10. JoelB Member
    JoelB
    @JoelB

    Well, better that the windows remain with one who appreciates them rather than having them stuck in a storage room somewhere unknown and unappreciated.

    As far as the “how did we do?” surveys, this too shall pass.

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    At least the young man will love having them. Good for him!

    • #11
  12. She Member
    She
    @She

    JoelB (View Comment):
    As far as the “how did we do?” surveys, this too shall pass.

    At least they make a change from the endless torrent of junk email from everyone I’ve ever done business with telling me that in this time of ‘national crisis’ and ‘global pandemic,’ they really care about me and are doing everything they possibly can to make absolutely sure I stay safe.  I’m not exactly sure what that means when it comes from the folks who make the little water fountain I bought to entertain the cats a few months ago, but I’m glad they’re on the case.

    • #12
  13. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    She (View Comment):

    RightAngles (View Comment):

    Wow. More and more churches are acting all woke lately, and it isn’t a good thing. What on earth is wrong with the old windows? Too many white men? Good grief.

    I suspect it’s that the windows have an explicitly religious theme. Would not be surprised if the modern window is much more incoherent, that is to say, “diverse” and “inclusive.”

    So let me get this straight: A church declines to display something on the grounds that it’s too religious. Okay. Who is in charge around here?

    • #13
  14. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    She (View Comment):

    JoelB (View Comment):
    As far as the “how did we do?” surveys, this too shall pass.

    At least they make a change from the endless torrent of junk email from everyone I’ve ever done business with telling me that in this time of ‘national crisis’ and ‘global pandemic,’ they really care about me and are doing everything they possibly can to make absolutely sure I stay safe. I’m not exactly sure what that means when it comes from the folks who make the little water fountain I bought to entertain the cats a few months ago, but I’m glad they’re on the case.

    It’s so ridiculous. When BLM blew up (literally in places), I got an email from High Country Gardens that they were supportive and were adjusting their business accordingly. ??? 

    I bought Dog Tuff grass plugs from them in 2018. I don’t give a rat’s patootie what they think about BLM. Get over yourselves!

    • #14
  15. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I used to sit and watch history documentaries with my dad. One of them was on the construction of the Pyramids.

    “Dad, are we smarter than they were?”

    “Nope. We have more technology, which was built on older technology, which was built on technology older than that. But things that were true then are true today. You still can’t push a rope.”

    • #15
  16. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    The stupid endless surveys are part and parcel of every company creating a wretched “Quality Policy” that, by way of ISO standards their malodorous kin, require that complaint (and that is such an apt word – compliant…. might as well say “housebroken” or “whipped”) companies routinely assess “customer satisfaction”, record that they have done so, achieve some minimal % of customer response, and then act on that data to achieve “Continuous Improvement” (which also must be documented – “The Revolution is always marching forward!”).

    Which has led me to adopt as my informal slogan “mention your 6-Sigma black belt to me one more time and I’ll hang you with it!”

    • #16
  17. She Member
    She
    @She

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    The stupid endless surveys are part and parcel of every company creating a wretched “Quality Policy” that, by way of ISO standards their malodorous kin, require that complaint (and that is such an apt word – compliant…. might as well say “housebroken” or “whipped”) companies routinely assess “customer satisfaction”, record that they have done so, achieve some minimal % of customer response, and then act on that data to achieve “Continuous Improvement” (which also must be documented – “The Revolution is always marching forward!”).

    Which has led me to adopt as my informal slogan “mention your 6-Sigma black belt to me one more time and I’ll hang you with it!”

    Oh, I know all about the surveys–cannot tell you how many hours, days, weeks, months of my life I’ve wasted sitting in seminars on  “Total Quality Management,” or “Managed Quality Improvement,” or “Improved Total Quality,” or some other such nonsense. Every few years, every hospital I ever worked at “discovered” the Next Best Thing, and off we went.  And the measure of each of them was the patient satisfaction survey, which, as @skipsul notes above, became part of the accreditation and compliance program.  (Pro Tip:  The Emergency Department is always the area with which the patients are “least satisfied,” followed by Nutritional Services.  Usually the problem is poor communication for the one, and tasteless food for the other.  It’s not rocket science.

    I have very little patience with such things.  My general attitude is, “if you don’t hear from me you may assume that I’m completely satisfied, because, by gum, you’ll know if you’ve screwed up in any way.”  I suppose there are many who aren’t quite as, umm . . . assertive . . . as I am about such things, and maybe this process helps them, but given the pressure that’s put on customers to fill them out with 10’s and “yes” all over the place, I should think those timid folks just get rolled over anyway.

     

    • #17
  18. Tiomoid of Angle Inactive
    Tiomoid of Angle
    @TiomoidofAngle

    You have the right attitude for Orthodox Christianity. Read the Swimming the Bosphorus articles in National Review by Jon Gabriel for a taste … and then Come And See!

    • #18
  19. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    She (View Comment):
    Oh, I know all about the surveys–cannot tell you how many hours, days, weeks, months of my life I’ve wasted sitting in seminars on “Total Quality Management,” or “Managed Quality Improvement,” or “Improved Total Quality,” or some other such nonsense. Every few years, every hospital I ever worked at “discovered” the Next Best Thing, and off we went.

    Now I’m having flashbacks.

    • #19
  20. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Tiomoid of Angle (View Comment):
    Read the Swimming the Bosphorus articles in National Review by Jon Gabriel for a taste … and then Come And See!

    You mean Ricochet’s Editor-in-Chief?

    • #20
  21. She Member
    She
    @She

    Well, I finally plucked up the courage to go look for the “new” window that was recently installed in the church.  Couldn’t find a full-length photo of it, but I expect it’s the one shown in part at the top of this page: https://www.stmarys-church.co.uk/church/

    That is:

    Now, perhaps the effect of the whole window is lovely; I’m really not the last word on what makes a stained glass window something to write home about.  But my first two thoughts were 1) If the original windows had been destroyed by the German bombs, and they’d picked up the shards of glass off the ground and pieced them together willy-nilly, it might have looked something like this, and 2) it reminds me quite vividly of some flashing bright spots and patches of color that have passed across my field of vision on occasion, when I’m in the throes of a migraine.

    As to what it might represent, if anything, I have no idea.

    • #21
  22. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    She (View Comment):

    Well, I finally plucked up the courage to go look for the “new” window that was recently installed in the church. Couldn’t find a full-length photo of it, but I expect it’s the one shown in part at the top of this page: https://www.stmarys-church.co.uk/church/

    That is:

    Now, perhaps the effect of the whole window is lovely; I’m really not the last word on what makes a stained glass window something to write home about. But my first two thoughts were 1) If the original windows had been destroyed by the German bombs, and they’d picked up the shards of glass off the ground and pieced them together willy-nilly, it might have looked something like this, and 2) it reminds me quite vividly of some flashing bright spots and patches of color that have passed across my field of vision on occasion, when I’m in the throes of a migraine.

    As to what it might represent, if anything, I have no idea.

    “Progress!”

    • #22
  23. She Member
    She
    @She

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Well, I finally plucked up the courage to go look for the “new” window that was recently installed in the church. Couldn’t find a full-length photo of it, but I expect it’s the one shown in part at the top of this page: https://www.stmarys-church.co.uk/church/

    That is:

    Now, perhaps the effect of the whole window is lovely; I’m really not the last word on what makes a stained glass window something to write home about. But my first two thoughts were 1) If the original windows had been destroyed by the German bombs, and they’d picked up the shards of glass off the ground and pieced them together willy-nilly, it might have looked something like this, and 2) it reminds me quite vividly of some flashing bright spots and patches of color that have passed across my field of vision on occasion, when I’m in the throes of a migraine.

    As to what it might represent, if anything, I have no idea.

    “Progress!”

    Yes!  You’re right!  Exactly!  It represents how so much has changed “for the better” and how we are “so much more” than we were in 1939.

    (I’ll be calling 97-year old Auntie Pat this weekend, and will ask her what she thinks about this (she’s still fairly switched on).  Will report back.

    • #23
  24. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    She (View Comment):
    Every few years, every hospital I ever worked at “discovered” the Next Best Thing, and off we went.

    I seriously thought this only happened in schools. I’m so tired of the initiatives that fizzle. 

    • #24
  25. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    She (View Comment):
    As to what it might represent, if anything, I have no idea.

    Nothing permanent or clear, so its meaning can be flexible for the ages. 

    • #25
  26. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    She:

    Here is what ‘Reverend Claire Dawson’ said when she refused the generous offer from the purchaser to return the windows to St. Mary’s, after he had cleaned and restored them, and once he realized what they were:

    “The windows are an important part of the church’s history which dates back to 1830 but, as nice as it would be to see them, so much has changed for the church for the better and it wouldn’t be practical to have them back. We are so much more than we were in 1939. We have a beautiful new window which was installed above the altar and is a celebration of the journey from the church’s beginning to the present day” [emphasis mine].

    I can’t stand it.

    Can. Not. Stand. It.

    • #26
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