Yes, but why the Serpent Trail 50 kms race?

 A question I have heard several times from various folks who know  I am crazy enough to  run long distances but crazy enough to do a round trip of 700 miles to do a long distance run, "surely even you aren't that mad?"

Well The Serpent Trail takes for me on what I would call hallowed ground. The route will take me across the South Downs way. Big deal I hear you say. Well if you were a certain generation of the Royal Military Police, this fact alone would take you back to recruit training. The infamous Combat Fitness Test which took in a certain hill called The Trundles (which by the way the view from which it is alleged inspired the words to the hymn Jerusalem). Up the Trundles, round the Trundles, down the Trundles whilst at no time trundling, but either speed marching or running - but absolutely no trundling allowed.

I had the privilege of serving at the then Royal Military Police Training Centre (RMPTC) and then school (RMPTS) twice in my career in the Corps. Once as a soldier recruit and then again as a Platoon Commander following my commissioning.

The friends I made during both those tours are still people I call friend today. Some of have journeyed with me for 26 years, through rain and shine. Some have suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of combat operations and a not insignificant number made the ultimate sacrifice.

I remember and yes love each one of my RMP friends, each in their own unique ways; their smiles, their dark, dark humour, their intimate knowledge of hangmen past, their smelly feet, their ability to laugh in the face of horrendous situations and almost immediately be back alongside you, supporting and caring for you.

So why the Serpent Trail?

Well for me it is a pilgrimage of sorts. I will spend Friday morning at the new home of my Corps. I will pray in the Corps chapel and hopefully light a candle not just for my fallen friends but all of my Corps family including their families. I will give thanks for having the privilege of having served alongside some of the finest humans ever placed on this earth and for what they taught me about myself.

I will then visit the Corps museum and hopefully see what has changed since I left so many moons ago, and simultaneously that which has not including the core values and ethos of the soldiers of the Royal Military Police.

When I lace up my trainers and set off from the start line on Saturday morning along that there Serpent Trail, I will be thinking, remembering and smiling (and most probably at some/lots of points have some tears) of the memories of days gone by, soldier and officer, wearing that red beret and armband.

With every km completed I will be mindful of those who have gone before me, their families and those who because of their service are forever changed.

I will probably have a wry smile at the fact I am voluntarily running with a backpack, whilst being timed up them there big hills, and will scour the tops for that Trundle as I trundle along.

So why the Serpent Trail?

Because sometimes we have to take the time in our lives to honour that which has gone before, recognise how it shapes us for the challenge of the future and be reminded of the strength within each one of us, which as a recruit was sometimes forced/cajoled/yelled to our surface by our Directing Staff at the Depot.

Exemplo Ducemus.

#ultrachaplain #johnsmiles

Change did come

This blog entry is slightly different, in that I am going to direct you to the website of a charity that is very dear to me heart and for whom I have guest blogged an article.
Change did come!

Christmas messages

Christmas Reflection – Christmas messages

Luke 2:1-20

2In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!” ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Dear Santa Claus,

For Christmas this year, I would like it if you could stop all the wars and keep the children in Syria, Iraq and other countries at war safe. I would also like a pink, purple or YUU bag. I am going to make and leave you a present this year. A Texter Puppy or cat would be nice. I don’t want anything else.

From Hannah

Out of the mouths of children is a phrase often used. The letter to Santa was written by a young lady whose parents have both served in the military, in areas of the world that are a hop skip and jump away from the Biblical lands that we heard in the passage today. She is a little younger than the betrothed Mary yet her understanding of events around  the world are beyond her years, whilst her childhood is apparent in the letter to Santa and the present requests.

I was deeply moved when I first read Hannah’s letter for a variety of reasons.

First of all you cannot help notice Syria appears in both her letter and the gospel reading set for Christmas day. So often we can feel the bible is obsolete almost a history, history book; yet here it is flashing up to us today some 2000 years on, a place of conflict, turmoil, insurrection and the chaos of war. There 2000 years ago people were on the move, commanded to register, which involved hazardous journeys and for one now famous couple trying to find shelter so that their baby could be born and nursed. Today people in Syria are on the move, fleeing from war and unimaginable cruelty, they too are registering and trying to find somewhere safe for their children and babies.

At this time of year in the Christian tradition we are (have, if you are reading this on the 25^th December) observing (observed)  Advent, that period of waiting, waiting for the arrival of Christ. For many people we have simply been waiting to open the Lego or chocolate advent calendar whilst waiting for the big guy to drop down the chimney with a sack of presents. 2000 years ago Mary and Joseph were waiting, waiting for a small baby who would change their lives for ever. We know how the story unfolds for that baby and how his mother will be told  ‘and a sword will pierce your own soul too’ . Mary will spend the next 30 years waiting for this to happen. Waiting at the gates of the refugee’s camps across the middle east and Europe today are families for whom a sword will pierce their own souls too.  Yet despite this they continue to journey on, waiting in the hope that they will find safety and a place for their children to grow.

Some will make it, others will not, the journey is perilous and 2000 years ago similarly children fell victim to the evil of those in power when Herod ordered the hunting down of all baby boys in a bid to stop the survival of the Messiah, whose presence was announced by wise men from afar. Joseph and Mary, again journey on, taking the child to safety in a land far from home, as refugees.

I made mention of the young mother Mary and of Hannah our letter writer earlier on. Mary we know is carrying a gift to the world, she and Joseph are both aware that what they are doing is outside of the ‘norm’, they risk being cast out, and Mary could even have been put to death if Joseph had chosen to. Yet they continue to nurture and protect the small bundle entrusted to them, a swaddling wrapped present to the world. Hannah’s gift to the world is wrapped in grace, it is tied together with love and has a big sticky bow of hope on the outside of it, with a gift label that reads ‘for the world’. Her generous nature bought this gift, her altruism shares it with the world via Santa Claus. Its not often we get to see letters such as this; it outside of the norm and actually Hannah risks losing out on a huge pile of presents by not issuing a missive of a list.

But what we gain from both these young women is immense and immeasurable. Mary’s story is still heard and known 2000 years on and from Hannah we receive the good news that grace, compassion and care for the other is still intrinsic in the next generation. This hope in a world such as ours today is as invaluable to us as the proclamation “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people”.

So today, we thank God for Mary and Joseph, some 2000 years ago but we are also thankful for the Hannah’s of today, who remind us of the goodness and good news in the world.

Amen.

PS Mr Claus, if you’re reading this, I think a Yuu bag wouldn’t go amiss for this one.

Hope stems from a little red flower

I am posting this today instead of on Friday because it feels like today (for a variety of reasons) we all need a little hope reminder.
What follows is my notes for a primary school assembly which will then lead into an act of remembrance. It is my belief that children have a huge part to play in remembrance, remembering and in being channels for hope, peace and change. So I offer this tonight for all who have been affected by war and for those children who I met back in 1994, that if you are alive and where ever you may now be, you now know peace.

What I wanted to talk to you about today was children, children not just like you but you as well.

You see when I was in the army serving in a war, I met lots of children, here are some of them

They were not unlike you guys, if you look at the photo they were holding cans of pop that we had managed to get hold of for them. Some of them are also holding pencils, shall I tell you why? Because these children had had to leave their homes and schools very suddenly because the war literally arrived in their towns. They had to run with their families to somewhere safer. Once they got somewhere they could be safe they wanted to be normal children again, and for them normal meant going to school, learning and playing with new friends. They were very nervous about being in a new school, because for some of them it meant being in a new town and even a new country. You see these children became people we call refugees.

Now the war I am talking about was in a place called Bosnia and it was 21 years ago. Children though have been refugees for a long time before that, every war causes people to run away to safer places, or refuges, which is where the word refugees comes from. Refugees trust and hope that when they get somewhere safer, the people who live there will care for them, love  them and be friends with them. The pencils that the children are holding in the photograph were sent to me by my old primary school from when I was your age. The children there collected them and notebooks and sent them to me, so that  I could give them to the children I met who were refugees.

Why? It seems like a silly thing doesn’t it, but it was super important; the pencils and notebooks meant that the refugee children in Bosnia could go to school and have lessons; it gave them hope at a time when they were scared and frightened. It let them know that other children cared about them and it meant that the children sending the pencils could feel that they were helping out those refugee children.

Today there are sadly still wars going on across the world. Children are still having to leave everything they know and set off on journeys to places where they can be safe. They are filled with hope that when they get there they will be met and loved.

So what has this got to do with today, remembrance day, armistice day or as we sometimes call it Poppy day.

Well these poppies that we wear are a symbol of remembrance, you all know that. We remember those people who fought in wars to defend us from great evil. But what you might not know is that these poppies are also a symbol of hope. You see in the war 100 years ago, the battlefields were being bombed so much that nothing could grow, no wheat, no grass, nothing except for these teeny tiny little red flowers that despite the bombs and the guns, grew across the battlefields. They gave the soldiers hope that things could survive and grow.

There is a famous poem that starts:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

 That poem was written after World War One. In the fields where the war was fought the only thing that would grow was the poppy. The poppy as a flower reminded people of the importance of life, it became a symbol of hope on the battlefield.

The poem was written by a Canadian doctor, John McCrae, who was in World War One and saw the poppies growing. He worked in an Army field hospital and tried to save the lives of those who were injured. But he also saw a lot of soldiers die. He wrote the poem to tell people not to forget those that had been killed. The poppy inspired people who believed that those who had fought should not be forgotten and they started to wear a poppy at the time of the anniversary of when the fighting in the war had stopped.

But remember what the poppy also signifies, it means hope, the importance of life.

This is where you guys come in, each one of you. For each one of you is a symbol of hope, you remind us of the importance of life. Each one of you has the potential to be a poppy all year round. To be a living breathing symbol of hope. Whenever you welcome a new person to your class, you give them hope. Whenever you do your amazing displays, your class and achievement assemblies, you are a reminder to all of us that you are the hope for each of us. I am pretty certain that each of the 66 boys whose names are on our school war memorial, were each a symbol of hope when they were here as pupils. We remember them today, their families and all of those for whom war has meant loss and pain. But we also look to the poppy symbol as one of hope, and to you as our unique and individual poppies.

I’ll let you into a secret, sometimes us grown-ups lose sight of hope, we forget that things can grow in even the roughest of times. So, how about we remind them!

Hold up Poppy grenade

This is a grenade, a sort of bomb that was used in war. But this grenade is very different! It is full of poppy seeds, I’m going to give it to Mr Thompson and ask him with his team to find a space in the front garden of the school and let it explode. So that in the months ahead not just we here in the school are thinking of the symbol of remembrance and hope but so we can remind all those in Heaton about it as well.

When we go outside today to hold our act of remembrance, we will also be reminding the people who live amongst us, that remembrance and hope go hand in hand, but are led by you, our very own unique poppies.

One last thing, 21 years ago I left Bosnia for the last time, I don’t have the faintest idea what happened to those children in the photo. Sometimes when I am remembering them, I get sad. What helps me, is coming here into the school and helping out with you. All of you. Your kindness and care for each other and one another is inspiring, it gives hope. So from this old soldier to this field of growing poppies, thank you, and may you always be the hope for us all.

Commissioning reflections and wisdom

I have just watched the video of our Commissioning Course, Sovereign’s Parade which took place 19 years ago. As well as the inevitable spine tingling, goose-bump rising from the military music and occasion, I was moved by the words of the inspecting officer. We commissioned in 1997, who would have known that his words would come back to us with the commencement of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. I think especially of those brothers and sisters of the Academy, who didn't come home and those who came home changed for ever.

Here is an excerpt of that speech:

“Even with the ending of the cold war this is a complex, dangerous and uncertain world. The British Army is what it is because of those who have gone before. The standards they have set, the performance they’ve turned in and in many cases the sacrifice in blood they have made. Never forget that because soon it will be up to you to build on that excellence.

I am quite sure and speak to each of you here, that with the world as volatile as it is, it wont be too long before your ability to command and lead will be tested somewhere in the world, in situations which wont be easy, indeed which invariably will be complicated, sensitive and dangerous, and will require intellectual skill as well as stamina and courage, both physical and moral.

Do your duty.

You’ll make mistakes, we all do.

Always be yourself, if you didn't have what it takes you wouldn't have got this far and you certainly wouldn't have been granted the Queen’s Commission, not to think for yourself or to suppress your personality.

Always be positive in everything in you do. boldness as a study of military history will show, is nearly always the right answer and is certainly the hallmark of a good leader.

Do your duty as your training, your conscience told you, with honour and decency and ensure that others do so too and always carry out the task or command that you've been given at the time with all your heart and the best of your ability without undue fussing or fretting.

Never lose your sense of humour. You’ll often need it, humour is something the British soldier is famed for.”

So, today for me 19 years on from that day, I hear these words, I smile at the memories of friendship, loyalty and honour. I leak a little from the eyes for friends who have gone before me, including Mattie Bacon another former soldier, who commissioned with me. But I do not stop there, for in my own journey which at this time is bumpy and not without it’s challenges, I re-read those words of wisdom and commit myself to continuing to try my very best to live by them. After all if the Queen believed in me enough to grant me her commission, then I must have something going for me.

and lastly,

God knows, we all need a sense of humour, and a military one at that.

Exemplo Ducemus.

Inside school - Chilli Rd Primary School

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Early Years Easter

What follows is a simple re-telling of the Easter Story - it is not theologically or biblically accurate, it is not an academic high brow piece of writing - so all you who may be mortally offended don't bother reading it. What I think and hope it is, is away of introducing the Easter stories to under 5s without terrifying or baffling them.

(Red indicates props, Yellow for questions)

Do you remember all the way back to Christmas? The nativity play, the little donkey carrying Mary, The camel with the hump and some baby being born? Now what was his name, who can remember?

Jesus.

That’s right, Jesus whose birth some people celebrate at Christmas. Some people believe Jesus was a very special baby who came from God to make the world a nicer place. They are called Christians. Other people believe Jesus was a special person who could help people. Other people believe that Jesus was in lots of stories but wasn’t real, and that is just fine as well. We all have our own beliefs and as you grow bigger you will make your minds up what you believe.

Today I’m going to tell you a story that Christians believe is the most important one about Jesus.

Our story today is about when Jesus was much older, we think he was about 33 years old when this story took place. So he was not as old as me but much older than you guys.

One of the things Jesus really enjoyed doing was talking to people, making friends with people that maybe other people didn’t want to be friends with. He was a very kind man. He told people who were frightened or lonely that he would be their friend. He helped people who were poorly to get better. He got food for people who were hungry. And he also told people that were being meanies  that it wasn’t very nice to be mean and unkind. Jesus had 12 special friends he had met during his life, we call them disciples which means followers, some of them had met Jesus when they were working as fishermen, he had helped them catch lots of fish. But now they were Jesus’ helpers, his followers.

Jesus told lots of people that all of them that were frightened or hungry or bossed around by the meanies  that one day soon, everything would be better. Now the people were happy about this but the meanies, knew that meant things were going to change and they didn’t like that idea. They got cross with Jesus.

One day Jesus came to a big town called Jerusalem, he didn’t come on the metro or the bus, but a little donkey, (isn’t that funny because a little donkey carried Jesus’ mummy in the Christmas story). People were so excited because they believed Jesus was coming to tell the meanies to stop being so mean, and they were so excited they cut down the branches of the palm trees and laid them on the road for the donkey to walk on (paper palm), like a special carpet as if Jesus was a King. The meanies really didn’t like that, they said things like, “that Jesus thinks he’s so special! Let’s get rid of him!”

Now Jesus knew the meanies were going to be cross with him and so he had a special meal with his best friends. During the meal Jesus took some bread from the table and he said a special thank you prayer to God and then he said to his friends “Whenever you eat bread, remember me”. This was a way of Jesus saying to his friends when you are scared or lonely, remember all of the things I have said to you about being kind to each other and looking after each other, and then things won’t seem so bad.

Later that night when Jesus was saying his prayers, the meanies sent some soldiers to take Jesus away. They were mean to him and even though he had been kind to people and done nothing wrong, they were nasty to him. Even when they were being nasty to him, Jesus was being kind to people, he told his friend John to look after his mum and he was a friend to two other people that were in trouble with the meanies, telling them not to be afraid but to have hope.

Now have any of you seen the film Big Hero 6? Yes Picture of Baymax

Baymax the big robot is built to help people, as part of the story he and his friend Hiro go to rescue a girl. After the thrusters on his damaged armour fail, Baymax uses his armour's rocket fist to propel them back towards the portal opening, and stays behind. Hiro and Abigail make it back but we think Baymax is dead. I even cried in the cinema when I saw this bit. But, Hiro discovers Baymax's healthcare chip (which contains his entire personality) clenched in his rocket fist, and rebuilds him, whereafter the six friends continue their exploits through the city, fulfilling Tadashi's hope of helping those in need.

In our story today Jesus is rather like Baymax, because of being kind and thinking of others, he finds himself in trouble and his friends believe he has died and they won’t be able to hang out with him anymore. They are really sad and take Jesus to a safe place so that nothing else can happen to him. This place is a big dry cave in a hill, set in a beautiful garden. It doesn’t have a door so they push a big stone across the cave entrance and they go home, sad and lonely…all of this happened on a Friday, which came to be known as Good Friday, which is a very strange name for such a sad day, is it not??!!!

For a whole day nothing happens, Jesus’ friends stay in their houses, everything is still and quiet. Then on the Sunday morning, really early one of Jesus’ best friends Mary, goes back to the garden, she walks quietly up to the big hill where the cave was. When she got there do you know what she found? The big stone that had been used to cover the cave entrance had been rolled away. The cave was empty. Jesus’s body wasn’t there anymore. Mary was totally shocked. She turned around and saw the man who did the gardening (no it wasn’t Mr Thompson). He asked her why she was crying, and when she looked at him, she saw it was her friend Jesus.

Can you remember we talked about Baymax  and how sad his friends were that he had gone? In the film, Hiro discovers Baymax's healthcare chip (which contains his entire personality) clenched in his rocket fist, and rebuilds him, and he and his friends are all together again.

I think this is what it must have felt like for Mary. She thought her friend had gone and she would never see him again, but an amazing thing happened and here he was in the garden talking to her. She was so happy. Jesus told her to run all the way back to where his other friends were and tell them that everything was going to be alright, that he was fine and that he would see them soon. They didn’t believe her and some of them went to look for themselves and just found the clothes that Jesus had been wrapped in. They were all a little bit puzzled but excited.

Do you remember I said some of Jesus’s best friends had been fishermen? Well they had gone back to their boats fishing and it wasn’t going well. They heard a voice shout to them, “put your nets in the water on the other side of your boat”. They did and the nets got full of fish, (just like in Finding Nemo!!) They looked at each other and said, “this has happened before hasn’t it, when our friend Jesus was here.” They looked at the beach and there waving at them was Jesus. Peter one of the friends was so so so excited he jumped into the sea and swam all the way back to the beach, still in all his clothes!! When they all got to the beach, Jesus told them to sit and eat the breakfast he had made them. He took some bread and said those words again, “Whenever you eat bread, remember me”. They were all so happy.

Now though let’s look at that big stone that was rolled away from the cave. It has a very funny shape about it doesn’t it? What does it look like? An egg. I wonder if underneath it we might find, unwrap rock paper to reveal an Easter Egg. So that is why at Easter we have Easter eggs, because they remind Christians that even though the meanies thought they had taken Jesus away from his friends, and even though everyone was really sad, something amazing happened and the stone rolled away showing us that Jesus was alive and with his friends.

Christians believe that all of this happened so that Jesus could show the meanies that there was nothing they could do that could stop goodness and love in the world. It doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus or God or if you just think this a story, all that really matters is that you are kind to each other, that you look after each other and that even if sometimes things seem bad never to lose hope. Think about your Easter egg and how it reminds us that big stones can be rolled away and show us that amazing things can happen.