All posts by Ashtray

Disasters and Christianity?

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Some years ago I was lucky enough to play CS Lewis in William Nicholson’s marvellous play, “Shadowlands”. A devout Christian, Lewis often mused about God’s love and his seeming lack of intervention when natural disasters occur. “If God loves us so much then why does he allow us to suffer so much?”. If you were to give it serious thought then I guess you would start to scratch your head in confusion also.

I lost my brother, aged 18, to cancer. A brain tumour. I was 21 at the time and a believer, as were my parents. My brother’s death caused my family to have a crisis of faith.

6 people were killed in Glasgow just before Christmas. Innocent people, grandparents, parents and children going about their Christmas business with joy and hope. Wondering if the sweater they’d just bought for Auntie Nora would fit? They would never know.

CS Lewis tried to explain this belief by theorising that “we are like blocks of stone out of which The Sculptor carves the form of Men. The blows of His chisel, which hurt us so much, are what make us perfect”. I’m just trying to square that with the relatives of the Galsgow 6. Would that poor woman who saw her parents and daughter mown down consider her own character strengthened by her tragic loss? I didn’t when I lost my brother. The only thing it taught me was to cherish his memory and to live for the day.

Wills

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A Salutary Lesson.

A client was in a relationship with a chap, let’s call him Geoff, who had 2 teenage girls. My client has one girl in her early teens. They had been seeing each other for about 7 years. Both had their own houses and spent time with each other, alternating houses.

The client was single and Geoff was divorced having been through a fairly acrimonious relationship with his ex. My client and Geoff are both In their late 40’s.

Geoff was tragically killed in a freak accident at work. He did not have a Will.

My client, as Geoff’s partner, has no legal rights to his estate whatsoever and his girls, who are now of age are his next of kin, are being manipulated by their mother…….who has now moved into Geoff’s house with the girls!

To quote my client “if Geoff knew what was going on he would be so angry!” Geoff should have made a Will!

Ambleside

Ramblings

Winding down at the Lodge in the South Lakes this weekend, we took time out to see Mr Turner at the cinema in Ambleside last night. It turned out to be at the Studio theatre above the restaurant Fellini. Despite it screening at 5pm it was quite well attended. The majority were retirees trooping in with their half bottles of Sauv Blanc and Sanatogen and nestling in for a couple of hours entertainment. If we could call it entertainment. The film itself was quite dark as it focussed on the self obsessed JMW Turner, played by Timothy Spall. Let me say from the outset that Spall was terrific. The darkness of the film emanated from Turners self obsession and his inability to communicate not only with his family, but also his contemporaries at the Royal Academy.

A highlight for me was the appearance of Kate O’Flynn as a prostitute named Eliza. Kate is a product of Summerseat Players Youth Group and a fine actor. Her lead in “Children’s Hour” at the Royal Exchange in Manchester some time ago was truly scary and mesmeric.

Scorers?

Cricket

This is a familiar tailpiece to a Scorecard on Cricinfo.

“Match details

Toss Sri Lanka A, who chose to bat
Umpires RA Kottahachchi and PN Udawatta
Match referee DSBP Kuruppu
Reserve umpire ID Gunawardene

“Where are the Scorers??  As the Laws of the game class the Umpires and Scorers as part of “a Team” then I feel it is only right and proper for them to be recognised accordingly.

After all, no scorers, no match.

LPA’s

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more persons (known as ‘Attorneys’) to help you make decisions or make decisions on your behalf.

This gives you more control over what happens to you if, for example, you have an accident or an illness and can’t make decisions at the time they need to be made (you ‘lack mental capacity’).

You must be 18 or over and have mental capacity – the ability to make your own decisions – when you make your LPA.

Health and Welfare lasting power of attorney
Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about things like:

your daily routine (eg washing, dressing, eating)
medical care
moving into a care home
life-sustaining treatment
It can only be used when you’re unable to make your own decisions.

Property and Financial Affairs lasting power of attorney
Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, for example:

managing a bank or building society account
paying bills
collecting benefits or a pension
selling your home
It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.

You can choose to make one type or both, but you cannot combine the two in one document.

The registration fee at the Office of the Public Guardian is £110 (unless you qualify for a reduction or exemption)