It is my little world!

I have been coming to the Lake District for more years than I wish to be honest about. My love for the place and the friends I have made here over the years has not diminished but things have not remained the same over the years.

I have been noticing little perceptible changes over the years. Where once I could run freely over little well-worn tracks more and more fences have begun to appear. Many of these fences have been of the barbed wire type. More and more notices have begun to appear with the fences. "Private Property Keep Out. " "Do not stray from the permitted path."  From a well-known university, Enjoy your walk but keep to the path this land belongs to the name of the university. Just to make sure that this is obeyed a large fence is being constructed on either side of the said path.

It is a symptom I fear of the changing society. More and more we live in an age where we wish to have it made clear what we own and what we do not wish to share or allow others the pleasure of.

A recent survey gave some credence to this. The survey asked about peoples beliefs, habits and practices.

This poll sheds light on another paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. 

According to sociologist Robert Bellah, 81 percent of  people  say they agree that "an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief independent of any church or synagogue." Thus the key to the paradox is the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their own terms. Terms that make no demands on behaviour. 

A woman named Sheila, interviewed for Bellah's Habits of the Heart, embodies this attitude. "I believe in God," she said. "I can't remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It's "Sheila-ism".  "Just my own little voice."

Soit seems that desire to have and to own covers all aspects of life, not just the property we own.

I feel sad that we seem to be travelling the road of individualism which says, keep out or off. Such isolation deprives us of a social network of support and help.

It is like the saying of Gandhi which I paraphrase. When they came for the communists I did nothing. When they came for the Muslims I did nothing. When they came for the Christians I did nothing. When they came for the Jews I did nothing. When they came for me there was nobody there to help me.

I fear that the desire to keep ourselves to ourselves and what we own only for ourselves we deprive ourselves of all the shared knowledge of others the shared fellowship and the sense of community. We continue at our peril. 

I rejoice in the friends I have and the sharing of much and would want all to know I am grateful for your friendship.

I travel home today so doubt if I will be able to have a blog for tomorrow enjoy my absence. Have a marvellous day.