I guess it's time to say Happy Christmas.
I'll do so with some of the words of the Christmas story that are little noted, from Luke, Chapter 1:
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
That's the radical message of Christmas.
Ignore whether you believe Mary said it or not.
And even whether you believe in the God of Christianity, or not.
I think what this sets out is a story of people seeking radical justice for a community. And that's too often forgotten, and is what we're still striving for.
That may be the real message of Christmas.
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Amen brother. This is what humanity should aspire to. Thank you.
Hi Richard
All best wishes to you and your family, too.
By the way at school we used to call the above the Magnificat. It was Mary’s response to the Angel of Lord who told her she was pregnant.
And no, I am not a believer.
Alison.
Agreed
Merry Christmas to all of you who appear on this blog – even those who still don’t get it!
And thank you Richard.
Your energy is admirable and inspiring.
You are the best visionary leader we never had.
PSR
I did A Christmas Story today, it involves Santa and KPMG, you might like it.
I do
Might you add a tweet button to your blog?
Greetings for a steamy Christmas
Indeed-the Magnificat -thanks for reminding me of those words Richard, used by many composers for musical settings -one of the greatest being Bach’s Magnificat in D.
Worth listening to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4zvjV4_sAY on original instruments. It raise my spirits listening to it today. I always feel Bachs music embraces the whole of humanity -which is more than can be said for many of our politicians! Give it a listen even if you think you don’t like ‘this sort of music.’
I am a bit of a Bach fan
I love the B Minor
One of my high spots in recent years was attending the Bach Festival in Leipzig and hearing the B minor mass in the Thomas Kirche – always the closing event. Out of this world!
And another great Bach concert in the Nicolas Kirche where the brave citizens who helped bring down the DDR used to meet – an event commemorated by a plaque with footprints on the ground in the square ouside inscribed simply “09 OKTOBER 1989”. So so moving.
Just remembering now is sending shivers down my spine.
It’s amazing what music can do
Agreed!
And that is very good!
And to hear Alison Balsom, bliss
You don’t have to like Bach to comment here
But it looks like it helps
Richard – I’d just like to add: thanks for another year on board SS Murphy. As usual, another year sharing the journey with you has been a great opportunity to learn more and deepen my own appreciation of the issues that face us. There’s a real sense of community on this site and I’d like to thank all the other contributors who have shared their ideas and nudged me beyond the limitations of my own understanding.
Good wishes for ‘the time of year known as Christmas’ (as the early Quakers put it!).
I’d like to thank everyone too
Seconded, Simon!!
Bach……..aaaahhhhh………..Bach!
If only we had economic and social policy as well constructed as his music!!
Bach’s St Matthews Passion is my fave at the moment ( the Ebarme dich ) plus his Italian Concerto.
The andante in the concerto is just incredible. It just floats above life itself.
I love your second line
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts
That could sum up your year, Richard.
Joyeux Noël à toutes et à tous from Angela in Brittany.
I love Bach too, but just caught the moving end of Berlioz’ Enfance du Christ on a TV music channel and was prompted to search out an old mono recording by Colin David with Peter Pears for my listening tomorrow.
I don’t comment often, but follow the blog regularly. Thanks to all the excellent and thoughtful contributors – and especially to Richard for his perceptive analysis and energy in keeping going.
“He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.”
Indeed, being a non-believer (as I am) takes nothing away from the strength of these words. What more can one wish for? If only it were true …. Bring on the day!
Sorry – Colin Davis (of course)
Mr. Murphy,
We have learned so much from you this year and hope to do the same next year.
Happy Christmas to you and yours
May your God go with you.
From the Hard Copy News Team.
And to you
It always astonishes me that, had it not been for Mendelssohn, we would not have known Bach. In an inverse way this column appears to be doing that for exposing the rotten political economic thinking. On the other hand there is always John the Baptist and the Pharisees as an image….
I am an ardent Christian. You know, the kind that sees the earth and sky and wants to dance with gratitude – and occasionally does. The Magnificat sums it all up beautifully.Thanks.
Merry Christmas.
And to you John
Happy Christmas, Happy Holiday, or just Greetings of The Season.
That should encompass just about all on the site I think?
Have A Good One all..
Seconded
I read somewhere – but alas, cannot find the reference, that in the 18th/eatly 19th century India ruled by The East India Company, that the Company prohibited preachers from using the Magnificat, “for fear that it would stir up the natives” and prompt them to rebel.
It is pretty astonishing stuff, if attended to properly. On which theme, this has a great deal to say:
http://peoplesworld.org/the-revolutionary-hope-of-christmas-2/
Very good
And I hope you and Marie have a good Christmas Andrew
Go well
Richard
Thank you Andrew for that link – really good and encapsulates entirely the way I see it.
What sticks in the craw for me is how so many of the rich and powerful who, by their very actions, are so clearly a million miles from accepting this revolutionary message can still profess themselves to be devout Christians. Do they really not get it? Or is it pure cynicism? True Christianity has been almost completely high-jacked and the problems of over 2000 years today are still with us today. As the French would say, “plus ça change …”!
Bon Noël.
Angela
Thanks, Richard – and Angela. And apologies for filling the “blogosphere” with unserious trivia, but just to say we (Marie, our daughter, Tanya, and myself) have been enjoying a glass or two of Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose (sorry, can’t find the accents), with Czech “oblozheny khlebichky” (Latinised spelling, as I CERTAINLY can’t find the Czech accents) = “loaded bread pieces” (literal translation) but basically open sandwiches, with Czech toppings, such as a garlic/cheese mix – delicious, but all most thankfully un-English, as we like to mix together the strands of our varied cultures – so English later.
We have just had lunch
Pudding later
Dog needs walking now – he seemed to demolish most of the stuffing
“When the evangelical Anglican
missionary Henry Martyn went out to Cal-
cutta as chaplain to the East India Company
in 1805, he was appalled to discover that the
British authorities had banned the recitation
of the Magnificat at Evensong. It was simply too subversive and might stir up people to oppose British rule: “casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly …” You can see their point”
http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/5th-december-2009/20/what-is-it-about-mary
http://compassreview.org/summer14/3.pdf
Thanks for the reference, JohnM. I knew it was Henry Martyn – a linguistic genius, who, people who know attest, translated the New Testament into flawless Persian – but couldn’t find the reference, so forebore to live k it to his name. So thanks: at least my memory largely served me right.
Richard – just to echo others’ thanks and appreciation for your energy and good work
In the words of that great phrase, keep on afflicting the comfortable and reminding people of their duty to comfort the afflicted
So apposite at this time of year
Thanks
Coming late to the party, I’m afraid, Richard. But I couldn’t let Christmas Day pass without wishing you, your family and the dog (of course) a very Merry one. We approach the end of 2015 with your name and reputation considerably elevated to when we started it, and I can’t think of a “progressive” who deserves it more.
I shan’t say “keep up the good work” because as a long time reader of your blog I know you will. So, I’ll simply say, thanks for what you do, and thanks in advance for continuing to do it into 2016 and beyond.
On an uplifting note, by the end of the coming year we are going to see the wheels start coming off the Tory policy wagon in a big way, I can assure you.
Very best wishes as always.
Ivan
Ivan
Many thanks
And the best to you and your family
I will keep going in 2016. I admit I have written nothing today: but did yesterday and will tomorrow
And you are right about 2016: the political economy of austerity is going to begin to fail very rapidly. We are already seeing it
It will be uncomfortable to witness, but we have also to build something better than it
Go well
Richard
Merry Christmas Richard and thank you for all the interest and illumination you gave in 2015. All the very best for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year for you and yours.
Looking forward to reading and learning more in 2016. I have a feeling you won’t be short of subject matter.
Thanks Sarah
The problem will be choosing the right subject matter!
How about having a proper no-holes barred look at some of the post war institutions such as the World Bank, IMF etc., and how these institutions have become instruments for neo-liberalism and now no longer function how they were intended?
Again some of your international accountancy standards institutions could also be mentioned as you have done on this blog.
I mention these because you seem to demonstrate a knowledge of a lack of principle and accountability but also have an auditors eye for managerial weaknesses in systems and seem very able indeed and putting forward alternatives to make them stronger and also fairer – as you have done in the tax system in your latest book.
This is what would set your book apart from the usual writers – that you go to greater lengths than others to put forward the mechanics of how change could be achieved rather than just expertly critiquing things as they are.
Other than that, you might want to look at the setting up of a popular alternative movement to austerity using some of the principles you bring with you from your Quaker background and marrying them with some of the newer ideas in politics and community action.
I have to admit that these topics are those that also intrigue me and also, you are so bloody industrious on behalf of humanity that I feel guilty at suggesting other things for you to do!! Your energy and application is truly awesome.
But these are only suggestions Richard – nothing more. They are put forward in the knowledge that you have already been of considerable service to economic justice.
That sounds like a project for Ivan Horrocks to me….
Your analysis of scripture is as poor as your grasp of economics. Luke 1:46 and the surrounding verses are taken by knowledgeable scholars as presaging the beatitudes, and anticipating a different form of justice.
If you honestly think the Beatitudes are inconsistent with what I have suggested then I suggest you are seriously mistaken
And if you think the justice is in heaven, you may have forgotten the first sentiment of the Lord’s Prayer – and it’s earthliness
Alex , sounds like your interpretation is possibly along the lines of Edmund Burke (the great oligarch);
“The people, on the other hand, should be “tractable and obedient” — if they do not get rewards in this life, they will in Heaven. “