Suffer the little children

Dear friends,

I remember as a small boy being taken to Trosley Village Hall with all the other youngsters for a “clinic”. In different rooms of the hall cheery nurses would administer different vaccines. Word pretty quickly got around that the worst place was the kitchen, where it seemed everyone would come out crying. Sure enough, there was an injection, which stung. Don’t ask me what it was for. But they saved the best till last (if you were four). In the back room a nurse in a smart white outfit put some drops of liquid on a sugar cube, and gave it to you to eat. “Well done, this is the last,” she said. “What was that for, Mum?” I asked. “Polio,” she said. “Its very nasty, and it hurts little children.” “Worse than the kitchen lady?” I asked. “Much worse,” she replied.

I can still remember teenagers from my 1960’s  childhood wearing the terrible leg braces, owing to paralysis caused by the disease. Polio is a highly contagious virus, transmitted through sewage. It infects the bowel, where it multiplies, normally without any symptoms, in adults. However for babies and children under five the virus can break through into the central nervous system, where it can cause catastrophic paralysis, and in 10% of cases will be fatal. In post war Britain of the late 1940’s, polio was the most feared disease, reaching epidemic proportions in the UK in 1947. There is (even today) no cure. Until a preventative vaccination programme was rolled out from 1962 onwards (and of which I was a beneficiary) people here in the UK lived in dread of the summer, as that brought the “polio season.”

From 1988 there has been a concerted global effort to eradicate polio by a programme of vaccination, in much the same way as smallpox has been eradicated. We have been living, mostly unaware, under health umbrella provided by this worldwide campaign. The last case of polio in the UK was in 1984. There are only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic, bringing terrible health risk and crippling disability to too many children. These countries are Pakistan and Afghanistan. However the news that there is now a polio outbreak in Gaza is a huge step backwards in the fight against this appalling disease. As ever in any war, it is the most vulnerable who suffer first.  Global travel, migration, and people trafficking also increase the risk; polio virus has been found recently in London sewage for the first time in many years. The importance of screening, and vaccination, cannot be overstated.

Worship Services for Sunday 8th September

9.30am Morning Prayer at St John’s Stoke Row with Canon Kevin Davies

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Revd Romey Poston

Pet Service !

On Sunday 15th September do bring your loved ones (of all types) along to our pet service at St Peter and St Paul, at 11am. Revd Romey will be leading, and the music group will be playing. Refreshments will be served from 10.45am. Don’t miss the fun!

Checkendon Church Council members are reminded that there will be a (short) meeting this coming Sunday after the 11am service. We are seeking candidates for the Henley Deanery Synod – no experience necessary. Please get in touch with me if you are interested in representing Checkendon Church at this regional body. There are usually a couple of (evening) meetings each year.

Lastly, as the schools return today (Tuesday 3rd), and new jobs begin, pray for all those who find themselves in new places, that the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit will be with them.

Peace be with you all

Your Rector, Canon Kevin.

PS Bruce Hornsby and his band had a hit “The Way It Is”  back in the 80’s. Here they are with an astonishing version recorded in 2004. Worth listening all through to appreciate the musicianship. (If you are the kind of person who needs words to make sense of music, the key lyrics are “That’s just the way it is/Some things will never change,”   and the response “Ah but don’t you believe them.”  This song is about hope, even in the face of entrenched opposition, whether this be a monstrous enemy, or a tiny virus. For me, I see it now in the nurses in Trosley Village Hall, and the people who worked to bring them there.)