First published in the Pevensey Bay journal
Edition 20
Saturday 18 August 2018
Available in local newsagents, Wednesday 22 August, priced forty pence
How’s your inner squirrel? We’ve all got one – and despite our differences on the outside, they’re probably pretty much the same
If you follow football, the name Roy Keane will call to mind a caustic pundit, following a long career as a crunching, ultra-aggressive midfielder. Someone you’d much prefer to be on your side – although he was also merciless in his criticism of teammates.
I remember an article about him years ago, when the writer speculated (not entirely tongue in cheek) that maybe what you saw with Keane wasn’t the whole story. And that deep beneath his bluff (verging on brutal) exterior – was a small, frightened squirrel. It was an image that stayed with me – and I think of it whenever I see him being cynical and scathing in the studio (or remember the horrendous tackle that ended Alf-Inge Haaland’s career).
Maybe that small, frightened squirrel is what Roy Keane is really like? Maybe that’s what swaggering, knife-carrying gang members are really like? Maybe that’s what we’re really like?
If so, it would certainly explain a lot about human behavior. I need a posh house and a flash car and expensive holidays – because I’m not at ease with myself, not ‘comfortable in my own skin’. And without the external (and very visible) affirmation provided by such things – I’m in danger of forever feeling inferior.
So when people throw their weight around, or look down on others – maybe they’re desperately trying to hide their own inner inadequacy?
At its best, religion can give us the courage (and the prompting) to be completely naked. To do without any sort of mask, and be open and honest and genuine with the people we meet – and even more so with ourselves. Not to pretend. Not to play games. Not to bull****.
The idea of an all-knowing, all-seeing God, if taken metaphorically, can help to strip away all the stuff we hide behind.
Which is about the most important thing we can ever do. Because life is far too short for not daring to be real.
And for not letting that squirrel see the sun.
Tony.
PEVENSEY BAY JOURNAL
The work of Father Tony Windross as a writer and author is marked. The Thoughtful Guide to Faith (2003) received interesting reviews. John Shelby “Jack” Spong, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church and a liberal Christian theologian, said this book will escape the walls of the church and be debated everywhere.
What you see is what you get.
The Pevensey Bay Journal is written by local people. We celebrate all that is best about our communities. We debate important local questions and campaign on subjects like the regeneration of economic activity and the preservation of precious community assets. The Journal is available to buy in local newsagents priced forty pence, published ten times a year. The paper is also available as a full digital download on subscription, 10 issues at £6.50, delivered direct to your desktop on the day of publication. The Journal is also available by post (UK only), £16:50, 10 issues a year, inclusive of postage
