It's the thought that counts  - 2

My old regiment the Lancashire Fusiliers is to go the way of the mills - into the oblivion of ‘used to be’. .
Memories of square bashing rise up as our bus from Bolton passes what used to be Wellington Barracks on its way to Bury Market.
Looking back I had a good time with the LFs as we were called.   Those memories of shouting drill sergeants and cold wet nights on manoeuvres soon evaporated.
I suppose I joined with the dream that one day I would get a VC but as soon as they designated me an adjutant's clerk, it was unlikely to happen.
Instead I tried for glory on the playing fields.   It was wonderful.   I could play cricket, hockey and rugby for the Regiment and throw discus and javelin for them and it was all part of what I called a hard day's work.
One year we went on a rugby tour to Berlin and played matches in the Old Olympic stadium.
We saw the wall and were taken on a trip to East Berlin through Check Point Charlie.  Exciting days.
And we listened to the American Broadcasting Network.
Every morning at eight o’clock the presenter said,  We are going to pause now to change transmitters. 
‘In the pause just remember,  It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice’
I brought that home with those LF memories.    Better than wanting a VC.
It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice
I am tony mcneile - a Unitarian


It all began when I was walking through Leigh and my shoelace broke.  
I had passed the market so hobbled gack to look for a shoe lace stall.   They pointed me to one run by a young Asian lady.   Yes, she sold shoe laces.   What length would I like, what colour etc.   She sorted me out.  
I love browsing hardware shops - and kitchen shops - really to see what they don’t sell.
This stall was very well stocked and it was so tidy - not a thing out of place nor a speck of dust anywhere.
    I said it was a pretty impressive stall.
Well, she said, it is my business - but it is also my temple.  
I have little time to go to the proper temple so this is mine.   Because it is my temple, I keep it very clean and I care for all the products I sell - that they are neatly arranged.   I care very much for my customers too and try to be helpful.  Because this is my temple I try to be very courteous too.   If I did not do my best, I would be offending the gods I worship and letting down my religion.
That was years ago - but often when I look at my untidy desk or the shambles in the boot of the car,  a little pictures comes into my mind of that hardware temple and the young lady who was its priestess.
I am tony mcneile, a unitarian



    You should never discuss religion and politics, people say - but if someone asks what I do for a living, they immediately want to talk about religion.
    There was a lady on the bus one day who took up most of the seat next to her with shopping bags and it was the only one free.   With her toilet rolls and frozen chicken sitting in my lap - we got to talking.
    After we had exhausted the weather she asked the inevitable question.
    O she said, that’s interesting.   Well I have lived all my life by the sixth principle of the spiritualist church.
    I looked it up later.   It says that we have to be the judge of our own lives for no one can save us from our wrong doing but ourselves and  we build or weaken our own spirits by how we live.
    She put it in slightly different words but it meant the same.
    So which Spiritualist church do you go to, I asked her.
    I don’t go to any, she said.  So explain I said, feeling the cold of the chicken striking my leg.
    She said,  We went to Bournemouth for our honeymoon, that’s what people did in those days and our bus stop was next to the Spiritualist church.    Those seven principles were on their Notice Board. I used to read them as we waited to go to the beach.
    I wasn’t bothered about the others but No 6 I have never forgotten.
I am tony mcneile, a Unitarian