Adults

Women make up 64% of the world’s illiterate.  Have a look at one of your bookshelves.  Give 10p for each book by a female author.

OK, so I have to begin with a pet grouse of mine... I dislike adjectives being used as nouns, especially when they are prefaced with the definite article.  I know it's a practice of which even Jesus appears guilty ('the poor will always be with you'; though to be pedantic ptokos IS a noun, and the distinction gets lost in translation) but in recent years I have come to appreciate, from some minority groups, how awful it is to be lumped together as an adjective "the disabled", "the disadvantaged" etc.  So 'the illiterate' makes me immediately think "the illiterate what?  cabbage? goldfish? ah... person".  I blame that ministerial college where I trained, it was them what got me into this habit!!  (As an aside, I always find the title "disabled toilet" disconcerting - I'd rather they supplied one that was functional...;-) )

So, back to the point in hand, and actually the little rant illustrates precisely the privilege of being a literate woman, able to determine meaning from squiggles on piece of paper.

As it happens, I am doing this at home, so the book shelves to hand are filled mostly with fiction.  Were I at church, and choosing to look at a shelf of theology books, I expect it would prove a cheaper day!  I have elected to use the top shelf of the bookcase in my living room, knowing, even before I do the count that there are nine Susan Howatch novels, two by Marilyn Robinson and one by Barbara Kingsolver up there...

Ulp!  No less than 21 books on that shelf are written by women, so that's £2.10.  For curiosity, I have picked another shelf where my old engineering text books are located and there is nothing written by a woman... maybe that of itself says something about access to education, gender stereotypes and societal norms?

My Pledge

Today - £2.10

Total - £23.75, three prayers, one rant and one e-petition signed

Having discovered the pleasure of jigsaws, I am now embarking on another...

Will keep me occupied in my free time - and is undoubtedly more 'healthy' than watching television, social networking, or playing games on the computer.

The have way mark, or near enough, for those counting carefully!

Adults

Every day approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries.

Give 20p for every pregnant woman you know who received a decent standard of medical care in the Last year.

Every women I know, or every woman I know of... I seem to be turning into a semantic nightmare this year!  I have one friend in England who gave birth in the last year, so that bit is easy.  There are currently two women who regularly share in the life of the Gathering Place who are pregnant, two who come occasionally with a babies I think are under a year old , and at a slightly further remove at least one other newish grandchild.  But then there's the Toddler group which has lots of bumps and babies... should I count them in or not?  Oh decisions, decisions... I think I'll keep it simple and opt for £1! 

My Pledge

Today - £1

Total - £21.65, three prayers, one rant and one e-petition signed

This week, the focus shifts to 'women' which follows on quite neatly from the fact that last Friday was what used to be called The Women's World Day of Prayer, nowadays re-branded World Day of Prayer in an attempt at inclusivity, but it is still mostly women who do it!

Adults

70% of the world’s poor are women.

Give 10p for every woman in your family who has a job.

OK, bit of semantics here - I am assuming they mean 'a paid job', because I have yet to find a woman who has no jobs to so, unless she is so frail or ill that she is unable to fend for herself. Cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, grandchild-caring, home-making, these are all jobs, just not ones which attract financial reward.

Also more semantics - what do we mean by family?  Is it a 'we four and no more' which would mean I would give 10p for myself only.  Or should we read family in the extended way that would be true of the world's poorest communities.  I have one sister, who is paid employment, and two nieces of working age (which I am interpreting as 'over 18') one of whom is in paid employment.  I also have one sister-in-law who is in paid employment.  I think, therefore, it would be reasonable to say that the tally is four, which makes a pledge of 40p... which is almost half the amount the world's poorest people will have to live on today: scary!

My Pledge

Today - 40p

Total - £20.65, three prayers, a rant and one e-petition signed

Today, being the first Sunday of the month, it was Communion, which seems to allow me to pick a hymn for today which is less 'Lent' and more 'Passiontide'.  It is a very lovely Roman Catholic hymn, based in Isaiah 53, with the delightfully named tune Yellow Bittern, BPW No 229

See, Christ was wounded for our sake,
And bruised and beaten for our sin,
So by his suff'rings we are healed,
For God has laid our guilt on him.

Look on his face, come close to him-
See, you will find no beauty there:
Despised, rejected, who can tell
The grief and sorrow he must bear?

Like sheep that stray we leave God's path,
To choose our own and not his will;
Like sheep to slaughter he has gone
Obedient to his Father's will.

Cast out to die by those he loved,
Reviled by those he died to save,
See how sin's pride has sought his death,
See how sin's hate has made his grave.

For on his shoulders God has laid
The weight of sin that we should bear;
So by his passion we have peace,
Through his obedience and his prayer.

Brian Foley (1919-2000) © 1971 Faber Music Ltd, London.