Mr A and I have recently discovered a new thing. It is called CBeebies.
Before you shake your heads in disapproval at our plopping poor young Arthur in front of the goggle-box which is sure to have turned his brain to mush before he reaches his first birthday, I mitigate this statement by saying we only put it on for a very set amount of time every day and it is really rather a useful thing in allowing Mr A and I to go about our morning routine while keeping Arthur suitably entertained. Arthur is still at the age where essentially any TV programme with movement, colour and familiar theme tunes will provoke an enthusiastic reaction (as is seen by his reaction to 'Pointless' - the only other TV programme he watches on a daily basis!) but somehow putting him in front of children's TV seems more wholesome parenting!
I must say, I'm finding the simple moral messages of pre-school TV quite refreshing. It's also amazingly weird how efficient it is at structuring our mornings.
I always know whether Morning Prayer has overrun or not by whether I catch the end-credits of train-based series Chuggington (7.50am-8am). The morning then proceeds as follows -
8am-8.05am - Woolly and Tig - Dull and a bit too sickly-sweet for my taste. Featuring a cuddly-toy spider and a little girl. Normally make a cup of tea for the 5 minutes while this is on.
8.05am-8.20am - Mike the Knight - Very much forms the heart of my daily CBeebies experience. More on this later.
8.20am-8.30am - Timmy Time - Aardman's offering to Pre-Schoolers. Smaller version of Shaun the Sheep. I'm often not entirely sure of the storyline because there isn't any dialogue but the characters are very cute and cuddly.
Very often we head out to College Breakfast at this point, but if we stay at home we move on to -
8.30am-8.40am - Pingu - A blast from the past. Doesn't seem to have changed much since I watched it. Again, because my attention isn't always fully on the TV I often miss the plot.
8.40am - 9am - Me Too - If I haven't headed into college by this point it's worth holding on for this rare treat. The endlessly enthusiastic Nanny Murray provides a childminding service while we follow the parents of children about their daily business.
If we reach The Koala Brothers we have gone too far and should really be doing something more productive.
Anyway, back to Mike. Perhaps I identify with him because he's "a trainee Knight" (as I am a trainee priest) and "every day is an adventure" (as I imagine Curacy will be). For those of you unfamiliar with his work (most of you) here's a summary...
Essentially, Mike, who lives in some form of olden-days settlement complete with a King, Queen, Dragons, Wizards, Vikings, Trolls etc. comes up with a 'mission' every episode. This mission is always very well-intentioned and is normally related to helping people (link to Community-based mission?) Once he has identified his mission, normally about 1/3 way through the episode he declares "I'm Mike the Knight and my mission is to..." in such an enthusiastic voice that you're already anticipating it going wrong. The thing is, Mike, while naturally well-intentioned, has numerous character-flaws He's quite arrogant and tends to take on tasks that are simply too big for him. He's also, let's face it, very often simply a bit dim. His mission, therefore, very quickly goes wrong. By 2/3 through the episode, poor Mike is usually left standing there in his armour with a very downturned mouth lamenting that everything has gone wrong. He will then talk things through with one of his friends (theological reflection?) and identify where things have gone wrong, which necessarily leads to Mike punching the air and declaring "it's time to be a Knight and do it right!" After which, of course, all things are made well. The whole episode is then summarised by a Minstrel and we the viewer are left singing along with the dangerously funky closing theme "be a Knight, do it right, you can be a hero too..."
So, I'm less than 3 weeks from leaving Ripon College Cuddesdon. There's been times when I've been desperate for this time to hurry up and come, but I'm now feeling really quite sad it's almost time to say goodbye, while also excited about what happens next. Ordination is still an event I can only sum up with a non-cheesy understanding of the word 'awesome' (i.e. sort of terrifying and amazing!) I can't quite believe it's all going to happen, but it is, and soon. I'm keen to 'end well' here and enjoy every moment of the next 20 days. And then it's out into the big wide world of ministry, knowing, much like Mike, that I have set myself up to fail miserably but have wonderful moments too. Nothing will go quite to plan, but it's time to trust in God and hopefully things will be just about alright.
It's time to be a Curate and do it right!
