What’s good?

In these strange times it was helpful that Emma Beddlington (The Observer today) suggests that ‘what’s good’ as a much more useful and authentic (my word) greeting to ‘how are you’ to which of course is rhetorical and by convention no matter how ghastly things are we nearly always say ‘fine’. I will deploy this approach with immediate effect.

Apparently Bedlington picked up the phrase when she was working for a Belgian-Congolese musician/actor. She makes the point that the question does not deny the truth, namely that most things right now are truly terrible and by looking for the good it focuses on those small things (usually) that illuminate the gloom. This really appeals to me – I think in retrospect I used that tactic when I was an active lay leader, people would come up afterwards and talk about their favourite sweet when they were a child, that sort of thing. I don’t suppose the theology was very sound but it made for good unexpected human connections.

So what was good about today? Definitely top of the list was trying out my wetsuit (in the bath). I will need to do this again when the water is colder – the recent hot weather means I reckon the temperature was not far off 18 degrees. I was also very pleased that it dried quite quickly. I just need to find an opportunity to try it out for real. The buzz I got lasted well into the afternoon, just think what the real thing might feel like.