|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
      |
|
|
|
|
|
 THE MINISTER WRITES . . . .The Christmas Festival Service was very well attended this year, and our thanks go out to everyone who participated on the day, not least our own Anthony Norcliffe who arranged and printed the Order of Service. NOW is the time to think about NEXT YEAR, and decide whether we would prefer an evening service, or a possible change of format. (Please give this some thought). Attending the chapel for the first time this Christmas, was a young lady by the name of Niamh Elizabeth Dever (see photo). Niamh is the daughter of Michael and Sarah Dever, who were married at Mill Hill, and she is the first grandchild of chapel stalwarts and very proud grandparents, Brian and Margaret Rollinson. Having such a beautiful, new-born baby in the congregation gave a real sense of the significance of the story of the Christmas child, and our prayers and wishes for a happy and healthy life go out to Niamh and all her family members. As I look out on City Square and it begins to fill with midnight revellers, we say goodbye to 2009 and brace ourselves to face the oncoming winter weather. So it simply remains for me, on behalf of The Chapel Trustees, The Chapel Management Committee and myself, to wish everyone a very "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Paul SUNDAY SERVICES DURING January and February 2010- always at 10.45am - Jan 3rd Paul Jan 10th Paul Jan 17th Jonathan Coggan Jan 24th Paul Jan 31st David Arthur
Feb 7th Paul Feb 14th Paul Feb 21st Tom McCready Feb 28th Paul
ANTHEMS DURING JANUARY 2010
Jan 3rd "What cheer? Good cheer!" - Peter Warlock Jan 10th: "Kings in Glory" - Martin Shaw Jan 17th: "We three Kings" - Edward Hopkins, arr. Martin Shaw Jan 24th: "From the rising of the sun" - Frederick Ouseley Jan 31st "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" (from Cantata No.147) J.S. Bach ANTHEMS DURING FEBRUARY 2010
Feb 7th : "Let all the world in every corner sing" - Eric H. Thiman Feb 14th: "Ubi caritas" - Maurice Durufle Feb 21st: "View me, Lord" - Richard Lloyd Feb 28th: "Turn Thy face from my sins" - Thomas Attwood
WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR LEARNING?
As in some cases of drunkenness, and in others of animal magnetism, there are two states of consciousness which never clash, but each of which pursues its separate course . . . . . thus, if I hide my watch when I am drunk, I must be drunk again before I can remember where" from. ("The Mystery of Edwin Drood" by Charles Dickens). The quotation above might remind those of you, who have been around long enough, of the excellent film (from the 1940s) "The Lost Weekend" with Ray Milland. It is the story of a dipsomaniac and you will remember that, during his alcoholic binges, he always takes care to cunningly hide his bottles of alcohol so that his friends, who are trying to help him, can not find them and deprive him. Unfortunately, when he is sober and feels the urge to drink, he can not remember where he has put them - hence he has a real dilemma! This tying together of the memory with the physiological state of that was dominant when the learning took place is known to psychologists as "State Dependent Learning". It is not confined to alcohol. During the sixties, several experiments were carried out on a variety of drugs to see if they could bring about this effect. These studies showed that many drugs were capable of producing this: from powerful drugs like morphine to lesser effects with mild drugs such as caffeine. The experiments were also found to work with animals. We now know that memories are rarely laid down in the brain in isolation but usually include cues that were active at the time the learning took place and can be used by the brain to aid recall. Drugs alter the body chemistry and so are cues that reside in the body. What about cues that lie outside the body? These cues are also linked with memories though the effects are often much weaker - most people have memories that are still linked in their mind to things that were going on around them at the time. Let us take the case of school children being taught in their classroom. When they take a public examination, such as G.C.E., and are tested on this knowledge, they are frequently tested in the school hall. Experiments have been carried out showing that if the pupils are tested instead in their classrooms where they are surrounded by the environmental cues which were present when the learning took place, they show a small but significant rise in their test scores. Of course, it might be that the pupils, when tested in a familiar room, are more comfortable and confidant - thus testing better. However, this can be checked by testing them in an other room, say the art room, which is equally familiar to them but where the learning being tested did not originally take place. Such checks still show an advantage in the classroom where they experienced the original learning. Finally, a small personal anecdote. I once spent a few months, as a guest scientist, at the Georgian Academy of Science in Russia. I remember one evening when I was having a discussion with a couple of Georgian scientists. I knew no Georgian so we were conversing in Russian with which everybody was comfortable. At one point we were talking about wolves and suddenly my comrades looked at me rather blankly. I realized that instead of the Russian word for wolf "volk", I had used the Mongol word for wolf "chon". Now wolves are still to be met with in rural areas of Russia; however, in Mongolia they are very much more common and present a constant threat to livestock. The wolf pervades Mongol culture and figures in many folk stories and conversations with animal herders. My own associations with wolves are strongly linked to Mongolia in which I have spent some time - so when I dipped into my memory for this word, it was the Mongol not the Russian word which was the first to emerge (i.e. it was a sort of "Mongol Dependent Learning"!). This anyway, is my explanation - if you do not agree with this explanation, what is yours? Derrick Pritchatt
CONFLICT or UNITY?
There is no greater cause of conflict in our world today than the diversity of race, religion, culture and creed. Israel, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Russia, Spain, Africa, India, Indonesia and elsewhere : this is fundamentally the case. Yet whether we are Jew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahai or a member of any other religious faith, we share the same universe; the same planet Earth; the same environment; the same human biology and the same evolutionary process of nature. Clearly then, without a movement toward greater unity as one world and one people, there will be no peace. Leeds is a modern city, which incorporates people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. Their children sit alongside each other in schools, and lie alongside each other in hospitals. Yet the traditions of previous generations present obstacles and barriers to the natural and necessary integration of modern-day communities. It is now imperative that human beings everywhere embrace a vision of the "oneness?" of God and of Humankind. Peace and harmony for future generations depends directly upon the success of this challenge. Of course, such unity will not come easily or overnight, and there will be many objections along the way. Nevertheless an attempt must be made, and where better to begin by way of example to the world, than in our fine city of Leeds? This matter will not go away, and it is of little use hiding in our Synagogues, Temples, Gurdwaras, Mosques and Churches, and thinking that we can continue safe in our exclusive, cultural and religious, traditions. As intelligent and responsible adults, we have a duty to our children and to our world to address the problem now. If you share our vision, or are in sympathy and agreement with our views, then perhaps you would like to make contact with us, and together - whatever our differences - we might begin to find and establish that vital path to greater unity. Paul Travis posted by Charles P Travis | 6:45 PM
|
