Happy Birthday, Marie Therese

Happy Birthday.  This the traditional greeting.  Marie Therese, the future Queen of France (admittedly for less than an hour) was born on this day in 1778 to her mother Marie Antoinette and father Louis XVI.  And on the face of it, she was born into great happiness at the Palace of Versailles. 

It was not, however, a happy birth day.  In point of fact, it was a matter of miraculous wonder that she lived to day two.   For hours she struggled to live after a most traumatic birth - a birth so dreadful that from then on the king refused to allow people to be present when his children were born.

And as French politics turned out, it was also a matter of wonder that she lived a life that ended in a natural death, something that most of her family were denied. She was sentenced to death in the French Revolution, but this was moderated to permanent exile.

In this season when we  remember a King born and placed in a manger it is worth remembering that birth into a palace is no guarantee of a happy life - as others have found.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Kim Walker-Smith is 39 today.  Happy Birthday, Kim!  If this was the only worship she had sung we would be grateful for her, her voice and her Lord.

Happy Birthday Pratibha!

Today is Pratibha Patil's birthday.

Pratibha was India's President and to date the only woman to have held that office.

As our Parliament - of which we are supposed to be so proud - mires itself ever more deeply in the swampy jungle of Brexit two of her comments (about the Parliament of India) are poignant, to say the least:

It is important that the decorum and dignity of the House is upheld at all times.  The image of Parliament in the public mind should be one where proceedings, debates and discussions take place with a view to resolve issues through a constructive and co-operative approach.

Parliament of the country is the repository of the sovereign will of the people and its successful functioning is the responsibility of both the Government and Opposition.

Quite.

Happy Birthday, Maurice White

Maurice White, founding father and general genius of Earth, Wind and Fire (EWF) would have been celebrating his 75th birthday today.  Sadly for his loved ones and many fans he died back in February. 

EWF formed part of my musical growing up background.  I was never a huge fan mainly, I think, because I was not into the relentless Californian feel-goodness that characterised their undoubtedly skillful music.     

This feel-good song is the more remarkable because its subject matter is the opposite - 

Somethin' happened along the way
Yesterday was all we had
Somethin' happened along the way
What used to be happy is sad
Somethin' happened along the way
What used to be was all we had

Perhaps on a birthday it is worth thinking about that Love which cannot die, does not die, the Love that is stronger than death.  The advantage of a birthday near Christmas is that such a Love is relatively easy to locate.

If you look in the hay.