Ye Tons of Soil

Ye Tons of Soil was a characteristic mispronounciation arising from the Revd Spooner addressing a gathering of farm workers – Sons of Toil

 

 

An introductory note.

It is now 2005. I originally wrote this in 1993 while I was still an active minister in the Church of England. Since then my life has turned upside down and I no longer believe - if you want to label me, I am a solipsistic nihilist or a nihilistic solipsist depending on my preference for the you that is in my mind. I refuse to use the term atheist for myself because that is a semi-official term for a specific stand on  beliefs. What follows therefore is an account of its time. I do not like the current trend for reinventing the understandings and ideals of past generations or times, so it stands in its own right as an historic document, complete with my intolerances, phobias and philias at the time.

Dedication.

This contribution to the memory of an era gone for ever is dedicated to my Best Man whose tragic death I mourn to this day. Homosexuals who would have us debase all relationships and friendships by their implications that friends of the same sex must perform gross sexual acts cannot understand the pure friendship which results from shared work and shared relaxation. From the age of thirteen he was the brother with whom I shared my deepest thoughts, emotions and aspirations. Jealous of his personality and success, yet without malice, I still share my thoughts with him today.

In recording these recollections I hope that his children may see a little more clearly the father they hardly knew.

It is strange that I, the weaker of the two, should have survived the longer. I believe that this is due to the fact that I had to rely on one stronger than myself. For it is I who learnt to rely on the God to whom he and others of that group to which we belonged pointed me. In my heart I know that this same God holds Roger Peters safe in his hands.

Requiescat in Pacem.