Reader's Letter: Some advice from a wise older head

DEAR Ella, having read your letter in the SNJ, it made me realize that all teenagers are not drug users, boozers and ne’er do wells; you are talking with the wisdom of 13 years of experience whereas I can speak with the wisdom I have learnt from 101 one hundred and one years of living and I agree with your reasoning.

It is easy to criticise but much harder to find a way of putting the world to rights.

I hope you will have the chance to see the world as it is, not like it is shown on TV etc.

I think you have what is missing these days and that is common sense, that means, think first then talk, nowadays it’s the other way round.

I was brought up in a Christian home, my dad served in the First World War and saw the terrible things that happened but would never speak about it.

I did my bit in the Second World War, joining the RAF and serving on the ground, here and in India and Burma so I saw some of the world first hand and learnt a lot because of it, and enjoyed some of it too, especially the comradery (I had to look that word up) that existed everywhere.

Now at the nearly the end of my life I can look back and see all the mistakes I, and everyone else have made, and believe me it’s a different picture to what you know.

Will it get better or worse for you I wonder?

I wish I could have another few years to find out, only, time marches on, without you or I being able to do anything to stop it.

I hope you do well at school, and learn as much as you can about everything, a bit of knowledge comes in handy when you need it, and if you have a sense of humour look after it well, it’s better than crying and can get you out of trouble (sometimes).

All the best for your future Len Blandford Lightpill We must face the world's problems A BLEAK scenario. Let us create another.

A child has been born who will witness the end of this world as we know it.

Before then the waters that make up two thirds of our planet will rise, inundating the coastal areas on which are built many of the major cities of the world.

This will not happen all at once, nor will the droughts and the dramatic increases in rainfall in other regions of our globe.

These weather events will cause mass migrations of people and great loss of life.

Wars will increase in frequency as fear, tyranny and lack of life supporting essentials force displacement.

Even if you don’t believe that global warming is occurring, refugees from war, genocide, starvation etc are increasing by thousands every day.

Glance beyond our moat of a channel.

We are within this time and have altered hardly any of our profligate habits that are contributing to the catastrophe.

It is not a picture that encourages much hope.

There are many that put faith in science to save us and others who do not believe it is happening and there are those who believe God, in his various forms, has it all in hand and are doing his bidding.

We carry on, not quite blithely, but unable to make the right choices.

We drive our cars, fly off on holidays, throw away much of our uneaten or out of date food, watch on our screens the plight of refugees and bombed cities, and wring our hearts.

Not much hope but we imagine we will be spared the inevitability or that the consequences of our profligacy and selfishness will not affect our corner of this beautiful planet.

All could be fed and even housed for there remains, in most of the human species, a quality of concern for others, diminished or evaporated entirely in some places.

If allied with trust in our capacity to care about others, this concern could lead us to be prepared to unify and apportion the remaining riches, not only of natural resources but also our deeper sensibilities.

We could save what is left and those who have nothing left.

In hope.

Rick Vick

Stroud