Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Sarah Kennedy Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 8, Number 4
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Tuesday 16 April 2009

I probably shouldn't admit it, but I was having one of those 'nothing-but-chips-will-do' moments. So, I found myself squeezed into a small chip shop, shuffling along the wall opposite the counter whilst I waited my turn. Although it was a rare treat for me, there were obviously lots of other people who had decided to treat themselves at exactly the same moment, so it was a long wait. Once I had exhausted the menu with its peculiar combinations, and the drinks cabinet quoting prices for drinks I thought no longer existed, my eye fell on the advertisements on the chip shop door. One of them was for a kids' theatre club, and the other one almost made me burst out laughing on the spot. There on the door of the chippy, with a few grease spots on the edge, and the smell of hot fat all around, was an advert for ... a slimming club! Talk about out of place!

I suppose you could say it was the perfect location. Perhaps it is in the place where we indulge that we all need advice about how to overcome the indulgence! Maybe pubs should start advertising alcoholics anonymous and casinos advertising gamblers anonymous. Come to that - perhaps the gym should advertise the chip shop! People could indulge in the chip shop, and then pay good money to work it all off again! Each organisation could benefit the other. But what would the church advertise?

Churches are often seen as places that love to say 'no'. People fear that a visit to the church is an opportunity to have your pockets emptied and your guilty conscience pricked. In fact, church should be all about enhancing life, rather than restricting it. When Jesus said that he had come to 'give life to the full', he certainly wasn't being a killjoy. He was often to be found enjoying a good meal, telling his stories over the table and listening to his hosts - even when they were thought to be the most unsuitable people. If Jesus was saying 'no', then it was to self-destructive habits and spiritual isolation, rather than to other things.

When I was growing up I was always taught that 'a little bit of what you fancy' would do no harm at all, so long as you had it in moderation. Which is why, I suppose, a bag of hot chips still feels like a pleasant indulgence. Life to the full is a gift of God, and I'm happy to say that it includes the occasional bag of chips.

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© BBC 2009
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's
breakfast time "Pause for Thought" during the Sarah Kennedy show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.