Cinderella – Kitchener or Bugsy?

Yesterday…

…Learning a friend had been told ‘You’re not the Cinderella, you’re the princess’.

The Cinderella story is familiar… a poor girl… humiliated, treated unjustly… unkind sisters and step-mother… forbidden to go to the ball… the fairy godmother… transformation… the glass slipper… rags to riches… Cinderella finds love and becomes a princess.

…Reading ‘Black Poppies’…

…In 1915 Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, didn’t want black soldiers. There were ‘…concerns that black soldiers would outshine their white comrades on the battlefields, and this would give them the confidence to demand self-determination in the colonies of the British Empire…’

‘…the British West Indies Regiment… was formed as a separate black unit within the British Army, but no black soldier was to rise above the rank of sergeant…’

Lord Kitchener was the sisters, the step-mother. ‘Know your place… stay in service…’

…Remembering Bugsy Malone… Years ago one of our children’s favourite films…  

‘Bugsy Malone’ is a gangster spoof… All of the parts are played by children… there’s a battle for power between “Fat Sam” and “Dandy Dan”…machine guns fire cream instead of bullets…

Finally there’s reconciliation. They all sing:

We could’ve been anything
That we wanted to be
Yes, that decision was ours
It’s been decided we’re weaker divided
Let friendship double up our powers…

It’s a message that I ‘preached’ throughout my teaching career. Dream big, aim high, achieve your potential, enable your Cinderella to become a princess.

…Discussing with a few friends…  

…The religious leaders bring Jesus ‘a woman caught in adultery’ demanding justice… Jesus says: ‘If anyone is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ …The religious leaders walk away… Jesus doesn’t condemn her, saying ‘Go and sin no more’.

Jesus often did that, welcoming the sinner, touching the leper, including the excluded… Jesus’ ‘Cinderellas’, never missed out on the ball… His transforming power changed rags of inadequacy, failure, condemnation… to riches of love, acceptance, a fresh start, hope…