{"id":96,"date":"2009-08-28T09:50:28","date_gmt":"2009-08-28T08:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvmen.org.uk\/blog\/?p=96"},"modified":"2016-01-07T15:06:59","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T15:06:59","slug":"a-solitary-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/a-solitary-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"A Solitary Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Can we make a difference in the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Telemachus was a monk in the early fifth century. He travelled to Rome and watched gladiators hacking themselves to death. He was appalled and traumatised by what he saw. When he could take no more, he stood to his feet and cried out:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;In the name of Christ, forbear &#8211; STOP!&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He was a solitary voice among the bloodthirsty cheering. The crowd bristled and told him to shut up, but he refused and raised his voice again. The furious spectators turned on him and stoned him to death, enraged that someone would dare to interfere with their &#8220;entertainment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The little monk lay dead in a pool of blood and the crowd fell silent. One man decided to leave in disgust. Others followed suit and soon a massive exodus took place. Three days later, the Emperor by decree ended the Games. There would never be gladiatorial games held at the Colosseum again.<\/p>\n<p>Telemachus had no idea &#8211; he died on the &#8216;grandstand&#8217; &#8211; but his legacy was a final ending to the blood-letting.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Life is painful. Live boldly and beautifully and you&#8217;ll leave a wonderful legacy behind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/a-solitary-voice\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can we make a difference in the world? Telemachus was a monk in the early fifth century. He travelled to Rome and watched gladiators hacking themselves to death. He was appalled and traumatised by what he saw. When he could take no more, he stood to his feet and cried out: &#8220;In the name of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9518,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/the-occasionally-forgotten-victory\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":0},"title":"The (Occasionally) Forgotten Victory","date":"24 August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As some of you might know the nearest I got to military service was being in the sea cadets for a few years as a teenager. That certainly made me realise that any branch of the armed forces was not for me \u2013 probably much to the relief of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/jesus-BLOG.jpg?fit=610%2C291&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/god-made-coffee\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":1},"title":"God Made Coffee","date":"9 June 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dallas Willard was speaking at our Sunday meeting recently and proclaimed \u201cGod made coffee\u201d (among other things).\u00a0 He was challenging us to remember to thank God for the many good things we are surrounded by and try and to start the day by blessing something of the amazing world we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/friends-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5745,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/friends-of-cvm\/code-ode-in-east-midlands-fields\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":2},"title":"Code Ode: In East Midlands Fields","date":"26 November 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIn Flander\u2019s fields the poppies blow\u2026\u201d This is the first line of one of the most famous of the WW1 poems (By John McCrae, 1915). \u201cAnd you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free\u201d, John 8.32 \u201cI am the way, the truth and the life\u201d, John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Friends of CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/friends-blog-640x360.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7982,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/thoughts-from-the-cvm-team\/the-way-of-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":3},"title":"The Way of the Cross","date":"22 May 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: \u201cWhoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Team CVM&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/teachings-of-jesus.jpg?fit=565%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6050,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/demolition-squad\/the-cross-stands-above-it-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":4},"title":"The Cross Stands Above It All","date":"4 April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In the 6th Century a monk by the name of Dionysius Exiguus suggested that the calendar be reworked from the existing Roman model to a model based around the birth of Jesus Christ. 1500 years on and still the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus comprise the pivotal period of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Demolition Squad&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/cross-above-it-all.jpg?fit=1120%2C747&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":846,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/carls-thoughts\/dave-wife-beater\/","url_meta":{"origin":96,"position":5},"title":"Dave the Wife Beater","date":"28 July 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Some years ago I got to know a bloke we will call Dave. Dave was in the eyes of the world a loser and a total scumbag. As soon as he got up in the morning he would start to down litre-sized bottles of strong, cheap cider.\u00a0 Usually before midday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Carl Beech&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6772,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/6772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}