On the Life of Saint Mark?

I am making a plea for the beatification of Radio 5 Live’s resident film critic, Dr Mark Kermode.

Of course there may be one or two issues with this, not least that he is still alive. And also Dr Kermode may have something to say about it. I am not too sure of his present theological position but I believe his occasional Marxist sympathies may be someone problematic.

All in all an odd choice then, especially on this blog. So let me explain…

Now I start by making a small apology to these readers of Madame Raccoon’s blog who have no religious or “spiritual” sensibilities. I can completely understand and respect that view. Indeed when I was growing up in an Anglo-Catholic household I would be dragged off to see “the Wizard” of a Sunday, and I was not much impressed. A dreary ritual would take place led by an unhappy man who seemed something of a simpleton to me. Indeed everyone seemed unhappy and resigned. The emphasis seemed to be on putting up with being poor and miserable, as though this was mankind’s allotted destiny, albeit with the promised pay off of winning the Eternal Lottery and going to Heaven when you died.

It was not an ethos which appealed to me. And I remember thinking very often; what use is any of this this?

Now a few years ago I picked up a little book. It was called “Gifts from a Course in Miracles”. That sounded intriguing. It was and is lovely. It intersperses gentle, poetic aphorisms with rather lovely, peaceful black and white photographs. This is typical of the aphorisms:

“Pain is illusion;
Joy, reality.
Pain is but sleep;
Joy is awakening.
Pain is deception;
Joy alone is truth.
And so again we make
The only choice that can ever be made;
We choose between illusions and the truth,
or pain and joy,
or hell and hell and Heaven.

Or this rather startling one:

“Miracles are natural.
When they do not occur,
something has gone wrong.”

It is a mysterious little thing. However, as the title suggests it is merely extracts from “A Course in Miracles”, or as it is often known, simply “The Course.”

The Course is an interesting, perhaps strange phenomenon. It was written, most reluctantly at first, by a highly qualified academic psychologist from a non practicing Jewish background called Helen Schucman.

Briefly, she began to experience a series of intense visual images, and feared she was losing her mind. Finally she heard an internal voice which simply said: “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” Again she feared she was on the brink of insanity. Well, you would, wouldn’t you? She sought counseling from a fellow academic, and he encouraged her to write down these messages, incites or fantasies. She did so over the next six years, and the result was “The Course”.

I have to say I have always found the full Course quite an intimidating work. It is large, in three volumes, and written in the sort of language which is rather formal though quite poetic, somewhat reminiscent of the King James Bible. It uses explicit Christian terminology, and indeed concepts as “the Holy Spirit” and “the Son of God” are fundamental to The Course.

Now it would be quite easy to argue that The Course can be read as a purely psychological rather than a religious work, albeit dressed up in a clever pseudo religious guise. However, that would a cop out. Whilst The Course is entirety non denominational and does not even require a Christian belief, there is simply no getting round the fact that The Course requires belief in God, and his agency or expression, the Holy Spirit. But The Course is very deep, and I am not sure this is a God or Holy Agency my parish priest would have recognized or understood.

This week we have had rioting and general mayhem in Afghanistan because someone has burned a Koran or two. Behaviour such as this, and all forms of bigotry and attack, is the very opposite of what The Course is getting at. This is practicing a religion like following a football team. It is based on superstition, fear and error.

In essence the core of the Course is that our deepest goal should be complete peace. It is a psychological manual intended to train the mind to find it.

In the teachings of The Course anxieties and fears are in a sense an illusion; they are caused by the absence of love. Consider it this way. Darkness does not exist. You cannot banish darkness by striking it with a baseball bat. It is merely the absence of light. There is nothing there. There is a line in E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to India” which has stayed with me since I first read it more than thirty years ago:

“’Evil is an absence of My Lord,’ said Professor Godbole.”

Quite so.

To banish darkness, you need a light. The light, in the Course, is the transformation of one’s relationship to God. God being the existence of love within us. When we think with love, we achieve a harmonious and peaceful life. This is the meaning of Heaven.

When we think without love, we are thinking with fear and anxiety, and there is pain. This is the meaning of Hell.

Having spent the greater part of my adult life in a state of anxiety, worry and fear, I can attest to that.

The miracle that the Course is striving to create is an internal and psychological one, to change your relationship to love, God, and the world. Whether other “miracles” follow is a matter upon which I will keep my own counsel.

Now since this is all very esoteric, let me try to explain by reference to Dr Kermode. Some readers may be familiar with him. To borrow from our old friend Wikipedia:

“Mark Kermode (born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo’s Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons. He also co-presents the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show and discusses other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review. Kermode writes and presents a film-related video blog for the BBC.”

His doctorate is in Horror Fiction by the way. As mentioned above he co presents the Radio 5 Live film review show of a Friday afternoon. This is one of the BBC’s most popular podcasts. You see, Dr Kermode is a rather eccentric chap. He is, quite simply, obsessed with films, and he has been all his life.

He is particularly famous for his obsession with his favourite film “The Exorcist”, which he explains here.

But Dr Kermode is most famous for his “rants”. Fans of the show particularly love these, when the good Doctor becomes almost incandescent with outrage at the cinematic transgressions of such persons as George Lucas or a director called “McG”. Here is a selection of choice ones. The appalling Stars Wars III (Revenge of the Sith) gets it here.

Sexy and the City 2 is a slow boiler, but he is soon calling for revolution here.

But perhaps the “The Greatest Rant of All” is his cataclysmic condemnation against the monster that is Pirates of the Caribbean 3 in one of the funniest ten minutes of broadcasting that I can recall. I commend it.

The show is required listening for many like me who have no great interest in film per se. Over the past ten years it has achieved cult status across world (Indeed the long running “Hello to Jason Isaacs” catch phrase has gone global).

What is the secret of the success of this programme? The banter between the co-presenters (“Wittertainment”) is beautifully balanced. Mayo and Kermode are both gifted broadcasters in their own right. Mayo’s deft ironic Everyman is the perfect foil to the eccentric and excitable Kermode. But that is not, I think, the real secret of success. I suggest that it is popular because of the eccentricity which is born of passion, and love. Mark Kermode simply loves films. His whole life revolves around films (and skiffle). He writes about films, makes programmes about films and lectures on films because he loves it.

So here is a man who has given over his life to doing, being around, experiencing and talking about what he loves. Perhaps no surprise then to find that he seems (when not ranting) a rather happy and contented individual living happily with his wife (a professor who lectures on….films) in a rather beautiful part of the country and doing quite nicely out of it, thank you.

So that in a sense is Enlightenment. A life which revolves around doing that which is loved. Hence my argument that the good Doctor is in the terms of The Course, an Enlightened Being, and worthy of being styled a “saint.”

OK I am being a bit over the top…

But for good measure there is even a famous “rant” which helped a chap stir from a coma (mp3 podcast), so we can throw in a bit of miracle working as well.

Have you ever stopped and wondered what would happen if we all did not what we thought would bring us economic security but what we loved to do? What would the world look like?

This blog is the product of love. People contribute and create because they love to do it, and love Anna and what she does. All that is good about it is born of love. The best writing is done instinctively and when the writers are inspired. Literally “In Spirit”, or as The Course would say, acting as co-creator with the agency of the Holy Spirit. The writing just flows, because that is what they are inspired to write. When I am writing well, about what I love, I am not really writing at all. I am merely taking the notes….

Heavy duty stuff?

And so finally on that note at the Raccoon Arms, we celebrate our own little miracle. Our learned editor, sometimes referred to “in house” as “The Dear Leader”, “The Commander in Chief”, “The Invincible and Ever Present General” or simply “The Boss” is on the mend after a vile illness.

Amen to that!

Gildas the Monk

Tagged as: Gift from The Course, Madame Raccoon, Mark Kermode