(Pr)air miles!

So many things that we take for granted in The Salvation Army were actually years ahead of their time. We had women vicars before they became fashionable, and William Booth's 'In Darkest England' was published decades before Iain Duncan Smith started thinking about social justice.

But what about the humble 'star card'? It was years ahead of its time. If you ever attended Sunday school at The Salvation Army you will remember the star card. Every week when you attended Sunday School you had your card stamped with a little star (hence the name). In the 'old days' we went to Sunday School in the morning and then again after lunch. The star card was so important we even took it on holiday so that we could get our stamp when we went to Sunday School at the nearest corps (church) - something we had to do before we were allowed anywhere near the beach, of course. It was important to get your stamp because the number of stars you had determined the quality of 'prize' that you were given on prize-giving Sunday. As Brucie says 'points make prizes'.

Today my Star Card has been replaced by my Emirates frequent flyer card. I carry it whenever I travel and make sure I present it when I check in. My regular journeys mean that I am the proud holder of a Gold card! Whoooooo!! It means I get better treatment than those who only have a Silver or a plain old Blue card. When I board a plane the cabin crew come to my seat, greet me by name and welcome me back. Why? I'm special - and my Gold card tells me so!

I reckon if William Booth was still around he would resurrect and update the humble Star Card for this post-modern age. We would not only get points for attending on a Sunday but extra points for things such as putting a Bible text on your blog site, or sending one of those 'show a friend how much you love them' emails. Sitting in the balcony would earn you miles + 25%, on the platform and you would get miles + 50%! Responding to the invitation to pray in the meeting would also earn bonus points - regular participants would move up from Blue to Silver, then Gold. A Silver Card would guarantee you priority seating - your preferred seat reserved on the front or back row - in the Holiness meeting. Gold Card holders would have their own dedicated Lounge where they could have their after-meeting coffee away from the 'common people'. We could call the new scheme 'SA Pr-air miles'.

Don't like the idea - well how about an S.P & S Ltd Clubcard then?

Just a thought.........