State of Alarm - Easter Day

As soon as I got up at eight, I continued work on the Easter Day audio service ready or upload. It took me far longer than I expected, so it was eleven before I was able to stop for breakfast and the Office of Morning Prayer. I was impressed to hear the Queen's very affirmative Easter message to the nation at the end of the BBC Radio Four Sunday programme. An unequivocal and exemplary Christian message of resurrection hope, from the leading lay person of the CofE and of a kind that is as unprecedented as the circumstances of the broadcast.

I had to catch up on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter home Communion service later in the morning to retain my concentration on the task n hand. This too was inspirational and a very well prepared  service considering the conditions. Bishop of Dover, in effect his assistant in the diocese, Rose Hudson Wilkins joined him on-line him in the service, giving a superb dramatic rendering of the John's Gospel passage about the empty tomb and Mary Magdalene. I get the impression that this crisis is bringing out the best in Christian preachers everywhere.

I've had an exchange of emails with Dr Laura Ciobanu in Romania today. She's a specialist in lung conditions among the elderly. I imagine this puts her on the front line, but she doesn't talk about her hospital work. I notice that their number of reported covid-19 deaths is 316, average 16 per million, is quite low on the countrywide scale, with 6,300 cases altogether. Few big cities, poor internal road networks and a dispersed rural agricultural population may work to their advantage.

I got most of my day's walk done in the afternoon, but again finished after sundown with light rain, almost a mist settling. Thankfully it's not been cold. While I was out after lunch, I had an idea for a short videoed Easter greeting, and broke off to write and record it for YouTube. It only took an hour for the file to upload, and then I had a link I could send to Dave, albeit a bit late in the day to be an evening message for Easter day, but never mind. I can relax now.

After eight, we had short a family Easter day gathering on Zoom to greet each other, which was very nice, and finished my walk before having a late supper treat - beans on toast! And so to bed, time to say Evening Prayer and start catching up sleep.