Cold and cloudy again today, with snow in mountain areas, but not around here on the coastal plain. It's only a 'maybe' at the moment. Archbishop Rowan gave a reflection and Morning Prayer for the Parish's daily prayer download this morning, speaking about St Thomas a Becket on this the 850th anniversary of his martyrdom in Canterbury Cathedral. It seems he knew some knights were out to kill him and refused to have the Cathedral doors locked after he entered for Vespers reminding his colleagues that the church was meant to remain open to all, and not be a fortress. Well said, but I couldn't help but recall churches and cathedrals I know which have incorporated defensive fortifications, and even been built into city walls giving security and protection to the vulnerable. It's the other side of the coin from being open and hospitable. It's a constant balancing act between the two, which every church community has to exercise with wisdom and timing. God's truth and justice will always have its enemies, as well as champions who are willing to give their lives to uphold it.
Grim news about rising infection rates continues to overshadow the daily news, with hospitals nearing maximum capacity, and growing shortage of medical staff to cope with the numbers of covid patients. The Cardiff and Vale health board put out a Twitter appeal for trained medical staff to volunteer last night. Within a couple of hours it was taken down. When I chatted with Ashley this afternoon he said he'd heard from the Senior Nursing Officer running the city centre alcohol treatment centre that thirty five people had responded, within a short period of time covering all the rota gaps.
As the days pass, the threat of total nation-wide lock-down is in the offing. Epidemiologists are expressing serious concern about the schools re-opening after the holidays, before teachers are vaccinated and each school has its own working 'test track and trace' system in place for children. Sensible. The country is still not adequately equipped for on-line home learning, even though teachers are striving to rise to this new challenge. The economic and digital divide is part of a reality the government says it's tackling, but cannot be achieved as quickly as wishful thinking expects.
After lunch, a walk in the park. The Taff water level is subsiding again now. Sophia Gardens coach station was deserted, likewise the usually busy car parks around the closed National Sports centre and Mochyn Du pub opposite. Work on new road surfaces, foot paths and separate cycle paths in this area is now complete. It looks fresh and new, but eerily devoid of users, like the shopping centre. Finally I plucked up my courage to order a new Samsung A20 smartphone from Currys for Clare, the Christmas present I had intended to but for her on my last shopping trip in town in the days beforehand. I left it too late, and now the only way you can buy non-essential items is by on-line mai order deliveries or 'Click and Collect'. I hate using the internet for shopping and avoid doing so as often as I can. I have trust issues - as the current psychobabble diagnosis would have it.
This evening I spent copying photo, audio, video and document files from by desktop PC to an old laptop hard drive with plenty of free space - just in case I decide to give the device entirely over to Linux. I have yet to reach a firm conclusion on this matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment