Spring scenes

Another glorious sunny day and quite warm for this time of year too at fifteen degrees. Clare's study group arrived mid morning. I spent an hour scanning the opera tickets for the next season,which Clare received in the post, to store for convenience in my phone. Then I went out to walk for an hour before lunch. First, I caught the bus to the end of Cathedral Road, then walked into Bute Park to take pictures of the flowing trees on the east side of a Gorsedd Circle - a spectacular sight at this time of year.

I wasn't able to take as many photos that I hoped for, as my camera battery ran out of charge. After lunch I started work on next week's biblical reflection, now focusing on the Exodus story. It made me look again at the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt and notice something I hadn't seen before. 

Joseph's policy for managing the famine involved selling the wheat surplus rather than giving it away, a prudent way to cover the cost involved in building and maintaining storage facilities. It was successful enough to enable Egypt and surrounding territory to survive the food crisis. As a result, Egypt saw a return on its investment. It was reasonable enough when people could afford to pay, but as the famine continued, impoverishment led needy people to sell their land and physical labour to the Egyptian state for the price of grain - economic enslavement. Time passed, after the death of Joseph, the privileged position of the Hebrews in Goshen was gradually forgotten. They too became economically entrapped. An ironic instance of the unintended consequences of Joseph's creative management plans.

It also occurred to me that unlike Joseph, who acquired dual identity by virtue of making the most of being enslaved, Moses the liberator from slavery acquired his dual identity by being rescued from the Nile and raised in the household of an Egyptian princess, while being care for by his Hebrew mother. The ability of both men in different situations relies on being able to bridge the culture gap in their own lived experience. Both know the importance of patience, humility and persistence to achieve anything worthwhile. 

I walked in Llandaff Fields before supper, enjoying the fact that it's mild enough not to need a top coat. The children's playground is busy and lots of people are out walking their dogs, or sitting on the grass making the most of their time after work or school. A big grass mowing machine towed by a tractors was out and about, tidying the playing fields reading for cricketers to practice before their first matches.

In the evening I watched several more episodes of Finnish crimmie 'All the sins', which I didn't realise until now has a second series, which strangely tells about events relating to some of the first series characters fifteen years earlier. It's intriguing. So far the reason for this isn't apparent.