I felt the benefit of going to bed half an hour earlier than usual. It rained again in the night and was drying out by the time we had breakfast. The sky remained overcast for most of the day. I drove to St Edwards to celebrate the Eucharist, and was surprised when a lady accosted me outside and said how she appreciated my sermons - well thought out, informative, relevant - she said. I'm not sure I ever recall getting feedback like that before. I think she must be an ex-teacher to deliver such a concise appraisal. It's certainly what I aim for, and wonder how often how it comes across, but it's not the sort of thing you'd ever ask anyone, as if you'd fish for complements.
Much to my inner embarrassment, several people thanked me for today's sermon after the service. It seems that a few fresh insights which occurred to me were fresh for my listeners too. More often than not, people leaving church say shyly as you greet them "Nice service Father" and that's all. You do the best you can to convey insights that make an impression on you from the texts you work with. You trust God to do the rest and it's enough to know you've not upset anyone or caused them to walk out in protest.
The roads were quiet and I was home for lunch by half past twelve. I found a small bottle of Prosecco in the back of the fridge, enough for two glasses, and opened it for Clare and Ann to drink in honour of their forthcoming birthdays, while the veggies were roasting. Then a circuit of Llandaff and Pontcanna Fields.
At the far end, near Sophia Gardens there was a fund raising event for the Noah's Ark children's hospital appeal going on, for which, unusually dozens of cars were parked on the grass near to a long side-less tent. I wasn't sure whether the event was to start later, or was winding down after an early start. The river level had risen sufficiently due to recent rain for water to flow across the entire length of the weir. After a dry day it started raining heavily after dark, so I imagine the river will be even more swollen tomorrow.
After supper, we watched Antiques Roadshow. and then the final episode of 'The Woman in the Wall' with an emotionally dramatic conclusion, albeit a little long drawn out to my taste. Whether the element of the story-line about baby trafficking in the days of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland has any truth in it, I have no idea, but the portrayal of cruelty towards young women consigned to them reflected the reality of much harsher times and moral values lacking in compassion for the vulnerable and respect for their dignity, all in the name of a perverse notion of penitence and amendment of life, based on false spirituality which did great damage to the credibility of the church and Christianity in the 20th century.
A new story breaking in Spain this evening concerns the use of AI imaging to take photos of teenage girls posted on social media and re-render them naked. The perpetrators are young teenage boys finding that the lewd masturbatory fantasies common at their age can be turned into a perceptible reality and circulated on social media. Heaven know where such photos will end up. Needless to say, the girls and their parents are beside themselves with anxiety about the consequences of this invasion of personal privacy.
The police are investigating, and those mischievous lads are facing serious criminal charges as a result. Hopefully this will help to deter young people's use of social media for self-display and narcissism, and consider more seriously what is the real value of communicating virtually when person to person encounter is so much more natural and fruitful. Did AI designers see this coming? What do they propose to do to prevent such abuse from happening in the first place.
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