Another overcast autumnal chilly day. I woke up just before Thought for the Day and posted this week's Morning Prayer link to WhatsApp. After listening to the news I got up for breakfast. What was noteworthy was brief report stating the main Gaza city hospital has only four days worth of fuel left for its emergency generators, having reported yesterday there was only enough fuel left for the rest of the day. It also stated that electricity is provided by solar panels as well. The fog of war hinders communications and the flow of correct information (quite apart from misleading propaganda). Journalists can get misled and report emotionally charged statements from desperate staff that don't survive thorough investigation later.
The Israeli government is doubtless trying to figure out why Hamas were able to mount a surprise attack unnoticed. Former UK spy chief Sir Alex Younger has observed that with such intense electronic surveillance available, and apparent inactivity from Hamas, Israeli intelligence services were less vigilant than they usually are. In addition, he stated that there may well have been suspicious traces of a build up in surveillance data that were unwittingly overlooked.
Another report states that there was a noticeable flow of crypto-currency in a direction where Hamas could use it, in the run-up to the attack. Crypto-currency is a medium of finance favoured by terrorist networks it seems. Another report states that Egypt recently warned Israel of Hamas activity. Netanyahu vehemently denies this and calls it 'fake news'. This may be so, but it's in Egypt's interests to disassociate itself from Hamas actions, and such information may not have reached higher echelons of government if dismissed by others lower in the pecking order. Any catastrophic failure has a complex chemistry.
I was able to make an early start to get to St John's after breakfast, and shop for foodbank items in Tesco's on my way there. Three members of the congregation were already in church drinking a cup of coffee, having arrived even earlier with other tasks to perform. Their conversation was about war in the Holy Land, and what God was up to, putting me on the spot. I reminded them of how ancient biblical myth about the Fall and origins and evil observed sibling rivalry, jealousy, deceit and murderous rage as typical of how human beings behave, and how in the early story of Jacob and Esau can be seen the roots of all tribal tensions, and the history of suspicion and resentment between Jews and Arabs which seems impossible to eradicate fully. There's no need to blame God for that which we do to each other, in failing to conquer our lower nature.
There were seven of us for the Eucharist, and perhaps because we had chatted about these things I found bringing them into the heart of our prayer quite emotional. My nine weeks in Jerusalem back 2000 gave me a love of the place and both its tribes, so gifted, sharing similar values and aspirations in their different cultures and religion. But will true lasting reconciliation, harmony and peace ever be possible? There's no miracle solution, that's for sure. Not even to getting out of this current mess.
I cooked lunch early when I returned home, in order to get to Coffee #1 for a chat with Rufus, as he is just about to start his new job as South Wales Missions to Seafarers Chaplain. He told me about the lengthy on-line training programme he's been through to prepare him for pastoral work in a safety conscious, highly disciplined industrial environment. He commented that the church was not nearly as thorough in its induction programme, given the unsafe social environment in which ministry is exercised. He's happy, returning to a familiar structured secular workplace where he can feel looked after and supported in doing his job. When we parted company he was going off to buy industrial standard boots and protective clothing which will be his everyday work attire from now on.
Then I went for a walk in the park. On the home stretch I ran into Peter returning from his jog, and we walked back together talking about the conflict that's burdening so many of us at the moment, dominating the news. Over fifteen hundred have died in the Gaza bombing raids, a disturbingly high number of them are children. How can the end justify the means? Calls for restraint seem muted in the face of reality, no matter how precise the information reported may be. Images of devastation and a state of siege depriving Gazans of food and water speak for themselves. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are suffering.
After supper, I watched a couple more episodes of 'The Fall'. It's very dark and deeply disturbing, showing more than it really needs to, leaving nothing for the imagination. I've just discovered from IMDB that there are seventeen episodes to this drama, and I've only watched four so far. That's a very long drawn out tale. Am I going to make it to the end? What's going on in real life as opposed to fiction is hard enough to witness and reflect upon, but necessary.
At the end of a far from routine way, I realised that I'd not issued this week's Sway, having waited for an information update which didn't reach me by the deadline, I remembered just as I was about to switch off and go to bed. I don't suppose many need to view it before Friday anyway. Distractions happen. It's just a matter of how quickly they can be recovered from. Preferably earlier than bed time!
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