After the storm what a relief it was to wake up to blue sky and a light but chilly breeze this morning. Since last night Damascus has fallen quickly into islamist rebel hands. The army gave no resistance, with many soldiers deserting to the rebels or taking off their uniforms and dispersing. Assad and his entourage fled the country overnight. the prime minister has been asked by rebel leaders to remain in office for the time being and run government services until the Syrian people decide what comes next.
Iran and Russia withdrawing their support for the Ba'ath party regime, it's too early to imagine how this will work out. In the meanwhile the streets of Damascus are filled with people rejoicing in freedom from oppression and celebrating the downfall of a criminal regime after fifty four years. Syria has been ruined and broken into fragments by thirteen years of civil war. How the country can be healed and rebuilt, the world waits to see.
Sunday Worship this morning came from Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog near Llangollen, showcasing the Welsh language carol singing folk tradition of Plygain services. A couple of the carols were things that Clare and I learned singing with the Fountain choir. Clare was singing with a Plygain group as well at that time, over in Roath. Now that it's being said 40% of Canton's population are Welsh speakers and we have a Welsh language Eucharist twice a month, it seems to me there's potential to start a local group. So, I have suggested this to Fr Sion as an initiative worth taking.
We went to St Catherine's for the Eucharist. It was a relief to see the churchyard trees have survived the gales. There were three dozen of us for what was meant to be a 'family service', and only three children and a baby out of the two dozen in Sunday Club present, with a children's talk and game rather than a sermon. I'm feeling starved this Advent of hearing the Word preached. Through my working life I invested a lot of energy week by week in preparing sermons, not only for others but myself. I don't do that now I'm not taking services all that often, and realising this is making a difference. Reading devotional books or written sermons isn't the same as listening live.
After lunch I had a go at digging out the root of a Virginia Creeper that Clare wanted removed from the garden. It was rather difficult with inadequate tools and not enough energy. I was only partly successful and will try to finish it off tomorrow. As a left the house for a walk down to Blackweir Bridge, I spotted the wing mirror cover I lost yesterday in the gutter on the opposite side of the road. It was still intact, well more or less. I'll know when I try to refit it tomorrow. Somehow a very turbulent gust of wind sucked it off and carried it up and over the car without causing any other damage. Amazing!
It was bitterly cold in the park, though the wind was not as strong as it was yesterday. It didn't look as if the river overflowed on to the path during the night. The volume of rain can't have been as large overnight. Clare's study group came for a session while I was out. After tea we went to the Fountain choir Advent concert at St John's. It's the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary today, overlooked at the Sunday Liturgy, unless it happens to be the title feast day of your church, but the concert programme was mainly anthems in Mary's honour. Ironic when you consider this isn't a 'religious' choir. Delightful music from the middle ages.
We got back home in time for the Archers and the weekly Archers podcast, then the Antiques Roadshow from Beaumaris Castle. In tonight's news, a report that Assad and his family fled to Russia and Putin has granted them asylum, and most likely their fortune of looted Syrian wealth.
I watched another episode of Lykkeland. It's marvellous to see how the principal characters develop in the story over a decade. Then I remembered that I recorded this evening's concert on my little digital voice device and set about editing it out nearly twenty minutes of commentary and applause, leaving the forty minutes of singing in a single audio file which I have now shared with Anna the choir director using Google Drive. Being only five metres from the performance in an acoustically favourable place gave fair quality of recording, considering how small the recorder's microphone is. The task took me no more than an hour. And so to bed.
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