Easter under the clouds of war

A sunny day despite clouds and cold wind. Despite a good night's sleep, I had a hard time getting going, unable to shake off accumulated tiredness from yesterday. Despite this, my head is clearer and my attention not so blunted by the effect of medication.

I listened to the Sung Eucharist from Canterbury Cathedral on Radio 4 before getting up. Archbishop Sarah preached a fine sermon both pastoral and poetic, around the text 'While it was still dark'. The fact that she called for prayer that the war in the Middle East would come to a speedy and just end made the day's news headlines. Nothing was reported about the actual content of her sermon apart from this. The Cathedral choir sang a Latin Mass setting so full of dissonance it verged on being irritating. The congregation sang hymns half heartedly. No wonder, at eight o'clock in the morning. Pope Leo's 'Urbi et Orbi' address also appealed for an end to the war. It was good to learn about the exchange of greeting messages between Rome and Canterbury. Ecumenical dialogue and co-operation will continue as churches globally learn to live with their differences. A positive example in a conflict ridden world.

Trump continues with bullying rhetoric, now foul mouthed, to threaten the obliteration of Iranian energy and industrial infrastructure unless the Straight of Hormuz is re-opened. Iran promises equally devastating retaliation, which it has already shown it can deliver with far reaching consequences. Trump is being publicly reminded by international legal experts that such actions constitute a war crime. Argument weak shout louder on Trump's part. There is little trust between Iran and America for pursuing peace talks in the light of the US and Israel attacking Iran while negotiations were going on. Rescue of a missing American airman has been a success which will no doubt be dramatized in a movie eventually. It's been a costly success in terms of aircraft losses, but avoids the embarrassment of a hostage crisis.

We attended the St Catherine's Eucharist with a congregation of over eighty adults and children, pleasing to all who have been concerned about a decline in attendance which hasn't fully recovered since the pandemic. There has been a turnover in the local population in the past few years with young families moving into the area, and the welcoming nature of the church's ministry to them suggests attention is being attracted to a well looked after, well presented traditional Parish church.

We had a quiet lunch on our own. The Owain, Kath and Anto are coming next weekend for my birthday, but we had phone conversations with them during the day. Clare baked an apple pie with puff pastry to follow our usual salmon and veg for Sunday lunch. The leftover pastry she filled with custard for a tea time treat. No simnel cake this year.

My afternoon walk in Llandaff Fields was physically hard going, there was no spring in my step and the cold wind didn't help. After supper I watched another episode of 'Blanca'. It's an interesting idea, to have a blind person with highly sensitive hearing and sense of smell participating actively in police investigations, but if the resolution of the story is poorly presented, it lacks plausibility.