We celebrated the feast of St Luke the Evangelist at today's Parish Eucharist, one of the patron saints of Canton Benefice. In her sermon Mother Frances spoke about Luke as the 'beloved physician' as St Paul called him, but also in Christian tradition thought to be a portrait painter. His Gospel not only shows his interest in healing, but also his attention to detail in story telling, and a painter needs to pay attention to every detail as well as the whole person, in seeking to represent someone's likeness in a portrait. A point well made, I thought in relation to discipleship, and doing justice in each situation we find ourselves in.
When lock-down started back in March, an icon of St Luke portrayed as patron of the NHS was placed in the porch of our St Luke's church behind locked gates, with a votive candle stand within reach through the bars for anyone who wanted to light a candle and pray. It was an inspired idea, and I guess it will be there for a good while longer until contagion is well controlled and the pandemic has abated.
I counted thirty eight adults and fifteen children in church. I believe that's the highest number attending worship since services resumed, a very encouraging sign of the determination of a healthy community to make churchgoing part of its new normal. We've picked up two new worshippers recently, Archbishop Rowan Williams and his wife Jane have bought a new home in a street near the church.
Mid afternoon we walked together around the Llandaff and Pontcanna fields, very busy with people as on other weekends. I wonder how the possibility of another couple of weeks of lock-down will impact on outdoor activities and socialising. It's hard to police, but maybe the First Minister's clarity in presenting a new set or restrictions will make more people willing to comply without needing much enforcement action. We'll see.
The Westminster government is still in conflict with local government leaders and MPs of all parties in the North East, most if not all of whom seem agreed that facts on the ground don't match the version on which government decisions are being made, either using out of date information or using politically filtered information to retain centralised control. There seems to be denial at the centre that the test track and trace system is still not effective enough to exert control over the spread of the virus.
It's notable that among regional voices speaking in critical unison against the government's position is Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Tory 1922 backbench committee, an parliamentary body that proposes or disposes of Prime Ministers. Outwardly he remains a loyal Tory, speaking in the best interests of his constituents, what happens under wraps in 1922 committee social circles is altogether another matter. Are Boris and his cronies incapable of doing the job they were appointed for? Can he last? Are the days of this populist demagogue numbered? The same may be true of Trump n the USA, slipping behind his campaign rival Joe Biden in pre-election polls. Is a way back to moderate inclusive political discourse possible, after such a spell of toxic lies and deceit both sides of the Atlantic? We shall see.
Interestingly enough, a new political drama serial began on BBC One in tonight's prime time slot, called 'Roadkill', about a corrupt British government minister and a journalist in hot pursuit of verifiable truths that will expose him and end his career. It presents an unflattering portrait of some of the inhabitants in the so-called Westminster political bubble. How would St Luke have approached this? Well, we need to look no further than his portrait of John the Baptist in chapter three of his Gospel, which is outspoken in a most vivid way against corrupt people with power over others. "Brood of vipers", he called them.
