Welsh and proud

This week, St Catherine's chancel is being redecorated, the service was held in the church hall instead and I celebrated with eight others. We agreed, chatting over coffee after that it had been a pleasant experience, sitting in a semi-circle closed by a table serving as an altar. Before the church was built in the 1880s the 'tin tabernacle' had been erected and used an an all purpose mission hall, for Sunday school, and various church groups as well as Sunday worship. 

Its roof has been replaced, not sure about the corrugated iron walls, though they have been re-painted a sympathetic green, with a modern kitchen and toilets added in the new century. The interior is still wooden panelled, and in good repair. It's a nice Victorian period piece of vernacular architecture, often used for location filming on top of its other parochial engagements. The acoustic is good, as well, which actually helps to make it a good worship space. We wondered how long it is since a service was last held in the hall instead of the church.

We chatted until quite late, so when Clare returned from a therapy session and a trip to town, I'd not been for this week's veggie bag, and lunch wasn't ready. She cooked while I went out to fetch it. After lunch I walked over the St Luke's to meet the lady I'd talked to on the phone yesterday, and continue preparations for the funeral of her friend next week. When I returned home I drafted and sent her an order of service to work on, and then we had supper early so we could get to the Royal Welsh College in time for a concert,

This afternoon, St John's City Parish Church hosted a civic service of thanksgiving for all that had been achieved in Wales by people serving together to combat the covid pandemic. The NHS, the military and police, and a host of voluntary organisations, with an emphasis on Wales's ethnic minority population which suffered disproportionately from covid, not least as so many work in the NHS in public service organisations, transport and food retailing. The concert which followed in RWCMD was organised by the Indian Consul in Wales, and was a celebration of good will and diversity. 

It included a College Jazz ensemble, another band of students led by a composer/songwriter of Welsh African, which played her compositions. Then, a wonderful display of classical Indian dancing by two dozen young woman, and to conclude, the Royal Welsh Regiment band's corps of drummers. Just three of them dressed in their traditional dark navy blue uniforms with helmets, pointed like a police helmet. At first I wondered if they were from a police band, but not so. Their drumsticks were illuminated with a red and a blue LED, and house lights were cut while they played, producing an amazing light-show that changed according to the rhythm they tapped out.

There were speeches of course, including one from First Minister Mark Drakeford, who was warmly received when he spoke, telling a few succint heart warming stories, and celebrating the way everyone in Wales, regardless of cultural background pulled together, thinking of others, working for the common good in ways great and small. He spoke about a government anti-racism policy which aims by 2030 to ensure that everyone in Wales has equal opportunities, regardless of their ethnicity. It seems we're the first nation in the world to formulate such a policy. 

We also heard from another speaker that measures taken to limit the spread of covid in Wales resulted in Wales having the lowest death rate, something remarkable considering levels of deprivation in post industrial areas. All attributed to careful monitoring and people making an effort to comply with public health requirements. Yes indeed, such a lot to give thanks for, and to be proud that we've had the extraordinary servant leadership exercised by our First Minister, who has continued undeterred on the government team's collaborative approach which has got us where we hope to go, and is now taking us into recovery, with a new vision for the future. I couldn't be any prouder than I am.

Time to say thank you

Mid morning, I drove Clare over to the University Optometry school to get her new set of varifocal specs, her second pair this year, as her eyes have deteriorated further and she needs to make the most of her eyesight while she can, before she is compelled to learn how to use voice recognition technology with the phone and the computer. We called into Lidi's nearby afterwards, where she bought a anti-snore pillow, which turned out to be nothing of the sort - more likely a wrongly packaged standard pillow. Too late to return it once it's been used. 

With a couple of trips to the shops and Post Office, my days exercise was done pounding the streets under a layer of grey cloud - there is visual relief however, from Christmas trees revealed behind open curtains and strings of coloured festive lights, increasingly spread outdoors to front garden trees and fences.

Then I settled down to finish the thank you letter started over the weekend to Mrs Cornish the surgeon. As the wound is now tiny and almost completely closed, I felt it was time. I've been reluctant to write this any earlier, when I might well have done - a bit like tempting Providence. It's now three years almost to the day since I was given an initial date for surgery. I have so much to be thankful for, given the intrusion of the pandemic, and several other delays in between rounds of surgery due to resource shortages. 

I guess if anything has changed in three years it has been not just in staffing, but in improved availability of some equipment, and organisational efficiency. There are still big problems due to lack of functioning wards, shortage of nurses, and lack of home care to enable early patient discharge to avoid bed blocking, but covid has brought a revolution in emergency care and diagnostics, and this makes possible different ways of treating people. 

I heard an industrial scientist on the radio talking about a proposal for a global health monitoring system to spot evolving deadly viruses which could give rise to another pandemic. It would issue a global threat alert early enough to take preemptive action. It would network monitoring technology analysing soil, air, water, especially waste water, relating them to medical and veterinary pathology data. It would require huge investment and political consensus, but save the world from economic ruin and high death tolls in future generations.  

I completed and uploaded to YouTube this Thursday's Morning Prayer video, wrote a biblical reflection for next Thursday's video and recorded the half of the audio. This minimises the amount of preparation I have to do alongside Christmas services and family celebrations. It's going to be a busy week.

Before bed I started watching the movie 'King of Thieves' based on the 2015 Hatton Garden bank vault robbery. It was said to be masterminded and pulled off by a group of retired London East End thieves in their sixties, and starred Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent and Tom Courtenay - a brilliant portrayal of a group of elderly working class males, a non-genteel 'Lunnon' equivalent to 'Days of Wine and Roses

The dialogue was hilarious, mostly comprising old school abusive gangster language, such as you might hear in any rough back street pub or football terrace. Anything but politically correct, so the movie was preceded by a 'health warning'. I had to give up and go to bed before midnight approached as it didn't finish until late, so I'll have to watch the last quarter in iPlayer.

Testing testing ...

I went out to bank a cheque straight after breakfast, then we loaded the car with things belonging to Owain which have been stored in our attic bedroom since 2010, to take over to him, on our way to visit Amanda and James. Before setting out we both did Lateral Flow Tests, as did Owain, Amanda and James, just so we could all be sure it was all right to meet and interact without fear of infecting each other. This is now being seen nationally as a necessity, given the rapid rise in omicron covid infections. All clear all round. For me this was the first time to take the test, and I was a bit nervous about doing it correctly, and though it's straightforward enough it is fiddly. 

Later in the day Clare told me I should report this test to the NHS database, which was even more fiddly and frustrating to achieve as you first have to find out how to get to the Welsh reporting site, through the national NHS site. It's not user friendly, offering endless information and nothing as simple as a big blue button saying 'Go to Welsh LFT results report'. It's buried among much excess verbiage, an act of inter-departmental spitefulness in my opinion. How many people are deterred from reporting by this kind of stupidity I wonder.

We delivered all Owain's stuff, mostly vintage techno kit, ready for eBay, then went for lunch at one of his high street local eateries - carrot and lentil soup with fantastic sourdough bread, being the highlight. Then we drove across Bristol to Southmead and spent a couple of hours catching up with Amanda and James. It must be three years since we saw him last. He's gone from being a tall skinny teenager to being a well built adult male with poise and intelligence. He took time out from University when the pandemic started and returned to being his mother's chief carer, as the supply of home support became uncertain if not non-existent on times. Since then new disability aids have transformed her life and returned to her a measure of independence she hasn't had for many years. It's made a great difference to the confidence of both of them. James works from home as moderator of a gaming social media platform, and will return to his studies whenever stability returns to the University environment, and that won't be this academic for sure.

We left as it started to get dark. I wasn't keen about driving in the dark anyway, but it turns out now that the route from Southmead to Pontcanna is illuminated all the day. It's just that the lights are poorer in some sections than others, and when the road is busy but not congested, traffic, pushed by the heavy lorry brigade tends to go faster than the pace I'm comfortable with. To stay out of trouble and prevent others from driving too close to you, you sometimes have to go faster than you want to. Anyway we got home safely and without being honked at or flashed.

After supper, I completed and uploaded this Thursday's Morning Prayer and biblical Reflection video, and watched a 'Crossing Lines' episode about a kidnapping that was unwittingly linked to the spread of a highly contagious disease. Nothing to do with covid, but something much worse and fast spreading. Not a bad reminder of how an accident could easily turn into a catastrophe.

RWCMD - persistence in pandemic

I walked to St John's after breakfast this morning to celebrate the Eucharist with just five others, half the usual congregation which is unusual. It was only when I was getting ready to leave that I realised that I'd not posted the link to my Thursday morning Prayer offering, as I usually do it after 'Thought for the Day', before eight. This morning I woke up well after eight, having gone to be rater late. I listened on catch-up and forgot my regular Thursday morning routine. I hope geriatric forgetfulness isn't going to plague me. Admittedly insufficient sleep may be the cause.

I returned and had lunch cooked well before Clare returned from school. After eating, I slept soundly for another hour and a half. Then we walked over the fields to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for a special 'Welcome Back' meeting for College supporters and patrons at four in the Dora Stutzker Hall. This was made up of reports on the life of the College over the past eighteen months from the Principal and three senior staff members, interweaved with performances from three remarkable students. One was an award winning harpist, another was a talented singer from the Music Theatre course, and another was a virtuoso saxophonist from the Junior Conservatoire, just about to begin his first undergraduate year.

We were told that RWCMD continued working with students throughout the worst of the pandemic even when the College buildings were closed down, and as soon as it could open to receive students and staff again, it evolved a 'mixed learning' in-house and on-line arrangement. Making and performing shows, concerts and recitals went on throughout, via the internet, and whenever possible live with safely scaled down audiences in a variety of venues - dozens of production, plays, musical theatre and opera as well as recitals and concerts. Friday afternoon Jazz sessions continued throughout in the atrium of the building and were live streamed. 

Most impressive however is the fact that the 2021 academic year, despite all the restrictions, was completed in full, the only conservatoire in Britain, and maybe further afield, to do this. Such creative passion, thanks to inspirational leadership! Plans are afoot raise funds to develop in new ways all College educational programmes in the next three years, including a completely new approach to the BMus course. A great Welsh example of Boris's' build back better philosophy.

I know it's invidious to compare an institution like RWCMD with the Church in Wales, but the temptation is there. The College has not just fulfilled its mission to be a beacon of hope and creativity for the artistic life of Wales, but exceeded it in ways even those involved couldn't have imagined when the pandemic began and promises to continue to do so in the coming years. Can the same be said of our Province of the Anglican Church in the same period? 

At the grass roots level, in many if not most Parishes, the answer is yes - food banks, environmental and health projects, on-line worship, fellowship and discussion activities. But churches were also closed for long periods, and only slowly allowed to resume a semblance of normality. All was done conscientiously but in a totally risk averse way, avoiding the real challenge of encouraging disciplined responsibility in engaging socially to rebuild confidence in meeting face to face. 

Outdoor carol singing events socially distanced for example could have been planned and executed safely with creative forethought, but anything real world social was discouraged. Some have discovered that on-line religion works for them and is more convenient. Will congregations already in decline before the pandemic recover, if people have lost the habit of meeting, after such a long time being discouraged actively from doing so in and around church, apart from the strictly controlled environment of liturgical worship under covid compliant conditions?

Clearly RWCMD has worked hard at communicating in a way that has not only nourished relationships between teachers and students, but also with College supporters throughout, likewise the Welsh National Opera company. Building back better is going to be pursued with zeal not desperation. Our creative people longed for audiences and have made the effort to reach out and stay connected with them. The church as an institution - can we really say that it has done this with conviction? Or confidence? Has the church lost the ability to seize public attention in any meaningful or fruitful way? Where do we go from here?

All these thoughts came to the surface this evening while was was working on recording and editing next week's Morning Prayer audio. I'm finding it easier to do this with the passage of time, but wondering as I do it, who is listening and whether anyone is thinking about what we're saying. I believe a splendid effort was made throughout the worst of the crisis months to translate the traditional status quo of worship and outreach into the digital world, but where do we go from here. Do we have any idea what a re-think looks like or what direction it would take us in? I don;t have any answers. I hope someone does.

Drug abuse - the other deadly plague

Another long night of good sleep, and with my mind a little fresher, I spent the morning writing a couple of sermons for next Sunday before lunch. The surgery phoned with an appointment for blood tests in ten days time, then I went there to collect my three monthly prescription and get it dispensed. 

I finalised the eulogy for Carole's funeral and emailed to her nieces, hoping that I hadn't omitted anything. Within the hour I had a favourable response from both.

It's good to hear that the delta variant covid daily infection rate continues to drop. Although restrictions have been lifted, it seems a significant number of people haven't abandoned mask wearing indoors, and and continuing to be careful about socialising, and that is thought to make a difference to transmission. 

It doesn't mean the covid death rate is diminishing again yet, although it's low now compared to before vaccination began, and covid hospital admissions seem to be reducing. It looks as if the government's liberalisation strategy is paying off at the moment, but to my mind it's still a gamble we could end up regretting. I hope I am proved wrong.

Just as worrying is the high number of drug related deaths in Britain, the worst in Europe, ten times more than in Portugal, which has decriminalised hard drugs and developed a 'public health' policy which allows addicts to inject freely in a safe hygienic environment, where they can get counselling and social support with the goal of rehabilitating people from drug abuse altogether. When will governments in the UK wake up and follow Portugal's example?

There was a broadcast on S4C this evening of highlights from this yesr's on-line Welsh National Eisteddfod, which Clare watched with interest, as it featured the novel writing prizewinner, and some young competitors reading their own wotk, I think. I wish my grasp of Welsh was good enough to make sense of what I see. Shamefully my minimal linguistic effort remains focussed on Spanish exercises. I don't find enough time to read.

At nine I walkes for an hour, down to the Taff and back in the twilight, very peaceful. And then up to bed.

Soccer obsessed

Another day of mild weather, sunshine and occasional showers. The news of the day is dominated by pre- match feelgood hype over the Euro soccer semi final between England and Denmark. I find this tiresome when there's so much debate going on about the wisdom of easing covid restrictions early, plus reports of the assassination of the President of Haiti, and another on the total economic collapse of Lebanon in the wake of the catastrophic explosion last year which destroyed swathes of the bayside residential area.

I went to the Eucharist at St Catherine's this morning, collected this week's veggie bag on the way back, and then cooked lunch an afternoon walk around Llandaff Fields to Western Avenue and down the Taff Trail. The roads are noticeably busier lately the stench of vehicle exhaust fumes hang in the air in the vicinity.

Before and after supper I worked on making the video of tomorrow's Morning Prayer with a new selection of slides to go with the audio of the day. The task consumed the entire evening. I had to tune in at the end of the radio news to learn that the English team won its place in the final against Italy, and switch off again to avoid the drivel from the commentariat and vox pops. Sixty thousand people in Wembly stadium for the match. Will it be possible to know how many people catch covid from attending? And how many more who didn't attend will catch it by contact with them, or from watching the match in a social setting? We'll learn in due course I suppose.

No more lies

A really long sleep, and then a brisk breakfast to be ready to walk over to St Luke's to preach, while Fr Rhys celebrated. For the first time since the pandemic took hold he were officially allowed to sing hymns again - behind our masks. There were sixteen of us in a church that can holy two hundred and fifty. I think it will wake a while to get back into the habit of singing heartily. I had some favourable comments about my rather sober reflective sermon afterwards. It's difficult to know how to be a sort of spiritual cheerleader when the world is in such a mess. How to be appropriately penitential in thought, word and deed is what we must now learn.

When we returned yesterday Clare picked a pound of blackcurrants from the plants in her garden, enough for a couple of dishes of blackcurrant and apple crumble, one of my most favourite dishes. After salmon and roast veggies for lunch we had a first serving of what is to my mind one of the tastiest of all puddings. Normally I don't bother at all with pudding, but blackcurrant and apple crumble I find irresistible!

I walked for over an hour in the park after lunch, surprised at how few people were out compared to the usual Sunday afternoon. It was cloudy, mild and a little windy - were people staying indoors to watch a football match? Or gone to the beach, I wonder?

After the weekend's exposure of health secretary Matt Hancock, caught on camera kissing one of his aides behind locked doors, spied upon by a secret camera, he has announced his resignation and the end of his marriage in one statement. But not before Boris Johnston had refused to sack him and insisted this was of no importance to the job in hand. He totally misjudged the growing mood of indignation from the public and from some fellow Tory MPs openly calling on Hancock to resign. Naturally an enquiry is now taking place to discover not only who put the camera there, but how the security video footage was leaked to the news media. As if the affair of Dominic Cummings breaking lockdown rules wasn't enough to expose the belief of the ruling elite that they are exceptions to the the rules they make. The Prime Minister's error of judgement undermines the credibility of his government. How long will he last after this?

When I got back from my walk, there was a Radio Four investigative programme called 'File on Four' which reported on an exchange of emails involving Cummings and Hancock around the time the first UK lock-down was imposed, in which a piece of work was commissioned from a health statistics company to monitor pandemic data independently of work already being carried out by another quasi NHS body that is working on digitzing NHS services. The exchange of emails concerned a sum of half a million pounds in advance of work to be commissioned immediately (because of the crisis) without any scrutiny process in place about the objectives or outcome of the work or its value for money. 

Moreover, this was to happen secretly without proper government consultation and presented as a fait accompli, justified by the urgency of the situation. The scandal of undermining good governance is augmented by the fact that there seem to be a certain conflict of interest due to the relationships between the service providers and Hancock. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the news this coming week. Already the government has come in for serious criticism about irresponsible and erroneous expenditure in the procurement of PPE in the first critical months of the pandemic. 

As a weekend op-ed in the Guardian stated today, lies, deceit and false promises which resulted in the success of the brexit vote laid a foundation for the perpetuation of this culture in the ensuing years. Not only does it undermine the credibility of the government, but in removing the possibility of honest discourse on issues which require thorough and well informed debate, it undermines the whole democratic process. I can only hope and pray that citizens generally will awaken to this disturbing nature of this damaging reality and start demanding a return to more honourable and honest ways in public service.

This evening I watched the first episode of a French psychological thriller on More Four Walter Presents, in between phone calls with Owain and Rachel. This one's set in Corsica, and the French is clear and very easy to follow, which makes for easy watching, as the sub-titles are less than essential.

Relaxation caution needed

So, the Prime Minister has called a halt to the relaxing of covid restrictions for another month because of the rise in India/Delta covid variant infections. A sensible move, while a massive effort is made to get all over 18s vaccinated before the final step of relaxation takes place. It's believed this measure will help limit the rise of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths. Let's hope so. 

After that 11-18 year olds will be targeted for vaccination in England. It's already happening here in Wales. Un-vaccinated younger people may well get a milder dose of covid and in general recover more quickly, but the intention is to curb symptomless transmission of the virus, as it has been discovered that the doubly vaccinated are significantly less likely to pass infection on if they are unfortunate enough to get a dose of the virus. Covid infection has proved to be a moving target this past year. Some politicians are now honest enough to acknowledge that it's not going to be possible to eliminate it, any more than we can eliminate 'flu or the common cold, as these too keep mutating from year to year. Controlling the scale of infection rather than eliminating it entirely is the best that can be hoped for.

Mid-morning, I walked to Pidgeon's for the funeral service in their chapel, with just three mourners. Friends of the couple who had been there for the husband's funeral three years ago are now too frail and vulnerable to attend, or else died since then. The burial took place in bright sunshine in the new section of Thornhill cemetery. I waited with the funeral attendants an extra twenty minutes in bright warm sunshine while the hearse and mourners made a detour past the family home in Rhiwbina. Were any of their neighbourhood contemporaries watching out for the hearse? I wondered. Or have they too passed on or moved away?

We had an early lunch and then I drove Clare over to the Heath Hospital for an eye appointment for the second time in two days. Yesterday's visit was in error. She'd put the wrong date in her diary. On my way home I drove down Whitchurch Road, looking for an outlet of the 'Cartridge World' printer ink supply chain. I couldn't find the shop, checked on my phone and discovered that none of the four shops there used to be in Cardiff are now open. There's just one main store/deport in Bridgend. Most annoyingly if you google it, the store address is 'Bridgend, Cardiff' twenty miles away, fifteen outside the city limit. How misleading!

Now everything is done by mail order. This may suit some users, but I hate it. I simply don't like shopping on-line as it takes much more time to find what you want out of a huge product inventory, pay for it, wait several days for delivery and then have to waste hours waiting for a delivery to arrive.

Clare had choir practice early evening, and that was when I went for my walk of the day, and listened to the Archers on my phone when I was on my way home.

Another marvellous heat of Cardiff Singer of the World this evening, with singers from the USA, Russia, South Korea and Austria with varied song programmes from each singer. It was an outstanding dramatic musical performance by Austrian soprano Cristina Gansch which commended her to the judges. It was followed by an hour of 'The Repair Shop', a delightful celebration of different kinds of craftsmanship and the restorer's art, marvellous to behold.

Phishing or not?

After quite a busy Monday, apart from routine duties and a walk in the park I slept an extra three hours in the day and evening, before finally going to bed at midnight - no change there, go with the flow. The only new thing that came in was a request from Mthr Frances to cover a funeral next Thursday morning, when she's away on leave. I already have a Eucharist to celebrate and a lunchtime funeral at the Res. Both funerals are with Pidgeon's, and the timing works, with a driver picking me up from St John's and taking me to their funeral chapel then a burial in Llandaff cemetery, then a ride to the Res for the second funeral followed bt a burial in Western cemetery. It's a matter of being fully prepared for all three and relying on the funeral directors' teamwork to carry me through.  

A landline phone call yesterday presented a new robotic voice, rather posh, speaking on behalf of the National Crime agency, saying that my National Insurance number had been suspended because it had been detected in use as part of some illegal or immoral activity, and that I should press button one to speak to someone to respond to this allegation or expect to be arrested soon. What juvenile nonsense! The cops would never notify someone before making a surprise visit. How can a NI number be suspended? What purpose would it serve?

I celebrated the Eucharist at St Catherine's with nine others this morning, then uploaded photos taken the previous day, and with a fresh burst of energy, recorded and edited tomorrow's WhatsApp daily prayer video and uploaded it to YouTube later in the day. I took our weekly contribution the the foodbank to the Rectory on my afternoon walk, and had a brief chat with Mthr Frances. It's the first time we've seen each other in person four a couple of months. She's looking forward to a holiday up north with her folks next week, as we look forward to a few days in Aberaeron the week after her return. I suspect most people need a respite from routine coping and confinement after a long and difficult year.

Spokespersons for the medical profession are speaking out about members quitting due to burnout or sheer disillusionment. I hear stories of slipping patient care standards and mistakes being made by exhausted staff, who have been forced to go the second mile all to often over the past year. And  ow we have the slow build-up of a third wave of the India coronavirus strain, and although the high number of vaccinated people does reduce the volume of infections and hospitalizations significantly, it means medics  can't relax as this casts a shadow over the resumption of normal planned treatments.

Clare had a live call today, a young man saying he represented the Co-op bank complaints department. We were both suspicious, as banks don't tend to call you except by arrangement, and Clare had no recollection of making a complaint about the Co-op bank, although the Co-op store's on-line grocery ordering service checkout can give rise to complaints on times because of slowness timing out purchasers. The caller asked Clare to prove her identity, and her response was, to ask if he would prove his identity first. Sensible. He referred to the contact phone number on the back of her Co-op debit card, and suggested she called and did the i/d check, as this would end up routing her back to him. Well that's on hold at the moment, to many other things to do apart from chase after a call about a complaint you have no recollection of making.

Necessary caution

I woke up just as the seven o'clock news was starting, and was cheered to learn that Wales has the lowest covid infection rate at the moment, and this makes it possible for a further lifting of restrictions Monday next, including large controlled groups at sports events. Owain announced on Instagram yesterday that he's one of the crew of deejays at a first post lock-down techno gig in Bristol's newest hospitality venue 'Strange Brew.

Meanwhile, numbers of Indian covid variant infections continue to grow, althought the impact on numbers hospitalized is not yet major cause for concern. A push to vaccinate the overwhelming majority of the population continues. It's seen as a key means alongside existing hygiene precautions to curb the virus growth rate. The government has imposed amber status travel restrictions of travel to and from Portugal, with unexpected consequences for holidaymakers and the Portuguese economy The logic of this move is being questioned by everyone affected, but the justification for this move is around what is unknown about the contagion potential of a new Nepalese derivative of the Indian virus variant.

Radio Four's 'Desert Island Discs' today interviewed Amanda Khosi Mukwashi CEO of Christian Aid. An unashamedly Christian African woman from Zambia with a wonderful story of faith in her life journey. Great inspiration for a Friday morning. 

I walked to St John's for today's lunchtime funeral. The coffin was transported in a glass panelled hearse drawn by two white horses wearing purple plumes. After the service I rode in a car with Ian, one of the attendants, up to Western Cemetery for the Committal, instead of having to drive myself. We had to sit in the car and wait half an hour for the hearse to arrive., in beautiful warm sunny weather. Thanks to the Jag's comfortable seats and room to brace my feet against the bulkhead, I survived the misery which sitting down involves at the moment, and returned home no worse for wear.

I walked for an hour and a half in tbe park after returning home and spotted a mating pair of goldfinches roraging in the newly mown grass alongside a misseltthrush.

We had mussels and rice laced with  diced fried veg for supper plus a delicious bottle of Frascati - my go-to summer white wine.

In the evening a  another awe inspiring 'Springwatch' hour on BBC2 and an emotionally powerful Rocco Schiavone episode on More Four. Extraordinary gritty  Italian movie storytelling. Sadly, tonight was the end of the first 2016 series. We'll have to wait for the 2018-19 series two and three to be screened.

Threatening reality

More blue sky and sun today, the temperature rose to 25C right into the evening. The heat relaxes me and made up for not sleeping as well or as long as I needed to. All our meals were taken outdoors. I am still unable to sit to eat, but never mind. I managed to sit for half an hour after supper but pressure on the wound eventually led to painful discomfort. It's still early days. We walked around Thompson's Park before lunch. A heron arrived and stood on the alert in the reeds at the edge of the duck pond. I doubt if there are fish in it, just microscopic creatures and plants which ducks enjoy. Very photogenic.

After a late lunch, we went for another walk, over Blackweir Bridge and down through the woods to the Millennium Bridge and back. I wasn't so tired today, and completed by daily walking quota. Exercise and fresh air did me good, made me clear headed and more alert, countering the aftermath of the anaesthetic. I  had a message from Jan at the Res to ask if I'd cover her absence for a few days the week after next. Tomorrow I'm covering Phelim's midweek Mass, while he's away on a cycling tour of all six Welsh Cathedrals. I can't sit to drive, but Kath will take me to St German's and I'll return by bus, standing in the area reserved for wheeled users.

Public Health England reported zero covid deaths today for the first time in a year. It has happened in Wales too I believe, on a few occasions. But not regularly and consistently over a period. That would be noteworthy good news. The numbers of the Indian covid variant continue to grow but this seems not to have much impact on hospital admissions. The vaccination regime has so far proved effective in limiting the spread though not eliminating it. Experts say there's a risk of a third wave of infection developing which could have an impact, and are appealing for delay in lifting all restrictions. 

Meanwhile the covid death rate is soaring in some countries like Peru where under-reporting of fatalities adds to an already chaotic situation in which hospitals are overwhelmed. How can you plan to tackle the crisis faced with a dearth of reasonably correct information? How many more lethal variants are going to emerge that vaccination cannot stop. It seems to me that unless a way is found to eliminate poverty and inequality around the world, {since these are the breeding ground for contagion} it may be impossible to stop even deadlier pandemics, that decimate earth's population and destroy the present global economy. Tolerating poverty and inequality is sinful, and as scripture says, the wages of sin are death. When will we awaken to this truth that threatens? 

A day of qualified release

A strange 'four seasons' weather day with sunshine, clouds, gusts of wind, rain and bouts of hail catching us out across much of the country. A day too when more of the covid restrictions are being lifted around the nations of the U.K. Wales is now at Level Two in the hierarchy of restrictions. This permits pubs and restaurants to serve people indoors, small groups of people, not just those in your family bubble to meet, hug each other. Weddings and funerals can take place with thirty people as well as the infection rate is now as low as it was last summer. 

Having said that there are still infection hot-spots where the Indian covid variants are multiplying fast, and being tackled with a fast response in terms of test track, trace and isolate, plus mass vaccination in critical places. The news media talks about it being done with military precision and accuracy. Perhaps that's because the military's logistic resource and management is the basis upon which medics, both civilian and military can deliver this vital intervention and head off another wave of infection. The government has promised easing of restrictions on this date, but warned it isn't risk free. If there was any sign this tactical intervention to curb the Indian variant wasn't working, it might be necessary to halt progress. It's still a time to 'be sober be vigilant, because your adversary ... is about ...'  But, so far so good.

While the British Army is focused on helping to save lives, the Israeli army is taking lives and destroying homes and community structures in the Gaza Strip. 212 Palestinians killed among them about 40 children, and 12 Israelis killed, among them 2 children. There is no justification on either side for the loss of these lives, whether or not the adults regarded themselves as civilian or military. A dialogue of the deaf has gone on for the past eighty odd years between essentially tribal cultures that have been opposed to each other on record in the Bible for the past two and a half to three thousand years. Distrust and resentment seems to be embedded in their collective DNA. Will reconciliation between the historic tribes ever be possible? Or are they destined to play out this pathogenic script until the end of time? It's unfathomable.

Here at home, emails have been exchanged over the past 24 hours between volunteers in the Parish willing to join a rota to maintain on-line Morning Prayer, once Emma and Benedict have gone to their new duties. It's a good initiative to support Mthr Frances when she returns to duty. She won't need to 'hit the ground running', as the saying goes. I'd like to see us switch to on-line audio, and keep video for presentations in which the visual is a key element. Just doing audio is much simpler and less resource hungry, when WhatsApp on a phone so quickly eats up available memory, and requires frequent maintenance. Unfortunately, the habits formed in the past year aren't easily given up. At least it's clear the Parish on-line offer needs reviewing and revising now restrictions are being lifted.

Thanks to the antibiotics prescribed yesterday, the inflammation of Clare's eyelid has started to subside, and she has an appointment tomorrow morning at the School of Optometry to check this out, and to pick up a new pair of bi-focal specs.

I spent time this evening getting my Windows PC up to date and trying to get it to run faster, after reading an article with a series of suggestions about tweaks to achieve this. It needs such a lot of maintenance to optimise performance. According to articles I've read lately my machine is under-powered to meet the demands of current users for slick on-line conferencing and learning, not to mention video editing. The more we expect these devices to do for us, the higher the specifications needed. Linux would make better use of the system resources. I'm thinking that I may be better off making it a dual boot system, with a data partition in common, so that I can continue to use the Windows video editing apps I've learned how to use. Better than finding a Linux open source equivalent and spending hours mastering it. But do I have enough confidence and know-how to go the dual-boot route? That is the question.

Sheep without a Shepherd

Up at eight this morning to upload to WhatsApp the audio and text reflections prepared for this first day of Christian Aid week. After breakfast and prayers, I read a chapter of Akala's remarkable book 'Natives' about the persistence class divisions and racism in British Society over centuries. It's hard hitting, honest and accurate in its perceptions. It's also very well written. Clare made rye sourdough pizzas for lunch and we ate very early, as she had to leave early to take the bus across to Rumney to have her hair done, as I'd arranged to meet Rufus at the time when she needed a lift across town. She hadn't mentioned this to me in advance unfortunately.

Rufus came to visit from Leominster after lunch for our first face to face chat since last autumn. We drank coffee outside Cafe Castan and then walked around Llandaff and Pontcanna Fields. It was good to see him looking fit and well, to hear how his ministry is working out there and what future plans he's working on for early retirement and an experiment in self-supporting future ministry. The best thing is that he'll be returning to live in Wales. The number of people looking for pastoral care and support doesn't decrease. New ways to look after the 'sheep without a shepherd' badly need exploring, by those of us on the edge of the institutional church rather than at the centre fighting to preserve itself.

Due to the catastrophic decline of support, reduction in full-time ministerial posts, leaves more people than ever without pastoral help and support at critical moments in their lives. In retirement I've worked with scores with people on the fringes or beyond the reach of conventional pastoral ministry, during times of bereavement on top of my locum ministry in parishes. The need was there already and slowly growing over the past decade. It will continue to increase with fewer full time clergy. The economic impact of the pandemic on church adherence and support will exacerbate the trend. It must be a nightmare managing church resources to ensure remaining full time clergy (and pensioners like me) get paid.

It's really too early to say what is going to happen to church attendance and committed membership post pandemic. Reforms in the institutional church are necessary for economic reasons, but deeper reform and renewal to address pastoral concerns is needed way above and beyond finances. On-line worship was a stop-gap of sorts, born out of pastoral concern, addressing the crisis, but how does it figure in the long term picture? Streaming services might be a good idea for showcasing what different kinds of Christian worship is all about but does every parish need to do it, or just key centres of excellence? Who does it serve, once people are free to assemble for prayer again? 

What if people lose the habit of regular churchgoing altogether and find they don't miss it? What if people find that they can find fellowship, encouragement and solace from purely secular associations, and no longer find the habitual teaching and mind-set of church community relates to their altered life experience? What are the chances of a mass religious revival of the kind that marked the evolution of church life from the seventeenth to twentieth century? We cannot tell. The Spirit works in unpredictable ways, not subject to analysis or calculation. All we can do is wait patiently through a time of uncertainty, and be ready to respond in trust and love to whatever happens - and maybe experiment a little as well. 

I had a phone call this evening from my old friend Chris who is also destined to retire early from full time ministry later in the year. He's wondering how he'll be able to carry on pastoring in the community where he will still be living in retirement, as his wife is still a serving cleric in a neighbouring parish. It's an interesting conundrum which couldn't have existed in the church before the 1980s when women began to be ordained priest in Anglican churches. With all that's going on at the moment, my concern is that all the energy of our leadership hierarchy is invested in managing our way out of crisis, back to some new kind of ecclesiastical normal, rather than focusing on the practicalities of pastoral care and mutual support, on which authentic ecclesial community thrives.

Holiday planning

The day started cold and cloudy, then the rain came mid-morning and persisted until early evening, making it was cold as February again. Meanwhile, overnight, French beans which Clare planted in a seed tray on her work station have completely emerged in just fifteen hours. Four out of the six seeds are now poking their heads out of the compost. I'm amazed at their rate of growth, and for amusement am taking photos of these first stages.

There were nine of us at St Catherine's for the midweek Eucharist. Mother Emma has agreed to collect me from Llandough after the operation, if Clare is no longer allowed to drive, after her field of vision test this morning. On return from church there was a voicemail from the other Emma, Euro-diocese locum coordinator, in response to my email about the aborted safeguarding seminar. She's in the throes of moving house at the moment, so we will talk again next week when she's back at her desk.

In the news today, a report about follow up research on recipients of the Oxford AZ vaccine. As well as offering a high level of protection from serious illness, it seems that about half the people who get re-infected don't pass the virus on to others. In other words, virus contagion is significantly reduced by the very fact of getting vaccinated. This is certainly good news in terms of curbing the pandemic. It's good to see that India is now getting international support with medical equipment, oxygen and vaccine supplies. 

It's ironic that India's vaccine production industry is one of the largest in the world, no doubt a good income generator, but currently it's short of vaccines for domestic use, having seriously underestimated the scale of the problem it is now facing, not least because covid deaths have been widely under-reported, and the full scale of the Indian epidemic my never be known. This is really bad news, as inaccurate data make it so much harder to monitor the situation and plan an effective response.

Clare has been spending a lot of spare time this past few days researching holiday cottages, so that we can take a week off in July after the operation. There are a lot of places to choose from at off-peak times, and it's hard to decide what will best suit our needs, except it should be near the sea. 

Talking of expenditure, I renewed the car insurance with Aviva this morning, eleven pounds more than last year, but I expect to pay a bit more, being the age I am, regardless of an accident free record over the past twenty five years or so. Aviva's website is a model of clarity, and the payment process was simple. Would that all web commerce had such high standards.

I walked in the rain to Beanfreaks after lunch to collect our special weekly grocery order, and later went out again for a walk in the park, this time wearing rain trousers. The rain slowed to a drizzle and stopped in the hour I was out, but it was still very chilly. I felt very resentful. It should be much milder so near the end of April.

After supper, I watched telly for a couple of hours. There was a documentary about police corruption in London in the 1970s and 80s. Apart from film footage of some of the now elderly police officers who were aware of what went on and tried to speak out, most of its was selected from newsreel footage of the era, an interesting reminder of how London has changed, but also a reminder of how accustomed we have become to high quality digital movie footage in the new millennium. Video newsreel footage of the era isn't sharp, it's even fuzzy almost out of focus sometimes, and the colours are over-saturated. You notice the difference between this and digitized black and white newsreel footage, much sharper unless its from a super eight home movie camera.

Op date assigned

I was just about to settle down to say morning prayer in honour of St Mark the Evangelist this morning when I received a 'phone call from the hospital. The anaesthetist had already read Saturday's pre-op report and added me to the day surgery schedule for May 28th. Now at last we can plan a week's holiday because we know where we stand. A cottage by the sea, early June in West Wales is what we're hoping to book. 

Another glorious sunny day today, with curried lentils, rice and veg for lunch in the garden. Then I walked into he city centre to take photos on this much awaited day when it became permissible to eat and drink at tables outdoors once more. i can't say that every open establishment was crowded with people queuing for a table, but it was fairly busy, you could say as busy as you might expect on an ordinary Monday. It's nice to have photos that contrast with those take when the centre was deserted for so long due to lock-down.

It's tragic to see the pandemic raging out of control in India, people dying in the streets waiting for treatment at overwhelmed hospitals lacking in oxygen to keep sick people alive. Just as covid deaths are reducing to single figues per day here, they are reaching a couple of thousand a day in India, with a third of a million new infections as day. The country caught unprepared for this huge surge in numbers, and Narendra Modhi's government has a lot to answer for.

I spent the evening watching episodes of NCIS that I haven't seen before from the more recent series. Then there was a full moon to gaze at, brushed lightly with high cirrus cloud. I'm not expecting great things from the photos I took, but it was lovely to look at above the roof tops. It made me remember the three full moons I saw in a crystal a clear pollution free sky last year in the countryside in locked down Ibiza.

V-2 day

A lovely bright sunny morning for our car journey to Cardiff's football stadium grounds for our second covid inoculation. In contrast to the wintry grey overcast morning of out first jab visit. On the Today programme we heard from Professor Sarah Walker of the national covid infection survey research project. She reported on findings from people tested after vaccination, illustrating how mass vaccination is paying off in the population in terms of sustained high antibody levels after single and double doses. Along with continuing precautions, restrictions, test and trace, this is fast driving down infection and death rates. 

And on this day of good cheer, excellent news of the development of a much more potent anti-malarial vaccine. Roughly half to three quarters of a million people have died of malaria annually for decades, if a more effective vaccine is rolled out globally, it will transform the health and economy of many poor tropical countries.

The speed and efficiency of the UK vaccine roll-out has helped enormously. But she also presented facts that warn us against complacency. Once vaccinated you can still get covid infected a second time, albeit a milder dose, which might still make you a carrier of contagion if you're unaware of being infected. It may be a one in fifty chance of this occurring instead of one in five let's say, but this could trigger off another spike in infections if not nipped in the bud. 

The epidemic may be on its way out, but the virus will still be endemic; i.e. not totally eliminated, and therefore some level of on-going precaution will be required. like mask wearing and social distancing in enclosed public spaces. In many South East Asian countries this became habitual in any case decades ago, during the SARS pandemic, and helps to explain why their covid infection rates have been low in comparison to others. The 'new normal' is going to include mask wearing, like it or not.

We shared in cooking a pizza for an early lunch, which turned out superbly thanks to perfect dough made by Clare. Then I drove to Thornhill for the funeral at which I was to officiate. The hearse arrived just in time, instead of being ten to fifteen minutes early, which is normal - due to sporadic traffic congestion as a result of city centre restrictions on all but public transport along Castle Street. Both my journeys today, at the same time as on Wednesday this week, were un-delayed, unlike Wednesday. It's not sol easy to predict and plan journeys around the city as it was previously.

When I got home afterwards, I went for my daily walk. Kath called me and we chatted for half an hour. Then I settled down to catch up on writing emails to people from whom I have heard recently, but been too busy to respond to. After supper, another episode of 'New Amsterdam', more photos to upload and edit, and then bed.

Congestion miscalculation

I went to bed far too late last night and woke up having lost at least an hour's sleep. These days I find that I don;t get along so well on less than eight hours a night.

The bright sunny blue sky weather continues, but it's deceptive. I went out without a top coat and hat to walk down to St John and celebrate the Eucharist this morning, and felt the impact of a chilling breeze. The loss of sleep affected me as well. At the beginning of the service I twice reverted to the modern language rite instead of the traditional one mid-sentence! I had to re-start the Gloria, as people were rather confused, but thereafter I was OK. The funny experience gave me a pretext to talk about how the Word is communicated despite language confusion and even through faltering broken speech, thanks to the Spirit speaking heart to heart, whatever else is going on.  

Again we were thirteen people. We would have been fourteen, but one lady came, and as she was getting water to freshen up the flowers, she dropped her hearing aid into the sink, and was compelled to return home and dry it out immediately, hoping that it wasn't by damaged by the inundation. She has difficulty hearing, even with a hearing aid. It's one of the trials of old age which so far I have been spared, except for the occasional miserable wax blockage. 

With Clare in school this morning, I cooked lunch on returning home, and then had an hour and a half of a siesta which perked me up, ready for my walk in the park. Opposite the riding centre stables is a very rich area of well cared for mature allotments. It hosts many different garden bird species, more than any other part of the green zone at the heart of the city. It's a real treat to stand under the trees by the hedgerow and listen to chaffinches, wrens, robins, blackbirds, thrushes, starlings plus other birds singing I still cannot identify. I made me appreciate just how fortunate I am still to enjoy good hearing. I had a few good lucky bird photos too. This one was the best: a missel thrush, I think.

Having had a moan about traffic congestion caused by Castle Street restrictions yesterday, I was pleased to see an article on just this subject posted on this morning's Wales Online website. I must get busy and write to Caro Wild our local ward councillor who has been involved in road management changes this past year. While the objective is to reduce pollution in city centre hot-spots the solutions tried so far simply lead to the distribution of congestion and queues to other inner city zones, with longer journeys and delays leading to more pollution distributed more widely but a general increase in the carbon foot of city traffic associated with slow moving traffic.

With preparations for tomorrow's funeral complete after supper, I decided to go to bed really early, relax and watch a couple of episodes of 'Non Uccidere', in an effort to catch up of missed sleep. Hopefully I'll be on better form tomorrow, when we're having our second covid jabs just after ten. It's terrible to see the rate of virus spread in India at the moment a third of a million a day in the absence of universal lock-down (maybe impossible to enforce anyway) plus the continuation of mass gatherings for pilgrimage rituals and political rallies. Inadequate reporting of fatalities in some impoverished regions may mean that the true scale of covid deaths may never be known. 

Mass religious gatherings would be hard to stop anyway, as pious people are often stubborn with it, but political rallies could simply be cancelled by the prime minister. It's hard to fathom such foolishness, and we've seen so much of this in the past year. So many avoidable deaths ultimately due to egotistical populist leadership.

Video Quandry

Although I spent more than eight hours in bed, my sleep was somewhat broken. After uploading Morning prayer with no hassle, I had breakfast, said my prayers and fell asleep again. I must have needed it.

At lunchtime, I drove to Thornhill for today's funeral. Unfortunately with a long eulogy and a couple of tributes, which I had no control over, the service ran on a bit longer than the allotted time. The chapel attendant wasn't unduly worried about this, as the service schedule of the day wasn't completely full, and so there was a gap after the one I was taking. The decline in the numbers of covid related funerals has made a welcome difference. Before the service, I was chatting to the funeral conductor, who told me that in one week at the peak of the crisis eighty percent of the funerals done were covid related.

After a late lunch, I recorded and edited the last two Morning Prayer videos. I'm just about accustomed to the process again. I don't do this often enough for it to be habitual. I may be hampered by using equipment which isn't fully geared up for slick video editing. It makes me wonder if I should upgrade, although for all other purposes, my various computers are adequate to the job. These days 8GB RAM and a Core 15 processor seem to necessary to avoid glitches. Several times I there were moments when the editing suite didn't seem to react to the command given, or didn't display that it was doing what was asked of it. This can be a sign of memory buffers not clearing fast enough I think. Hence the requirement for extra RAM to make the process smoother. The trouble is, if there seems to be no response to a command given, I'll click or press a key again impatiently until I get a response, and that tends to screw things up. 

I look after my computers and although they are relatively old, the don't tend to die on me and need replacing. I could buy a new device and have no reason to use again it for video editing. Setting up a new machine to work with the optimum efficiency and minimum annoyance can take many days of machine minding, something I have less patience for these days. Also I don't need to spend time re-learning a new system, when I have all the digital tools I am ever likely to need already at my disposal. Best use of time is what matters most to me these days.

Just as I was about to go out for walk before supper, Marc called by with a copy of the final edit of the video he and Fran produced about the 'Noli me tangere' icon, and a bottle of wine as a thank you present for helping them get started with the project. It was meant to appear in the weekly Parish 'Holy Ground' slot on Facebook at seven, but there was a glitch, evoking a few puzzled responses. I uploaded to You Tube the copy Marc gave me then posted a link to WhatsApp, just in case but the official version appeared on Facebook an hour or so later.

I walked for an hour before supper. Later in the evening, I did the rest of my day's exercise in the dark. Fortunately it wasn't quite so cold as earlier. The weather is changing again.

Unexpected consequences

A bright sunny day and for me a fruitful morning as I wrote the final two Easter week reflections before lunch. Then I walked into town, in the hope of finding a store open where I could buy some new socks, as almost all those in my drawer have holes in them. I was delighted to find Marks and Spencer open to sell clothes, so I was able to buy just what I needed. 

I walked back through Bute Park, where scores of different species of trees are now in full blossom - its a glorious sight. I was astonished at the large number of young people out in groups of two to a dozen, chatting, picnicking, or just reading quietly in the sun. I'd guess around two thousand spread across all three open areas. I think they were mostly Uni students. Term may just about be ended now, but there are still restrictions on non essential travel so British students won't be able to go home to family yet.

There have been no covid related deaths now for several days and the infection rate is low, but caution is still being exercised over the resumption of normal activity. It's still a matter of the country feeling its way, measuring the impact of every relaxation, which I think is sensible, if painful to bear with. But at least, outdoor socialising is possible with better weather and lifting restrictions. 

The Inspectorate of Constabulary enquiry into the handling of the Clapham Common demonstration has exonerated Police action, seeing it as consistent with their obligation to enforce public safety legislation. Politicians came in for criticism about the lack of clarity and changes in legislation which Police were called to enforce, as this made this more difficult. Seeing the whole picture from many angles, the enquiry considered that the majority of demonstrators were seen to behave responsibly, and it was a small number of people whose conduct put others at risk, prompting the need for arrests, exploited on social media. The report highlighted weakness in police operational communications when the situation changed rapidly and went off-plan. Ultimately, a few big egos ruined the event for everyone else, just as I thought. 

Again this evening I walked to St Luke's for the Eucharist, attended by sixteen of us once more. The streets are quiet after dark except where fast food takeaways are open, but there are no queues, very few customers. I wonder how they survive economically. It's the same in the city centre by day too, shoppers are few and far between, some pubs and restaurants are in the throes of refurbishment. How they afford to do this after a year with only a fraction of normal trading is a mystery to me.

It only takes a few

Although Saturday lie-in and pancake breakfast are part of our 'new normal', it still succeeds in feeling special - the absence of compulsion to get on and do other things. So much so that today I forgot to take my blood pressure medication altogether and only remembered while out walking with Clare at tea-time. I didn't notice the difference at all in fact, not like I noticed the difference when I stopped taking the top up doxazosin, absence of a fuzzy swimmy head, absence of unusual joint pains, and my blood pressure generally about the same, and not screaming 'crisis!' at me.

People in Wales are allowed to travel more than 5km from today. There were noticeably few people out in the parks, and not all the parking spaces were taken up in consequence. It was more like midweek than a weekend. We decided not to join the inevitable rush to the coast or the mountains. Not much point in traffic queues or hunting for parking spots. We can venture out when it's quieter, and people are back at work, although most children are back in school only for a few days this coming week, and then it's the Easter holidays.

Infection levels are diminishing, but not as rapidly as in the past couple of weeks. Given the third wave of contagion surging through several European nations, it's right that government public messaging repeatedly highlights the need for continued vigilance and precaution. International travel is tightly controlled and foreign holidays deemed illegal at the moment, which sounds bizarre and is a red rag to bullish libertarians. There have been protests this week in cities throughout Britain against legislation aiming to bolster police powers in relation to protest demonstrations. Last weekend, there was a vigil of protest on Clapham Common which police badly mishandled, arousing a storm of public indignation. 

More often than not, police manage demonstrations successfully, containing unruly elements, spotting and defusing threats of chaos. If something goes wrong, the world notices and pronounces before there's been any proper analysis or conclusion reached about the chain of events. Maybe that Clapham Common event went wrong because police team briefings weren't adequate or far sighted enough to achieve the objective of keeping everyone safe in a public space, without unnecessary enforcement action. 

Organisers of the demonstration claim to have planned and prepared with safety in mind, and most of the day's vigil occurred without issue. Things went wrong as some individuals decided to give impromptu speeches to the crowd without a public address system. This caused people to bunch up as they tried to listen and put each other at risk. The police saw the danger and acted clumsily to manage the situation. 

The fact that some people felt their voices must be heard, that they had a right to speak regardless of the circumstances, may not have been intended by the organisers. It meant they lost control, and the police were obliged to step in unprepared. Thus the thoughtless egotism of the few precipitated chaos. How much more powerful an expression of protest it could have been if this hadn't happened - unanimous disciplined silent witness, not disrupted by noisy voices stating the obvious.

How unfortunate this should happen as national debate over increasing police powers gained momentum. In a few days, the energy of protest shifted from violence against women to the tabled legislation. A demonstration in Bristol city centre turned into a violent attack on the central police station, and further protests happened there in the days following. 

When youth rioted in the St Paul's area of Bristol where I was parish priest back in 1980, it was very much a local incident of rebellion. In the hours and days that followed, anarchist activists with little or no local foothold arrived, to take advantage of the sense of injustice and discrimination felt within the community. They were soon spotted and told to clear off by local leaders. 

It's interesting to observe that the radical creativity characteristic of the city still contains a hard core of old school anarchists, willing to cause trouble and do so violently. It's another kind of selfish egotism, that masquerades as freedom for all. St Paul's rioted in Holy Week back in 1980. It gave us a different context for understanding Christ's passion and condemnation by a crowd turned into a vicious mob. It only ever takes a few people of ill-will or selfishness to re-direct the energy of a large gathering of people. Nothing has changed, in forty years, or two thousand for that matter.

Bed early tonight, as the clocks move forward an hour to summer time.