Sad to hear from over the pond that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. Another light has gone out over there. It is starting to be dark.
There’s a kind of momentum in our heads that makes it hard to change our minds or our ways. It’s like trying to turn round an oil tanker. It was a while before Jonah was ready to criticise the Ninevites, but once he did want God to punish them, he wasn’t ready for God to forgive them. Nobody expects divine mercy. Its chief weapons are love, surprise, something else I can’t remember, and fanatical devotion to forgiveness. The need at the moment, as the pandemic evolves, is for nimbleness, to make quick responses to a changing situation. Why the pubs are still open beats me. Can’t we afford extended furlough for some in the hospitality industry – not all other industries need it? I suppose the downside of closing pubs is more drinking in homes, with no social control, and even worse domestic violence. It’s not easy, running a country.