Month: September 2020

These were audible from somewhere in the distance. It seems as if the shooting season is going with a swing, as if there were nothing up with the country. Meanwhile, a local school has sent all its children home because of COVID in the kitchen. I know the economy needs to be kept going in some way at least, and there are difficult decisions to make. But other sectors of the economy remain in deep trouble without much prospect of help – and I’m sure there are other ways of getting foreign exchange than shooting parties.

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.

Much excitement in the household today, as Janet went on a walk and saw the Lammergeier. It was big and magnificent.

Sunday’s lectionary letter gives us an idea of the struggle it sometimes is to be a Christian. Sure, there is peace to be had, and a burden that’s light unlike that imposed by the Pharisees. But it’s hard sometimes too, and we should assume that it’s our fault when we make that discovery.

Weather here glorious and not too hot. Neither of us saw many people on our walks. It is a working day after all.

A wwalk in the clouds today, just like when I was younger. Not so far, though, Flouch to Fairholmes ; thank you to Janet for doing the car stuff. Here is a pillar of precious peat left behind after people like me have worn it away.

Good TV show on Sunday about extinctions. As with climate change, it’s unlikely that useful action will happen. It’s the tragedy of the commons yet again. Capitalism doesn’t cope well with effects on people who aren’t party to the contract. We do deals, and meanwhile the people of a far-off island drown. There is no allowance for future generations. Capitalism can be tweaked to account for these things, but not as long as nations are in competition, and that isn’t going to change this side of the kingdom of God. So we do our best to apply sticking-plasters without being able to cure the disease. People can use purchasing power to buy ethical stuff, but not enough people who want this have enough purchasing power, and if you’re facing the choice between feeding your kids and not feeding them, you’re not going to worry about the source of your food.

Hey ho. “KBO” as Winston Churchill used to say.

The early morning was gently warm for a walk up the Trail. No novice balloonists today.

Last Sunday’s reflection that I listened to in church about the unforgiving servant was good, and I couldn’t help thinking about public life, where we’re inconsistent about rules (just like that household was inconsistent about forgiveness). The government doesn’t have to obey the law, but we do, it seems. The argument about protecting the UK’s vital interests is nonsense as well. What could be more vital than preserving the progress towards peace in Ireland? Imagine how much blood has flowed, how much sweat and how many late night coffees there’ve been and how much energy has been expended by people trying to make peace – all to be undermined in a stroke of national vanity.

Came across this on the early morning walk. I wondered why it took so long to take off, then the penny dropped. What with the supergrid, the Ringway glidepath and a wind heading straight for several populous mill towns, this isn’t going anywhere. It must have been a practice. Ballooning may be the image of freedom, but everyone who does it has to learn sometime. Also, you can only go up or down. If there’s wind shear, I guess it gives you some choices over route, but not many.

Later in the morning there was a big shooting party out. It’s a Monday, a working day. These people can’t all be retired like me. I thought rich people were supposed to be super hard-working!

Good walk around the east slope of the Woodhead Pass. Saw the Lady Cross on the old Salters’ route.

The nice weather is pushing on into mid-September, and here is a path off the old railway.

As for next Sunday’s Lectionary, gospel reading, what is fair pay anyway? It seems there are different criteria one could choose;-

• Equal pay for everyone.
• Decide pay based on the worker’s needs.
• Decide based on the amount of effort that has been put in.
• Decide based on the economic value of someone’s work.
• etc.

There are variations on some of these, too. A note on type 3 – based on effort – many of the loudest advocates of this are quite happy with a situation in which well paid people have enough time to spend their lunchtimes in the pub, or afternoons on the golf course, and low paid cleaners for instance are run ragged, for ever rushing to different parts of town to do their itsy bitsy jobs. And a note on type 4 – the economic value of work also seems to include a factor for the worker’s power to cause damage by messing up – sometimes it’s almost like blackmail.

Our answers to the question of fair pay will reveal what we think is important. And so it proves when Jesus tells the parable – try looking at things from someone else’s point of view for a change.

Nothing quite like a healthy walk on the Transpennine Trail over the Pennines, with the wind gusting around, and the sights and smells and sounds of the moorland.

Meanwhile, Romans 14… I still remember how good it felt when a fellow member of a congregation called me ‘brother’. What do we need to do to take this sister-brother thing seriously?

You cannot quiz a non-existent panda about the state of its bowels. There are three reasons;-
(1) It doesn’t exist
(2) Pandas don’t share any common language with humans
(3) Pandas are notoriously reticent about their digestions.