So here it is: I am retired. It doesn’t feel any different from yesterday: the same mountain of sorting-out faces us today that faced us yesterday. Progress is being made, but it still feels slow in comparison to the scale of the task.
There’s a thin layer of snow outside, and shuttling across the Pennines to our house this February isn’t a very enticing prospect.
Here’s a bit from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 11 VV11-13…
“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for* a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit* to those who ask him!’”
…that’s all very well, but what if your child asks for a snake or a scorpion? Would you finance a drug habit?
What about MP’s trapped between two different ideas of their duty – to carry out the will of the people, or to do what’s in the national interest? If they ever feel parental towards their constituents (it’s questionable whether they should), do they feel they’ve been asked to provide a scorpion?