Bob Warwicker's blog

It wasn’t raining when I set off this morning, though that didn’t last. The cloud was not too low. Valehouse Reservoir may be gaining a bit now.

I’m not looking forward to tomorrow. Wouldn’t a weekday be a better day to start with the pubs, and iron out the problems? Besides which, why choose that date – who wants to remember a day of national humiliation? I find myself wishing Angela Merkel, or Nicola Sturgeon, or Jacinda Ardern were in charge of my country (notice any connection?).

We’re getting more points for the Prayers for Places website – we can get the points in then go back over the prayers later to improve them. This is my lockdown project.

God save the souls of all
the bored children, bored adults,
who are struggling with confinement;
and people for whom confinement
is normal life.
God protect those who have to mingle to do essential tasks,
and all who struggle with the discipline
of keeping their distance.

This morning’s walk took me west for a change, down past the tip and a little bit further in the direction of Broadbottom. The recycling centre has been rearranged so that drivers are less likely to cross over when visiting the different skips with their stuff. There’s a lot of hard work and disruption of routines gone into making all sorts of businesses and operations COVID-safe. Many people have lost jobs, lost income, had to put up with major changes to their lives. Yet I have an impression (misleading maybe) that there’s a few who aren’t all that bothered – “I’m young, it’s not going to hurt me, so I don’t care.” Anyway, we’re all in this together – so long as our eyesight doesn’t need testing.

Living God,
in the long, slow movement back to normality,
with the virus still widespread and a constant threat,
we pray for patience to keep on
preventing its spread,
to keep on being careful,
to keep on respecting others
in their vulnerability.
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Here it comes now. Also there were dry intervals on this morning’s walk. When the rain came though, it was enough to rattle audibly the leaves above my head. The wind is gentle. I am glad there are ways I can go which are quiet, but broad enough to pass people at 2m plus.

In Sunday’s Lectionary, Matthew 11:16-19, it seems that Jesus can’t win. People are eternally dissatisfied. This must be quite a common experience for parents, teachers, bosses, politicians. We moan about dishonesty, but in the end we can’t take too much honesty, and we’d rather be looked after by someone who’ll tickle our ears.

God we pray for integrity,
honesty, care, justice, mercy
to be in our heads whenever
we make our cross on the ballot paper.
We confess that we have sometimes been
selfish in our decisions.
God forgive us.

The hills this morning were just soft grey suggested shapes seen through drizzle. When I was in my late teens, I walked into London from my home on the western edge of he conurbation, and passed Wormwood Scrubs and all that stuff around there in the drizzle. It all had a stately, softened kind of beauty, and that includes the railway sidings and all the other stuff in the neighbourhood. In many respects, I like drizzle. Less enthusiastic, though, about its effects on my glasses and its dampening of the undergrowth.

We praise you God,
for the downbeat beauties of the planet,
for drizzle,
for the dark moorland,
for the grey, unceasing sea,
for tattered saplings growing bravely
in abandoned car parks,
for the moon
half-covered by cloud.
Let all creation praise you,
our God and our Maker.

A standard wet morning, quite gusty. Walking out between wet trees, with bracken and grass and heather visible further away, and the mist covering the hills; I felt as if I were on holiday, except that there was a warm house and semi-comfy chair to come back to.

In the Lectionary for next Sunday, Jesus promises his hearers, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). What are these burdens? For Paul, a lot of it was about his inner divided self, not being able to live as he wanted to live. He mentions ‘the law’, for the personal is also social – ‘the law’ his people received from God.

What of Jesus’ hearers? What was wearying them, what were their burdens? ‘The law’ may also have been their burden, for Pharisaical interpretations of the law made it very hard to keep, especially for those without the money to fulfil some of its requirements. In any case, if you’re poor you do what you have to to stay alive, and you can’t be fussy about how. Poverty itself must have been a burden, people labouring to pay off debts, Was poverty their fault? Or was it a sign of something deeper that was wrong with their world? In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor…” (6:20). (Although elsewhere his attitude to poverty is not so clear).

People now have many needs, carry many burdens, not least poverty of course. Many of these burdens are imposed by dysfunctional society. I cannot tell how Jesus and his community might relieve all these burdens, but stage one is to respond to an invitation, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.“

We pray for a peaceful next Saturday,
when pubs will start to open again.
We pray for the police –
-may they have the strength and tact
to sort out any trouble that may arise.
We pray for all who fear this day,
that they may have peace.

A stiff breeze this morning, but not too much to trouble me doing the ‘exercise walk’ in my sail-like cagoule. Cloud and particles of rain. Not bad at all for walking, and not sweaty any more.

Work continues on Prayers for Places – FWIW it can be found at https://bobjanet.org.uk/PFP/

The sun has come out now fro a spell or two. Just went to church again by zoom. It still works for me. It’s not the same as being in the same physical space, and has obvious drawbacks – but in some respects it might have advantages.

There’s been a bit of rain overnight, and the temperature is now a bit more sane. So today’s walk was fairly comfortable, culminating in a visit to the shops. I’m still only shopping for essentials, though (if you count ice-cream as essential), and that’s probably always been my nature anyway.

Nice to see a couple of curlews and some lapwings rejoicing in the wind near the top reservoirs. I say ‘rejoicing’ – that’s my projection.

Covid has taken a while getting to some poorer countries – but once it gets a toehold, it’s looking like a worse thing for the people there than for people in well-off nations.

Janet has produced loads of brilliant quilting pieces, with lots more to come: she has this amazing visual imagination. Also she is doing regular blogs and all sorts of social media stuff and writing and cooking and keeping us caught up with things and people.

One of our neighbours was using a power tool just now, which sounded like the fan on this laptop, but just a bit different. Until I twigged, I thought the computer was in distress.

Went up to the old quarry this morning, and up the little footpath a bit more. The first time I’ve been on that part since getting a new hip a few years ago. It’s still narrow and slopes away steeply on one side. Ever the cautious one, I made use of as handy birch at one point when the path seemed a bit gravelly. Plenty of smells available in the warm, slowly moving air. I like the bracken one.

Our leaders are informed by science, governed by priorities. What are the priorities? Do you want to save lives, save the economy, or save your own skin? Of course, the first two are connected: poverty kills … and a culture that respects life is I suspect more likely to engage in productive, rather than competitive behaviours. Poverty kills, but is simply splashing out randomly going to help? It seems that poverty kills most, when societies are most unequal (if that makes sense) and addressing inequality might be more helpful. Otherwise, it’s ratchet time (every time there’s an economic disturbance, it seems to me, the rich are OK and the poor get poorer).

Anyway, in the Kingdom of God, the first will be last and the last will be first.

PS just heard a gull – I’ve seen plenty, but hearing one made me think of being on holiday for a couple of seconds.

It’s a warm morning, tempered by an easterly breeze. It was best to be out first thing. I saw a deer on the Torside concessionary path, meaning I was probably the first pedestrian of the day. On the way back I had four tiny wild strawberries. By the time I got home, the sun was already becoming too high for comfort.

From the Lectionary... Another small note, “and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:42) – And in weather like this you begin to understand just how precious a cup of cold water is.

Just waiting in at the moment, as we shall be doing a joint walk later, though still early enough to miss the hottest part of the day.

As to the Lectionary, I think Psalm 13 is brilliant – it is so real. I particularly like the version by John Bell and the late Graham Maule.

The grass seed heads outside the window are shining in the morning sun. It’s only reflected light, but reflected light can be quite glowy – like the moon for example. I think I can feel a metaphor coming on – that would be best avoided…

Just remember this, all you people who bang on about common sense – nanny states save lives.