These days I feel as though news comes in waves. A series of bad news hits like waves. Just as you lift your head above the water to draw a ragged breath, another wave knocks you off your feet. First Brexit and Boris, then a global pandemic. All this, followed by race riots and the constantly astonishing behaviour of the one-who-shall-not-be-named. Finally (and yes, I know this is comparatively small but it may be the proverbial last straw - the camel's back being already significantly weakened) we just heard that our entire neighbourhood will be hit by 8 months of major road works.
The loss of a sense of European identify, along with new driving licenses and the prospect of similarly tedious reams of red tape; months in home confinement and deep concern for the ongoing implications for work, family and ministry; wordless sorrow over entrenched injustice that faces us with complex questions, in the particular way that is true for any inter-racial family; despair as an entire culture seems to go into an inexorable process of implosion.
And road works.
[Photo by Fons Heijnsbroek on Unsplash]
I know, I know. It doesn't make any sense. The noise, the dust, the inability to drive quickly and easily to and from our home. All that is so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet am I the only one who feels these small inconveniences can be the final drop that overflows the bucket of things you can manage to hold?
Who else is crying out for good news? A break from the waves that keep hitting, a chance to draw breath?
Well, here's one good and beautiful piece of news ...
This week, our eldest daughter had an interview for a 4 year training program in Medical Herbalism. It would mean spending term-time with family in Devon, and seems a perfect way to combine her interests in alternative and sustainable health and wellbeing. After 6 months in New Zealand and then returning home just in time for lockdown, this has felt like a season in limbo for Keziah - so today, when she heard that she has a place on the course, it felt like a very special gift. This is wonderful news - making me think of gardens and gentle ways of being in the world - and means she can just roll with whatever the next few months of summer bring.
[Photo by Katherine Hanlon on Unsplash]
And rolling with it seems to be just about the best any of us can hope to do, road works or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment