Virtual

Wednesday 16th December, 2020

I have just done a virtual tour of part of Moscow. The charming young lady guide, who spoke English perfectly, took us to White Square and to the old Tram Depot, now a major restored factory and functional business area. It is a hub for foodies boasting shops and restaurants and eateries covering every nation in the world. Obviously I enjoyed the Russian dessert shop as well as the Chinese shops and bars covering seventeen Chinese district culinary styles. Turkish, Vietnamese, Georgian and many other traditions were also covered. I was amazed at the superb Christmas decorations and the fantastical baubles and light and tree creations. Somehow an old instinctive prejudice expected guards and police and babushkas and onion domed churches and a feel of a dictatorial State. Sky scrapers, luxury shops and fashionable people wandering the highly lit streets. Yes, we came to one onion domed church. The guide gave some of the history of the Czars, the Bolsheviks, the Soviets and then today.

First I was horrified by my ignorance and prejudice and pre conceived expectations. Second I thought to myself why do we have such tensions and Cold War scenarios when we could simply talk to each other as the guide was talking to us. Virtual tourists with a kindly intelligent guide could be the solution to the shenanigans and foolishnesses of ours political masters! How naive I am yet how irritated that relationships are not left to everyday people. Then I thought of the Salisbury poisoning!

My mind went back to reflect on the church service I attended this morning. It was a service of repentance and absolution. With the Covid restrictions face to face or one to one confessions are not the norm. It was a good exercise. It was a time to reflect on one's selfishnesses, one's unkindnesses, one's abuses and misuses of others, one's self centredness and indulgences and insensitivity to others as well as one's lack of gratitude and the inability to be real and to set up idols and excuses for wrong doing.

I believe in redemption and forgiveness and I believe we can foolishly carry burdens of guilt and inadequacy which are self destructive. Yet we need to be honest with ourselves, to truly face what we have done and to be aware of the harm we have caused. We need to learn to forgive as well as be forgiven. Going back to the tour of Moscow I thought of the bloody revolutions of man, of the dictatorships which have ( and still do ) ridden rough shod over humans utterly ruthlessly.

How to define wrong is ever a dilemma. We know the adage that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. What may upset my conscience may not that of another.

I also enjoyed today a real chuckle. Some days ago I came across a discarded piece of holly covered in berries. So I picked it up and wove it in and out of the gate at the top of the walk down to our house. I thought I would be festive and share the joy of the season. Well, that joy turned first to fury and then to laughter. As I walked out of the front door and up the path I noticed a very fat pigeon sitting on the gate. He/she was enjoying the berries. I shouted and the pigeon unhurriedly flew off. The holly branch was stripped. The pigeon had left quite a few messages on the path, the polite word being guano. Initially I could have strangled the bird, taken its breasts out and fried them in butter and garlic and shown who was boss and what happens to disrespectful creatures!! And then I pondered and realised that attitudes such as mine cause wars and conflicts and are based on ' me, me, me and me'. Very unjolly and very unchristmassy. I had another thing to repent!