During the week I was talking (on the phone) to my cousin in Edinburgh. She is in her mid eighties and lives alone on the top floor of a tenement. She was talking about how difficult the last 18 months have been with all the lock-downs because of covid-19. It has been a very lonely and uncertain time for her. Regular contact with friends has been curtailed and the only communication during those periods was by phone. A helpful neighbour did her shopping for her. She has had her two vaccinations but it very concerned about the actions of Boris Johnson in England – who is planning to remove all restrictions and let the virus have a free run – accepting that there will be more illness and more deaths. Fortunately the Scottish Parliament will make decisions about when restrictions will end in Scotland. But she talked about her sense of frustration and fear about the future. It’s not easy trying to control a land border – our relative isolation in New Zealand is an asset.
She went on to say how lucky we are in New Zealand to have a government that acted quickly in closing the borders and imposing lock-downs. I had to agree with her. But nothing is perfect and we have to keep vigilant. We see on the news how easy it is for the virus to spread – and how easy it is for one person to start a run of infections.
I am surprised when I travel in on the train how many people do not wear masks – and many of the “offenders” are seniors! It’s the younger people who get masked up and set the example.
There’s a feeling of complacency about it all. As well as a lot of grumbling! Maybe it’s time in New Zealand to count our blessings – and play our part: mask up on public transport, wash our hands more often, and use our cell-phones or ours pens when we go into shops and other public buildings.
Its all a way of taking care of ourselves and others.
Michael Leunig wrote the following :”Hymn”:
Care is the cure
It is slow
It is raw
It is pure
It is simple and bare
It is real
It is bold
It is there
Nothing is newer
Or older
Or wiser
Or truer
Care is the cure
Jesus reminds us to “Love one another”
Have a good weekend. If you are travelling – travel safely and CAREfully.
Shalom
Jim
Read the full enews here https://mailchi.mp/5768e93b2d23/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-4759626
