13th July

Still thinking about racism and the defacing of the mural of Mark Rashford. Jurgen Moltmann, the German theologian, speaks about the kingdom of God as being experienced in a number of ways and one is the companionship of Jesus. Our hope is rooted in this. “Where the the sick are healed and the lost are found, where people who are despised are accepted and the poor discover their own dignity, where people who have become rigid and fossilised come alive again, and old, tried life becomes young and fruitful once more- there the kingdom of God begins.” So we have to help build this. Obviously reject racism of any sort, but also to discover what makes the racist racist. How can they be healed? Or was the person who defaced the mural not actually intentionally racist but just someone whose only joy in life, purpose in life, was football, he had nothing else and he felt let down? The sort of person who hanged effigies of Beckham in the past? That person needs help to find the kingdom too. Moving on I saw my mother today and that was great, possibly better for me than her, but wonderful nevertheless. Always have some pictures seems to be a good idea that we can look at together. Then off to the pictures with my sister (check the prices before you go in in London I would say). Reeling a bit from the cost we sat in a very comfortable couch on our own in the whole cinema. Perhaps I had booked the whole cinema without realising it! We saw ‘In the heights’, which is good fun if you like fast Latin American music and dancing. By Lin-Manuel Miranda of ‘Hamilton’ fame. Long but really enjoyable. For those who it worry about these things, no sex or violence in the whole film. Bought a snack lunch first and payed more to eat in only to turn round and see that all the seating was being decorated. However I was allowed one of the three seats outside which I guess was fair. Always fun being back in London. I love London shoppers. We stopped for an ice-cream on the King’s Road and they were layering the ice-cream onto the cones to make tulip shaped petals of ice-cream on the cone. The woman before us pushed back in, one of the many children with her had ordered multiple flavours, as had they all, and said ‘you gave her fewer layers of the ‘carrot and ginger’ (very good it is too) than the others.’ How she could tell I do not know and we left before the denouement. A much better evening weather-wise here and so sitting outside in the garden now.