I received an email today. I was one of a number of recipients. It started…
“Don’t be disappointed, frustrated or any other negative emotion please, but…”
Until I read that, I wasn’t.
Upon reading it though, I am well prepared to take on any number of negative emotions, even before I get to understand what I am going to have to get emotional about.
My state, my intent has been pre-programmed by the writer, if you will.
Ironic really.
I stumbled upon a small graveyard today in Oxfordshire. It was squeezed between some houses and seemed somewhat out of place.
A pair of wooden gates were invitingly ajar, snug beneath a small lychgate.
Wandering in, I discovered it was a war cemetery, with headstones for fallen RAF crew from the Second World War. Many were 18,19,20 when they lost their barely begun lives.
Under the lychgate was a laminated notice detailing the ‘rules’ of the cemetery. It spanned three portrait A4 pages.
Gazing upon it, some of these rules intrigued me…
“Toys may only be left at the graveside for a period of 12 months after burial.”
“Silk flowers, appropriate to the season, may be used, but must be removed when they become faded or bedraggled.”
“Nicknames or pet names may be used in addition to baptismal name, but only if placed in inverted commas.”
Rules.
We like rules.
Our lives, our society, our organisations are riddled with them.
It seems even in death, when you have given up so much, rules are to be obeyed.
Ironic since these brave young men lost their lives in the name of freedom.
We need water to survive.
Depending on circumstances, our life expectancy without water is between three and ten days.
Water is crucial to our very existence. A life giver. It supports the growth of our natural habitat and most of the food we eat.
In fact we are composed mostly of water.
Yet in recent weeks we have seen how much damage water can cause to our way of life. Crushing infrastructure, destroying livelihood, breaking spirit, even bringing death. Floods in the UK are thankfully infrequent, although of course, in some parts of the world, water in the form of storm, tide, flood, sadly takes life more frequently.
Water – essential for life, yet a powerful force that can bring death and destruction.
Water – a live giving life taker; true oxymoron.
illuminated dandelion 