Day 74 of the End to End in 2019 was another where we were able to use the rain to get to the start and from the finish meaning we could walk together all day. At one time the railways were a new way of travelling, replacing some of the older ways. In 2020 they have a mixed story: some are just about ticking over, some are more optimistic replacing old with new, even those the lock down and has severely curtailed the use of public transport.
There was plenty of the old to see on Day 74: old church at New Cumnock for example. Also old nostalgia for national poet Robert Burns: we would see plenty more of that over the next few days walking. But there were new signs too: an old coal mining area redeveloped as a nature reserve called Knochshinnoch Lagoons.
At Cumnock we saw the house and statue of Keir Hardie, Labour Party politician. His name has recently been recycled too.
There’s still a lot of talk about new ways post COVID19 lock down. So far we’ve seen more evidence of the old ways: tons of litter left on beaches and heaps of fly tipping by selfish people. One possible new way might be more litter bins or a reinvention of Keep Britain Tidy, a slogan I remember from my youth. I even saw an online video of The Wombles yesterday, those helpful hairy creatures who used to sort recycling. Now we leave it to people in Turkey to sort out ours.
I was glad to hear quite a few Methodists had called on the Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels, at their on line version of Methodist Conference. I fully support that (I’m not a Methodist) but I was less clear why the organ in a large Methodist Chapel had been lit up purple. Was it a liturgical thing?
So far the new thing about today is rain, after several very hot days. Last year I used a remembered version of Psalm 19 on Day 74, which is relevant whether in rain or sun:
From the remembered bible, Psalm 19
The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
‘You cannot change the Laws of Physics’ (Remembered Star Trek)
No, but you can change the world if you manipulate the environment such that the Laws of Physics change the climate.
Creator God, who gave us humans intelligence, the skills to make decisions and an understanding of cause and effect,
make us mindful of our part in the immensity of creation,
and as old ways give way to new ways,
may we inhabit the earth carefully,
taking decisions that don’t further undermine the poor,
using our intelligence for mutual flourishing.
JAL: 27.06.2020 in Longdendale.