{"id":1128,"date":"2020-06-26T09:28:08","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T09:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2020-06-26T09:28:08","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T09:28:08","slug":"revisiting-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/2020\/06\/26\/revisiting-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 73 of the End to End in 2019 was one where Bob and I walked together all day, as it was possible to use the train for both the beginning and end of the walk. We were walking through a history of the black stuff: coal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was the stuff that made the industrial revolution and powered that empire we hear so much about these days, that destroyed the lungs and lives of so many, either directly or indirectly, and lead to the massive expectations in us all to have the lights on and the standard of living we want at the flick of a finger regardless of the lives of those who pay the price now.<\/p>\n

Coal is made of plants that would have been green millions and millions of years ago. Today the old coal heaps around Kirkconnel are going back to green, sculpted for nature and wind power generation. Wild flowers spring up still.\u00a0 We made our way across these hills towards New Cumnock.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It’s not new. It was formed as a separate parish when it was split off from Cumnock several centuries ago. If anywhere needs new normal in Britain today it’s places like this. There’s a miners memorial in every town and usually a small museum or community centre telling the stories of rise and decline, recalling the lives of ordinary people, the Board of the Co-op and the local school. There were a lot of places up for sale; the garage, an old industrial building and so on. I can’t imagine that lock down 2020 has been kind to places like this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In 2019 I remembered Psalm 40: it’s not a bad choice in 20202 either.<\/p>\n

\n

I waited patiently for God, who turned <\/i>to me, hearing my cry.<\/i>
\nHe lifted me out of the horrible pit of mud and mire and set my feet\u00a0on rock, giving me a firm place to stand,<\/i>
\nAnd putting a new song\u00a0in my mouth,\u00a0a hymn of praise to God.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’m not known as a patient person, but they do get a lot of mentions in the bible. I doubt lock down has made anyone more patient, especially if recent seaside scenes are anything to go by.<\/p>\n

Solid Rock One, Holy High Hill Maker,
\nyou count time in millions of years not just a few weeks.
\nAs we rush onto new normal,
\nmay we give a thought to the old ways, and see them for what they were:
\nexpedient, sometimes exploitative,
\ndestructive of humans and the planet.
\nI want to praise you from firm ground,
\nbut much of what is around me is barren.
\nMay new life come to deserted places:
\nwhere for sale signs dominate may things open up again,
\nwhere old industry has stolen lives and land
\nmay new ideas flourish and turn the landscape green.
\nMake us in to the human beings that will work for the good of others:
\nlet us leave our bad habits for museums to remember,
\nas we weave the kindom together.<\/p>\n

JAL: 26.06.2020 in Longdendale.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 73 of the End to End in 2019 was one where Bob and I walked together all day, as it was possible to use the train for both the beginning and end of the walk. We were walking through a history of the black stuff: coal. It was the stuff that made the industrial … Continue reading “Revisiting history”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psalms","category-remembered-bible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foowr.org.uk\/lejogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}