Dear Friends,

 

Who knows, by the time you read this the sun may be shining, and the reports of devastating floods may be, for us, a distant memory. For many others, however, the horror and smell and mess of it all will remain for many miserable months, and for some, life will never be the same again.

 

We had our own glimpse into this nightmare when up in Worcestershire/Herefordshire last Friday for the wedding of James (former House Manager at Tyntesfield) and Penny, whose baptism you may remember in January. As we waited for the bride to arrive, the fields surrounding the picturesque church became a swirling lake. She finally arrived by tractor, an hour and a half late (the groom had kept his cool with amazing cheerfulness) and there was great mirth when the reading from the Song of Solomon contained the words, ‘for lo, the rains are over and gone.’ We all made it to the village hall, but halfway through the reception someone said ominously ‘None of us are going to get out of here tonight.’ Mercifully, a tractor pulling a slurry trailer turned up, and a few of us scrambled aboard with great relief. We were taken, through deep churning waters submerging abandoned cars, to a very basic Christian youth camp. There, some of us thankfully enjoyed the rudimentary accommodation, and next morning, were taken back through the floods to the village hall, where we discovered that most of the wedding party, including poor James and Penny, had spent the night wrapped in tablecloths from the marquee. They were still amazingly cheerful, declaring, quite rightly, that no-one would ever forget their wedding! We carefully negotiated our way back to Wraxall, via the Severn Bridge, just in time for the next wedding.

 

Tonight on TV news there were scenes of people in Gloucester desperate for fresh water, complaining that they had had to drive miles to find receptacles still containing water. As so often happens, some people had taken more than they needed, and the supplies had run out. I couldn’t help thinking that the situation is similar in many third world countries, not just in times of emergency, but all year round – people having not to drive, but to walk, long distances to get the water they need. And severe flooding brings annual misery to many whose poverty and powerlessness forces them to live in areas vulnerable to flooding.

 

I wouldn’t wish the recent catastrophic weather on anyone, but perhaps we will begin to realise that global warming has global consequences for all of us – not just for third world countries. It’s just that it seems so much worse when it happens to ‘people like us.’ Let us hope that this terrible time may have taught us the lesson of how life is for so many people in the world; and perhaps we might begin to engage in a global effort (beginning with us) to do something to avert a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions in the future.

 

Meanwhile, I hope there is some summer for us to enjoy –

 

‘May the sun shine warm upon your face;

may the rain fall soft upon your fields,

may the wind be always at your back,

and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of his hand.’

 

 

With love,

Rosey