Taking the Longer View

As the calendar moves relentlessly towards the end of October, with all its attendant Brexit uncertainties, I was reassured by this week's quotation, by Jean Paul: "Das Meer der Zeit ist nur eine Woge auf dem Meere der Ewigkeit." Which being translated, means, "The sea of time is but a wave on the sea of eternity."

The image, of the boat at dusk, peacefully waiting for the sun to set, is a restful one. And these past weeks have been anything but restful... I'm nearly sixty now, and have never known the country to be so stirred up about anything. Brexit has divided families, communities and the country. Every day, there is more news, often conflicting with the news of the day before. I have friends who are British citizens living in the EU, and they are in a desperate state of anxiety and uncertainty, unsure what the implications will be, but certain that it will not be good news. One friend has emigrated to Canada, another to Sweden, to escape it all. And others have acquired Irish or Polish passports, so that their links with the EU may not be broken.

This blog is not political, so I will leave it there. Except to pray that politicians might raise their heads for a moment and consider not the next day, or the next week, but think longer term, for the greater good of the country. Whatever happens on 31st October, many people are going to be unhappy, and it is difficult to see a way forward.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is the the human spirit is very good at surviving even the worst things that life can throw at it. Whatever happens, we will get through it somehow. It remains to be seen what the consequences of leaving the EU will be, if we do leave, but I pray for ordinary people, people like us, that our lives will not be made worse, not disrupted, whatever happens. And that we might fix our eyes on the sea of eternity, and regain some kind of perspective.