23rd February 2024
The day was crisp and dry as I walked over Westminster Bridge. Even at 6.30 it was already light. The night shift looked warm and cheerful – Ben has the technique of keeping in warm inside the depths of a sleeping bag down to a fine art!
It looks like it will be a beautiful day. The sky is turning blue and the sun is gilding the pale stone of the buildings opposite. Today Brethren Seagull are less focused on feeding and rather more on gliding effortlessly on their perfectly arched wings. Perhaps they too are relish the sunlight.
Maybe it’s the lack of rain but there are more birds around. Several crows fly past, black fingered wings against the blue sky. Then my eye is caught by flashes of white and three magpies swoop round and settle themselves – diplomatically – on top of the Foreign Office.
The pigeons too are favouring the dry weather. One with a very distinctive white ruff I have definitely seen earlier in the week. They peck at microscopic crumbs with which the pavement is apparently littered.
Today is a day for praising God for the beauty of creation.
As the morning passes so the growing patch of sunlight progresses across the Square. St Margaret’s church has a sundial on one side and a clock on another, yet bizarrely the sundial seems to be half an hour slow!
Today I feel like a tourist – or maybe a flaneur – someone with time to spend just watching. I’m enjoying watching the different people walk past. Those going to work, students, holiday makers, police officers and runners: these make up the normal stock in trade. But then there are others – delightful dogs and those walking dogs, runners of different speeds, and – today -lots of Scout leaders! They come thick and fast, with different coloured scarves neatly rolled and fastened round their necks, as well as different coloured lanyards. Often they are wearing a collection of lanyards – much as soldier might wear campaign medals. Some have come from north of the Border and proudly swing past in their kilts. I think there is a service for them in Westminster Abbey.
Maybe it’s the sunshine or maybe because we have been here for so many days, but several staff members and police offices give us a cheery ‘Good Morning’ as they go in or out of the Parliamentary gates.
Today is a day for praising God for the kindness of human.
8pm and I’m back for a final hour. For the first time during the vigil the train is late – about 5 minutes . The Square is in evening mode. Cars chase round the circuit, effortlessly outnumbering buses and taxies. People are walking past in two or threes, chatting and laughing. No longer are they head down forging past on their way to work.
I’m only there for an hour but overlap with four others. The comradeship of the vigil has been special. People have come from far and wide – Bristol and Cheltenham, Liverpool and Sheffield, Scotland and all points of London – and from different groups: Christian Aid and Cafod, Green Christian and Laudate Si, from Just Money and Tearfund, from local churches and of course from CCA.
Today is a day for praising God for friends.
The Green Tau 