Tag: Lent vigil

Day Eight of the No Faith in Fossil Fuels’ Vigil

21st February 2024

Another wet morning as I walk across Westminster Bridge. The night shift report that it has only been raining a few hours and that they are all relatively dry. Vanessa and I settle into their seats, draping our ponchos strategically to keep as much dry as possible.

Rain isn’t all bad – Brethren Seagulls are again enjoying a delicious breakfast as they peck their way across the grass. 

I stay an hour before moving on to Shell where it’s just as wet! This is my regular Wednesday slot and I receive encouraging greetings and acknowledgements. The ‘F*ck Shell’ from a cyclist is emphatic.

Back to Parliament and where before there were just two vigilers, now there is half a dozen. Likewise the footfall has increased. As tourists gather around the statues in Parliament Square, their umbrellas form an undulating sea of colour.

School children and students on the other hand are less concerned about the rain and walk passed bareheaded. They are seem bemused by our presence. The words from a World War I poem go through my mind: ‘For your tomorrow we gave our today.’ What can we give or do now to ensure a liveable future for this next generation? Our efforts sometimes seem so futile in face of what is coming. On the other side of London, my daughter is on trial with 4 other women for breaking the glass of the offices of JPMorgan Chase in an attempt to give the bank a wake up call about the urgent and catastrophic nature of the climate crisis. 

But we are faced not just by a climate crisis: we have a biodiversity crisis, an ecological crisis, and a  justice crisis. We need to change the way we live as humans. We cannot go on as greedy beings (mainly those of us in the global north) consuming resources at an annual rate that needs one and three quarter worlds to be sustainable. 

We need to change our aspirations and priorities. We need to work together, to collaborate. Does the answer lie with the world faiths? Is this where we should find the teachings and the impetus to create a different and better way of living together as human beings? 

Heavenly Parent, may your kingdom come, your will be done.

The rain is not a disincentive. Our numbers continue to swell and soon there are maybe two dozen people plus two beautifully behaved dogs. It is no just tourists and school parties walking by. There are more and more activists – maybe first time activists – with kefir scarves or Palestinian flag and badges, heading for the Cromwell entrance. They are going to Green Card their MPs and use this democratic right to impress upon Parliament the urgent and pressing need for a ceasefire in Gaza. Here is an overwhelming crisis of justice. 

Day one/ two of the Lenten No faith in fossil Fuels vigil

15th February 2024

I took the night shift – we were a cheerful group of a half dozen. Melanie had emphasised the need for lots of layers to counter the cold so I had a sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag with a poncho on top to keep out the rain and my ski suit underneath. It was an unseasonably mild night so I was super super warm and had to remove hat and gloves to allow for some cooling! 
I took the night shift – we were a cheerful group of a half dozen. Melanie had emphasised the need for lots of layers to counter the cold so I had a sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag with a poncho on top to keep out the rain and my ski suit underneath. It was an unseasonably mild night so I was super super warm and had to remove hat and gloves to allow for some cooling! 

Parliament Square in the late evening feels very different from early morning or midday. The traffic swings round faster headlights catching on the buildings. The pedestrians are night owls and theatre goers – they can saunter by as they have the full width of the pavement to themselves.

Traffic in and out of Parliament is still controlled by the police but the bobbies on the beat are replaced by teams of four armed police – rifles nonchalantly slung on their backs.

Across the square Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Millicent Fawcett are more visible in the street light than their loftier companions mounted on much higher pedestals. They stand patiently but what was must be their desire to move and walk the streets again? What would they say to us? How would they encourage us to act?

Around midnight the view of sky became obscure and the rain came – not heavy but wet! With my overlarge poncho drooping over my face much of the light and certainly the view is cut out and my tired eyes close and open. Come on, I think, I’m meant to be praying! I squint across the Square at our vigilant companions – how long did they spend restricted by prison life, or pressing on against the odds with what might have seemed an unwinable cause? They strengthen my resolve.

I am feeling very tired, my stomach is rumbling and my legs feel stiff: I’m not sure I can do this. What if I bail out and go home? There are plenty of taxis circling the Square – but I have forgotten to bring a house key; I’d have to wake someone up.

I let my eyes close and doze. 

Maybe I have actually been sleeping.  Certainly I’m now feeling brighter. A couple walk over Westminster Bridge to make use of the toilets and the 24 hour Costa at St Thomas’s. The rain has eased and I am nice and warm inside my multiple layers. Someone shares some dates – nature’s toffees! This is beginning to feel manageable.

I watch the buses loop round on their various routes. Double decker buses are an amazing invention! Nippy despite their size, they provide bright warm transport for dozens of people – so much more efficient than those low slung, gas guzzling cars.

I’ve slept some more and wake to hear Big Ben striking. Its quarter hourly time check is a comfort. I forget to count and now I’m not sure if it’s 4am or 6 am. The sky looks lighter and I can hear birds singing. 

It’s 4am. A digestive biscuit fills a gap. Our companions across the Square encourage my focus, whilst on either side of me, Sandie and Annette are gently singing hymns and Taizé chants. 

Another shift of armed police set out. The night buses are still looping past, bright light shining out so their windows like mobile Advent calendars. Not so many passengers but already people are on their way to work. The first staff are going into Parliament behind us – cleaners and ancillary workers I guess. Someone has raised the flag on the Supreme Court. As the next hour passes the double deckers fill with people  on early morning shifts. A resilient few are cycling past at great speed – or maybe they’re the fun loving one’s taking advantage of the clear roads. I hope they are paid well for their unsocial hours but I suspect not.

Soon it’s 6.30am. The dawn has crept up on us and the light is daylight bright. The traffic is picking up its day time pace. 

7.00am and here comes Alison who will be taking the next shift. And – of wonderous joy – here comes my husband! He’s got up early to join us for breakfast at Gail’s! 

I could do this again.