News dominated today by aftermath of terrorist explosion last night in Manchester. The individual who ignited the ‘device’ holds personal responsibility, but equal, if not greater responsibility lies with those who proclaim and persuade others than themselves that such action will ‘fast-track’ rewards in the after-life.
Although it is by no means a comparison a sort of historic parallel can be made in pre-Reformation Christianity. Yesterday evening I went on a very interesting guided tour of the interior of Holy Trinity church, Hull, the tour organised by Hull Civic Soc. A great deal of work is still ongoing on the interior upgrading of the church and the tour guide had to ‘compete’ with an orchestra rehearsing in the chancel. However the guide did very well and was very informative. One room we visited was the ‘Broadley Chapel’, one of two surviving medieval chantry chapels accessed through the south wall of the chancel. There were certainly pre-Reformation other chantry alters in Holy Trinity but they may not all have had discrete rooms (chapels). A chantry chapel and/or altar were endowed by wealthy individuals or families so that the daily prayers of the chantry priests might ‘fast-track’ the soul of the beneficiary through purgatory. If we think such notions outdated that, however, is no reason to destroy the remaining physical evidence of that time and that mind-set. Similarly the event in Manchester is no reason to denounce Muslims, the Quran or the physical evidence of Islamic places of worship, past or present.
After some very changeable weather a mild spell at the moment, this morning warm with gentle light westerly breeze, ‘English weather’. This is the best time of year to notice different types of grasses as most are in flower. Not that grass flowers catch one’s eye in the way wild flowers do. Firstly, I would suggest, notice the different ‘flower heads’ then check-out a reference source. Mine is an old Observer’s Book (1960 reprint of 1942 first edition, see above). Close-up photos on a mobile phone make such research so much easier.