“I am a curate for a church in Edmonton, doing what I can over the phone and zoom but it’s not enough. I hold a Mums’ prayer group each morning. A number of them are on their own with small children with no outdoor space, so it puts things into perspective. We’ve all been affected in some way but to me, the evidence of my own eyes and ears has confirmed the marked difference between this side of the A10 and the other.
Stories of loss are not hard to come by in our parish and as an area of relative deprivation with a high BAME population, this sadly and predictably fits into the national picture that is emerging. The virus has laid bare the depth of structural and social injustice in our society. One mother, who I know well, has lost a very good friend and two members of her close family. She is still managing to feed over 160 people via drop offs and deliveries from our church hall. The hope lies in this strong sense of community and my hope is that we can somehow build bridges across the borough, learning and being inspired by this mother’s example of tragedy and triumph.
As a family we have been fine. Positives include a mean Vietnamese pho and prawn noodle salad that is now a go to recipe. Positives and negatives in equal measure are more time as a family; hard to get away from the noise is the main negative! Praying
together with other mums as our children wail or try to run off with our laptops has got me through some tough days. Joe is working hard at home. He’s an agent for writers and directors. There is a whole sector closure in terms of TV and film production so he’s mostly managing the shockwaves of that.
This stage has a strange uncertain sense of what may lie ahead. Trying to quarantine my Twitter feed as too much despair is not good, and faith is always the enduring ‘nevertheless’ of it all.”
