THE LAST DITCH

Last year a very kind reader of this blog (whom I have never met) arranged for mass to be said for the soul of Mrs Paine at an Abbey in Provence. She was a French teacher by profession and a lover of that country. Provence was where we most liked to holiday in later life, so it was very appropriate and I was very touched by such a generous gesture. Yesterday, Navigator and I visited the Abbey. It is a beautiful, peaceful, modern place, only founded about the time that Mrs Paine and I first met. Once again, in my atheism, I found myself envying the faithful.

 

3 responses to “A peaceful interlude”

  1. David Davis Avatar

    Old friend, that was very nice. There is an astonishing degree of order in the Universe, and I as a scientist am pleased to think that God has seen fit to let us into His mind, just a little, so we can see it too – and maybe a bit more, and more, and more, as time flows. If He is right, then Mrs Paine has merely been borrowed from you, by Him, for just a little time, a few seconds in God’s eyes. Perhaps He just wants to say stuff to her, to do with herself as a human being, which you’ll find out later when she tells you. He’ll do that to you too when you arrive.

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  2. Captian Ranty Avatar

    Praise the lord.

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  3. james higham Avatar

    Time can change much, Tom.

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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