I left London on Thursday… the most beautiful day, but it was hard to concentrate. The world was holding its breath. 
I arrived in Dorset, exhausted. Charlie was awake early the following morning. I wasn’t sure I was ready to get out of bed, but he was meeting our neighbour Nicky for their regular walk. I dragged myself up.
Thank goodness.
However strange the world, however tired my mind, there is nothing more peaceful and restorative than this hour, tramping up the hills and down again, as a new dawn is breaking.
Mist hung over the fields, and pockets of frost lay here and there.
First light on the hills. 
This timeless place has seen it all. As some kind person commented on my instagram photographs of this view, you can imagine Roman Legionaries marching over these same ancient hills on a morning like this. 
Today, it was just us. 
It was a beautiful day, but I had my head deep in work, and the world had its head deep in politics. As the sun lowered, the house was filled with an astonishing light.
We climbed the scaffold (the windows are being painted and repaired at the moment).
A different perspective as dusk fell…
Charlie has spent the last week digging a huge patch in the meadow for his show veg and flowers for 2021. Gardening is the most optimistic pursuit of all. 
Saturday. A heavy mist had rolled in. The fog felt apposite. 
And then the news broke, yesterday afternoon, that the result had been called for the American election.
It has been an eternal drum beat of mine, these last 10 or 12 years now, that at the end of the day, everything will be alright. Democracy has spoken. But the beauty of democracy is that she is neutral. She spoke also when the President was elected, four years ago; and she has spoken again, now. The key is to listen not only to the now, and the excitement of the 75 million who have spoken so loudly, but to answer the worries of the other 70 million as well.
I pray for peace, for healing; and for oil to be poured gently, wisely, on the troubled waters of America.
This morning, we had a quiet moment at the War Memorial, remembering, as we always do, the seven men of this tiny village who died during the First World War. 
Afterwards, rain clearing, Charlie and I took the dogs for our walk. 
This is the Collect for this Sunday, that was read in our brief commemoration by the war memorial.
Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, be with those who care for the sick,
and lift up all who are brought low; that we may rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
25 comments
I want to thank you for the uplifting images and words, which ring true, loud and clear, all the way even to Sydney. I was very moved by the prayer at the end, it’s beautiful. The images you share do make me feel like everything is going to be okay after all! Just lovely!
Writing as an American with a deep love for her country, I can only speak to the sense of great relief I have felt in these last few days. For months, we did not have a leader to guide us through these most awful of times – a pandemic. A man who name-called and hated, a Cheeto-colored idiot who thought of only himself – the “Narcissist in Chief.”
A new light has broken over our great country and we will go forward and mend those rips and tears of our moral fiber and fabric and solider on to greater heights than ever before. But those heights must include the poor and the under-served, people of color and age who have received nothing but bias for their efforts and, most importantly, the young. Please may we find it in our hearts to forgive and move on and learn to love all those that share this Earth with us.
Thank you for inspiring me…yet again!
Susan Toye Ferguson
Rockland, Maine
England is my favourite country, and oh, so much pain now that usual travel to enjoy it as often as possible is made so very difficult.. I am so incredibly grateful to you Ben, and Charlie and the doggies, and every single flower and leaf in that magical Dorset of yours (and London, and Scotland.. wherever you go!) for keeping me near, there, nonetheless.
I enjoy your blog immensely, thank you sooooo much for taking the pain to write it, as busy as you are, it’s one of my favourite joys. A big hug.
Thank you for posting that beautiful collect. AMEN!
Ben, thank you for your kind words on our election in the United States. We need more people like you here in the U.S. Your words and the prayer at the end of your post were what our country needs to hear.