大象传媒

Good Morning

It was the middle of August, and I was sitting on a bus in heavy traffic , which stretched as far as the eye could see. The traffic was heavy, because we were in the middle of a road widening scheme, designed to ease congestion. I was on a bus because my usual railway station was closed over the summer for improvements to the track and signalling.

So we sat, in the midst of schemes to make our travel better, going nowhere. The time of the retimed train came and went, and the would-be commuters sat in glum acceptance of another disrupted journey.

Yes, it makes sense to do this kind of work in the summer holidays, and yes, everyone was doing their best in difficult circumstances. We knew about the disruption well in advance, and there was nothing more anyone could do. And the improvements are necessary and good.

Now that autumn has come, we are back to normal. The station has reopened, though there is still a lot of improvement work to do; and the road widening scheme will be brilliant once it is finished! Today (all being well) I will take my usual train to work and back, as will millions of others.

God, we pray for all those who will travel long distances to work today, and for engineers and planners who keep our complex transport networks running smoothly through all kinds of circumstances. When we face unexpected disruption, keep us patient and forbearing of others.

Amen

听