Peace and All Good

No Tea, originally uploaded by Neorelix.

I was paused by this scene yesterday when wandering down Botolph lane, a charming small back lane in the centre of town which runs alongside, unsurprisingly, St. Botolph's Church. St. Botolph is the East Anglian patron saint of travellers. Until recently, as can be seen from the rather poignant sign in the window, brothers of the Society of St. Francis lived and worked here sharing a common life of prayer, fraternity and a commitment to the poor. In a city house such as this, the Brothers were engaged in a variety of ministries, chaplaincies and care for poor people. I was perturbed by both the fact that they've gone and that this building was the only one in the lane needing bars on its windows. Sad.