going back?

.

I love that song, but going back isn’t always a good idea. Sometimes we come too close.

Last week our journey west was hugely disrupted by delays on the motorway. Eventually, the radio news told us why the road was closed. Prison Officer David Black had been murdered on his way to work, because of the job he did.

Going back.

Another murder, another funeral, more heartache, more pleas for no retaliation. A reminder that our society is still far from normal. Ben- Lifer on the Loose– has an interesting discussion on the role (or lack of) of prison officers in rehabilitation; but how to build appropriate relationships to support such rehabilitation when personal security is still such an issue?

Going back.

In April of last year, I wrote about the murder of policeman Ronan Kerr. We are better than this.

Going back?

I need to take heart from the little signs of ‘normality’ that still take me by surprise- a police officer, in uniform, on her own, going into the supermarket. We are making progress. There are small minded, angry, people all over the world, not just in this cantankerous small place.

Criminality, turf wars, shootings- sadly these are part of ‘normal’ everywhere also. It is good for us that we have regained the ability to be shocked by such things.Progress can take unexpected forms.

Going back?

No.