Worth knowing

Ruth Gledhill, religious correspondent of The Times, about Anglican meetings:

Long experience of synod meetings has taught me that evangelicals do the best lunches. The more conservative, the better the food. Enjoyed robust plate of tomato pasta and salad, washed down with pure clean water and followed by tea and strawberry-filled chocolates. Yummee in my tummee! Better than the soggy, limp sandwiches at liberal fringe meetings. The sacramentally strong red wine and cheese at Catholic fringe meetings is of course legendary, but not something I personally am at liberty to partake of.

A brief thought about pacifism

You can never convince the people - except perhaps for a small minority - that giving one's life for a really high and noble cause is not the noblest thing in life. You can only blacken the name of the cause to which they gave their lives; and then watch as they flock with the same enthusiasm and commitment to give their lives to infinitely less worthy causes.