This piece is called "The Chains of Office" and above two pieces representing "The Crown as Shadow"and "The Crown of Thorns" as it sits on various types of grandiose persons, perhaps unkindly observed...and both are part of a series concerned with the coronation, its meaning for us citizens and also for the victims: Recently it has seemed less desirable a state than at first appeared... judging from the difficulties of various Princes of the Realm. For the Royal Persons, there are so many limitations, there are so many calls on the individual concerned who is, after all a regular human being; Although then one has to remember that there is a religious ceremony at enthronement which reaches subtly - or not so subtly - towards an anointment by God which is what we suppose Jesus Christ is. So, if you are a Christian there are some questions there. If you are not a christian, then the whole of Christianity can be questioned on that basis alone, and that is problematic in that our western culture relies - like it or not - on Christian principles and institutions. I am aware that there are pitfalls in discussing religion, but it's even worse with politics; and footballs is a quagmire, so I have no choice. But seriously, I gave that example to show that no matter your belief, no matter your truth and how solid you feel it is, there is a body of opinion out there that disagrees, so an argument can always be built up around anything at all. It is here worth stating my point a little more clearly: It is inherent to the human condition to build a raft of beliefs to steer by and to feel uncomfortable when these are challenged. Some have to try and silence the challenges for their own survival; some close their eyes and ears; For my part, I think I use clay to take the burden of investigating what I can't resolve in real life. So my question is, should we be like Janus (or journalists ) always prepared to see the other side and purport to uphold it, or should we stick to our guns and fight it out. And fighting is what it comes to in so many cases. We have to shoehorn our belief into ever smaller spaces as time passes and bits of our carefully constructed edifice get knocked off by exceptional or - as the modern word goes - unprecedented events. It is often said that we live in a post truth society. That may be true to a point (see?) in that our leaders are the more esteemed and get more of our votes the bigger and more bare faced their lies are. But managed truths have been there for a while. Read the story of a great Portuguese figure, Henry The Navigator, sat up aloft on his white steed on the beach in Lagos, Algarve, inspecting a line of some 60 slaves, the first to come to Portugal after the little caravels travelled down the coast of Africa to S. Tome; They were a little gift to him personally, worth a few million in today's money. But that didn't matter to him, or so it appears, because with grace and poise, this son of Philippa of Lancaster spoke with great emotion of how these poor souls would now be saved for God's Grace in a Christian land. And made to work very hard indeed in the service of a sublime Prince. What could be better? In my work I tell stories and I tell them to bring together my own truths and subject them to a journalistic analysis, if possible. By which I mean, I am the first accused in this search for clarity. So there is another story about truth. I am told on good authority that Izaak Rabin wrote a memoir which the censor cleaned up of some story about some Palestinian Arabs having to be forcibly removed from within the borders of Israel, an account that does not sit very easily with the truth as told that the state of Israel was established in an empty land, or land which all previous occupants had voluntarily left. I am also told that Mr. Vladimir Putin is not at war with Ukraine, he is in fact just cleaning the place up a bit. I hear that in the United States people have weapons to defend themselves, but the stories that hit the headlines are the mass shootings in schools, supermarkets, festivals and other delightful spaces. I hear that we all want to put a stop to climate disasters and reverse climate change, but... we are voting for new fossil fuel exploration, voting against ULEZ, wanting to fly to far off places on our well deserved hols... This piece is called "In The Forest". In Lisbon there was a lovely park next to the the Palace that these days houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is on top of a hill overlooking the river Tagus and it climbs gently until you lose sight and sound of the bustling city below. It is called of all things, the Palace of Necessities and the Park is the Tapada das Necessidades, tapada meaning hidden, because it has a very ornate and very high fence all around it. Acres of hunting land in the old days of the monarchy! Back in the day you had to have a special permit to visit. Civil servants in the security forces and the Ministry could apply for a permit, so I used to be taken there by my grandfather and I remember very well smelling and tasting all the weeds and herbs and admiring the flowers - as in Lisbon only the very rich had a garden. of their own in the city and all we could aspire to were some terracotta pots with geraniums. Last year I went to have a look at this cherished paradise of my childhood. Democracy had opened the mighty gates and emptied the guard shelter: everyone is allowed in and everyone has been in, because there are no plants left apart from the old trees, mostly eucalyptus, rising out of the dusty earth and looking forlorn and abandoned like that pot at the top there. Democracy is a great thing and Portugal has become a wonderful country that the Portuguese are no longer ashamed of, but the Tapada has suffered because in being given it, we have not cared for it. There are syringes and cardboard boxes... Am I saying that we want and demand our freedom but we don't really care for it?
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