Trapped

The rats have returned to our garden. In the past I’ve paid exorbitant amounts for the professional rat-catcher to come. This time I’ve bought my own trap – click-and-collect from Screwfix… I hope the rats will click the trap as they try to collect the bait.

We watched the news last night – the Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping centre in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. We saw the emergency services trying to rescue those trapped by the fire and trapped by fallen debris…

I visited my friend Jack yesterday. He’s been very sick for months now. He rarely gets out of his flat; the only way he could get to a recent funeral was in a wheel chair…

He’s a talented actor, writer and director… He’s had to turn down significant acting roles in London because he’s not physically capable; he’s been offered writing work for radio and television that he can’t do because his mind can’t cope…

Jack’s significant talents are trapped in his body and mind…

Jack told me about an actor friend of his. During lockdown she was out of work. Trapped by the bills she had to pay she used her acting skills on a phone-in sex chat-line… where she’s well paid.

Musing… Those trapped by… physical disability… abusive relationships… impossible debts… harmful memories… the job they hate but have to continue with… depression, loneliness, hopelessness…

Musing… Reading Psalms…

David often feels trapped… so he prays to his God for protection: ‘Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers…’ (141:9)

David also feels trapped by his God: ‘You hem me in – behind and before… Where can I go from your Spirit? …If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths you are there…’

‘…Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold be fast.’ (139:5-10) This is a good trap that I, like David, choose to walk into!