[Magdalen] Homeward Bound

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

You caused me great pleasure in that your comments took me back to several
places where I met some wonderful people -- not noticed by most, but very
good pleasant people nevertheless.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente

On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 9:57 PM, ROGER STOKES <roger.stokes65 at btinternet.com>
wrote:

> A few minutes ago I checked in, via the internet, for my flight back to
> the UK tomorrow evening. Two years ago I came to the USA on my "trip of a
> lifetime".  (Hollow laugh)  On three trips I have met a number of you face
> to face and been in 21 states, plus DC.  On this trip a couple of people
> have said I have seen more of their country than they have and I have
> certainly done some driving (a bit over 2,900 miles so far). If travel
> broadens the mind then I may have difficulty getting my hats on when I get
> home :-)
>
> On this trip I have been asked how I am enjoying retirement, a question I
> cannot answer because I had precisely one day between my last service and
> heading to the airport for this trip. I have also spent nearly as much time
> over here as I have in my retirement apartment (18 nights there and this is
> night 16 of my trip).  There are many wonderful places in this world, not
> all of them well-known or famous.  Those less familiar places are where
> most of us live and the marvel of this medium of communication is that we
> ordinary folk can chat, share and laugh about life as we see and experience
> it.
>
> I thank God that the wit of mankind has provided us with this means of
> individuals communicating directly with others rather than relying on "the
> great and the good" to say what they think should be said.  I have long
> thought that there is more understanding of what really matters at the
> grass-roots of society than there is among the leaders of our nations.
> Perhaps we need a real democracy where the demos, the people, rule the
> roost.
>
> God alone knows why I have written this stream of consciousness.  If you
> are still reading, thank you. I am profoundly grateful for the way that we
> can share our ideas without then being coloured by our personal appearance
> so that mind can speak to mind. For those I have met another dimension has
> been added to our knowledge of each other.  May God grant us all the grace
> and the time to continue to learn form and with each other.
>
> Roger
>
>