Ancient and Modern

Tintern Abbey recently – glorious sunshine – and, seen through the framework of the open abbey tower, a passing contrail…

All sorts of thoughts suggest themselves.

The massy permanence of the abbey tower, as against the passing trail of the passenger jet.

Or, perhaps, the economy of construction of the church - stone, presumably wood, and glass - compared with the wasteful tendency that comes with international air travel.

Or, certainly, the commitment to geographical stability by the Cistercian monks, contrasted with our modern restless, mobile habits.

So: a metaphor, maybe, for human living in the present. But that's not to say that the present is entirely bad, and the past good. Solidity, stability and permanence and economy do not seem to suit us, to be sure. But how would it actually have been to have spent one's life in a monastic community in the Wye Valley? How can one possibly say, without actually living at that time, with the assumptions, viewpoint, limitations and perhaps advantages of that era?