September 13 - Day 126 - 'The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.' J.B. Priestley

Autumn had most definitely arrived this morning and drizzling it was not. Raining it was. I suppose I have been spoilt over the last few weeks, as I had forgotten what walking around in soggy trainers felt like for a while. I definitely needed my lights on this morning with the mist obscuring much of the view - as seen in the photograph.

Now that the young people have returned to school, many looking down at their phones as they walk there and back, there are probably many of us that believe that Priestley’s comment, used in the title, still runs true. With lockdown measures and people able to do much more from the comfort of their own home, it is important that people don’t lose that ability and confidence to socialise and talk. Communication should mean much more than text or email.

J B Priestley, who incidentally was a Yorkshireman, born in Bradford on this day in 1894, is perhaps best known, however, for his play, ‘An Inspector Calls; a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. The Birling Family are visited by a mysterious Inspector Goole and part of his final speech has often been quoted, ‘We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ Although the play was written in 1945 when the impact of the two wars were very much still felt, it remains very relevant today and the sense of society and responsibility Priestley explores could raise the same issues now as they did then.

As Autumn is felt and the weather gets colder, this will be the time when the homeless who were accommodated last year during the Covid restrictions, have to find other means of staying warm and alive this year. If there was ever a time to decide what our responsibility is and what sort of society we want to be, this is it. If you are someone who supports the work we do at St Wilfrid’s Centre, you have already answered those questions.