Yesterday evening was very pleasant.  With my son-in-law Dan we walked to the United Reform Church in Oxted, Surrey, and Baroness Shirley Williams gave a 45 minute talk to an audience of 200 on the history of wars since Greek times, through Medieval war methodology, to the mercenary armies of the 17th and 18th century European wars including the Napoleonic wars.  She made much of the Victorian/Edwardian obsession with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table which was part of the embedded ideology of the middle and upper classes of that era preceding the 1st World War.  That war changed completely the public's view of war - reversing any attempts to glorify it because of the horrors on such a scale that all members of the public had experienced directly.  She went on to discuss the 2nd WW, the Falklands war, Kosova, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Zimbabwe and other situations underpinned by philosophic and pragmatic principles that may be used to help consider if a war is just or not.  Interesting questions followed which she dealt with eloquently and wisely reflecting the wisdom and knowledge of her age of 81 and a lifetime of service in local, national and international politics.

Having bought her autobiography during the interval, I had the opportunity at the book-signing session following to meet and offer to her The Book of Mormon.  I briefly introduced it in the form of the question that as a scholar she may not have had the opportunity to study the perspective of just and unjust war using this source of historical and spiritual account of a 1000 year span Jewish society set in the Americas circa 600BC-400AD. Baroness Williams accepted the book and graciously expressed interested in that it offered to her a new source for study in her field.  Her Christian faith had come out as a part of her identity in the lecture.  I am anticipative of how this special book form a loving Father to His children will impact upon this highly intelligent, compassionate, service-oriented faithful sister.  Baroness Williams said that she would not be able to get to it until Christmas due to a heavy reading load already .  Our prayers to help her prioritise this wold not go amiss.  Were she to study the contents and follow Alma's 'experiment with the words of the Lord as if they were true' method, and also apply Moroni's promise to pray that the Holy Ghost might witness the truthflness of all things comnnected with Christ and God then the Lord's Church in Britain and the world would have a significant influence and friend in the highest courts of power across the globe.

A day of internal decoration today - where will today's gospel inviting and sharing opportunities come? :-)