Todays
mass cleanups - whose turnout probably exceeds those of the riots by a large margin - have been inspiring. The #
riotcleanup and @riotcleanup tags on Twitter have been humming, and when the BBC interviewed a vicar in Ealing earlier today she said that many of the would-be-cleaners had been sent home because there was nothing left for them to do, such was the volume of help.
In the battle for the soul of England, the brooms have come out in force against the bricks. Those who wash the feet of their community will always be the winners. Even more credit goes to those who wash the feet of their community even when it isn't 24 hour news or a trending topic on Twitter. Maybe there'll be more people like that now.
The positive reactions shown by so many in the mass clean-ups is certainly encouraging and I hope will be reassuring and give hope to people living in the areas that are most affected by recent riots. But it's easy to respond to a on-off call when a situation is in the news of trending on Twitter. It's the longer term longer engagement with the often unnoticed side of community building and caring for one another that is hard - pray for me willing to be like that for the long haul.
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