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Good morning. The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong continue for yet another day with the protesters demanding the right to vote in 2017 for a candidate of their own choice as Hong Kong’s leader whilst the Chinese authorities demand that they vet and approve all the candidates standing for election. Principles of democracy and public order overlap and perhaps conflict. But at the very heart of Hong Kong is this overlap, for the constitution which created it in 1997 devised one country two systems. It seems that China is now putting more of the emphasis on the one country above that of the two systems, whilst the protesters are determined to preserve the democracy enshrined in the two systems. Hong Kong has always been a place of overlaps. I remember in the early nineties attending a church convention there and sitting next to a churchwarden who was a prominent business man. He told me that he had several factories on the Chinese mainland because wages there were lower and the workers didn’t take any holidays. “They must have at least some time off each week”, I said, “No” he replied, “What would they do with it?” It made me wonder whether his Christian principles had had much effect on his approach to business. Well, hopefully his approach to business is rather more enlightened now. Certainly the economy of Hong Kong is booming and the Chinese authorities will have this in mind as they determine how to react to the protests. It’s not only the economy which is doing well in Hong Kong, religious life is also vibrant and again one comes across some creative overlaps. I still have on my desk a badge from a Christian Community there. It shows the normal symbol of Christianity, the cross, the sign of both violence and self-giving love, but it’s placed at the heart of one of the symbols of Buddhism, the lotus flower, rooted in the dark mud at the bottom of a pond, yet floating on the surface of the water and opening out in the sunlight to be a thing of beauty and enlightenment. What an intriguing and creative overlap coming from the heart of Hong Kong’s religious life, self-giving love rooted in everyday life and enlightenment open to the strength and beauty of the universe but of course this all has to be worked out practically in relationships between churches, Buddhist communities and wider society. Hopefully the overlap of democratic ideals and the traditional Chinese desire for good public order might be equally creative in the long term, just now the streets of Hong Kong are where the experiment is being tested.