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Good morning. After a long period of uncertainty, and a shorter period of inevitability, Hilary Clinton has become the Democrat’s official candidate for the Presidency. With Angela Merkel as Chancellor in Berlin, and Theresa May as PM in Downing Street, the proverbial glass ceiling for women is certainly being cracked. The symbolism of the successes of these women is doubtless important – as Hilary Clinton suggested when she held up her success as inspirational for the next generation. But there are, of course, very many women in whose lives aspirations for such high political office do not realistically figure, and whose concerns are rather more mundane. I was struck by a Report from the Pensions Policy Institute, published yesterday, and sponsored by Age UK, looking at recent regulations which mean that by 2028, men and women will receive state pensions only at the age of 67. The good news is that it is increased life expectancy which has put pressure on the pensions system, and has led to the need for change – but when you consider that it is those with the least opportunities in life who are most likely to need to start work at 16, and more likely to experience poor health as they get into their late fifties and early sixties, a blanket change risks not only unfairness, but real hardship. And since it is women who very often in our society carry the burdens of caring for the sick, the risk of particular hardship for women is especially acute. The Old Testament has a very telling tale about one such carer – Ruth. Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, has lost a husband and two sons – but even in a time of famine, Ruth, rather than striking out on her own, decides to support her bereaved mother in law. To do so she is reduced to gleaning – going along the edge of harvested fields, hoping to find a few ears of grain which have been overlooked. Ruth is the heroine of this story, with her loyalty and fidelity – but Boaz, in whose field she gleans, is also held up to our regard. Knowing something of the story of these two, he not merely permits the gleaning, but guarantees its success. He tells his labourers – ‘let some handfuls fall on purpose, and leave them that she may gather them up’. It’s a great story, but a pity that in a patriarchal society, these two women needed a man, Boaz, to step in on their behalf. Hilary Clinton’s success is a cause for celebration, since women may now occupy the positions of authority and power from which they can themselves address and rectify the world’s problems – including making fair and sympathetic provision for all those women who, like Ruth, take on the heavy responsibilities of care.