Author: David

Another of those days of contrast.  Sailed into Llandaff Cathedral this morning as part of a flotilla [or should it be ‘scope’] of bishops to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Provoo Agreement.  Great sermon from the Archbishop of Uppsala.  He might have been preaching about the Hard Gospel and sectarianism – that if, we love in others only that which is like us, it is as if we look in a mirror … and God is able to love in us what is unlike him’  So feet on the ground back in Edinburgh.  Hands and knees in the car park to tape up the undershield of the car again and get home without it dragging on the ground.  And then home to where the oil has run out and the foolish virgins are firmly in control.   Poppy is consulting her union representative as the ambient temperature has fallen below required levels.  But carpets go down in the new house tomorrow so there is hope …

I’m at a meeting of church leaders as part of the development of the Porvoo Agreement. This links together the Anglican Churches of the British Isles with the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia. The meeting could have been in Copenhagan or Oslo … but it’s ‘Hello Cardiff’. At times it does sound rather like an ecclesiastical version of the Eurovision Song Contest. But, as always, these gatherings are fascinating. We all face similar problems. Some – particularly those funded by Church Tax – have resources beyond the dreams of the modest little SEC. But others, such as the Lithuanians, have far less than we do. What you learn is that you can’t put a price on faith, energy, creativity and commitment. And maybe, when it comes to churches, less is more.

All very well these gospel injunctions to ‘travel light’.  Moving house date is still moving about a bit in spite of heroic efforts of others and ourselves to tie it down.  Friday [7 days] now looks likely.  Today’s problem is that we are going to run out of central heating oil and pilgrim people need to keep warm.  Minimum delivery is 500 litres – if you want it by the bucketfull, forget it.  Jobsworth, health and safety …  Ponder wistfully the limited nature of internet shopping.  Could one not get 100 litres of oil as an attached file and download it straight into the tank?  The phone is now live so pilgrim people should soon be able to send and receive E Mail provided wireless network can be made to work in the new setting.

Must be something to do with my struggles in the snow on Sunday and Monday – or maybe my long-lived and long-running Passat is still coming to terms with the question I was recently asked, ‘Do you require accommodation for your driver?’ But both last night and the night before parts of the undershield banged down onto the road. Last night I ended up crawling around with a torch underneath the front of it on the hard shoulder of the M90 and then drove home the last 15 miles with it scraping on the ground – trying to avoid man-hole [inclusive language again!] covers which might rip it off finally. Thank you to my kind and friendly garage for sorting it out. Strange that one can view the Day of Judgement with relative equanimity but problems with car or internet connection count as a Major Crisis. Time to get things into proportion!

I spent yesterday in prison.  I go because prisons and prisoners are important.  And I go to learn about chaplaincy in the context of a prison.  I find it very hard to describe how I felt about this one.  It’s as if there are multiple strands.  There are dreadful crimes, multiple deprivation, people with a history of drug abuse, human misery in all its forms.  But there is also an institution which seems to work – there is obvious humanity and respect in the way in which it is run.  And the Chaplains have found that position which is what makes the role special – moving freely at every level and respected at every level; representing and modelling Christian faith but not prosletysing; not part of the ‘system’ but part of what makes it work as a community.  I spent some time looking for the origin of that quotation, ‘You can tell the state of a country by the state of its prisons’ but couldn’t find it.  I was very glad I went.  I also ponder the extraordinary nature of a job which allows me to visit a prison and Gleneagles Hotel in the same week …..

It’s the 10 Anniversary.  One of the events that you remember where you were when you heard.  I was sitting on the quayside in Belfast waiting to take my daughter to visit universities in England and Scotland.  My child – safe – with me.  One feels the need to mark and remember – but a desire not to trespass.  One of the parents said tonight that he hoped to ‘move on but not forget’.  That sounds very healthy to me.  People say that time heals – but I don’t really believe it.  Sometimes it makes the feelings of loss more acute and brings to the surface damage hidden at the time.  I visited the Cathedral just before Christmas – saw the memorial and was deeply moved by it.  Remember the families in your prayers

It’s as well my ‘appearance’ this morning with Sally Magnusson was sound only.  Having failed to make the studio in Stirling, I got off the road into a filling station at Dunblane and got stuck in the snow.  Did the interview while still stuck – is this a first?  Since I was – as it were – a foolish virgin who didn’t have a shovel, I bought a scoop from the rather astonished guy behind the till, dug myself out and carried on round the M9 and back across the Forth Bridge to Kirkaldy, where I arrived during the Offertory Hymn and changed from virtual to actual Bishop.  I am becoming concerned that this blogging thing is becoming fashionable.  This poses me two problems.  One is that the market is becoming crowded.  The other is the more serious issue that I have always believed that Christian faith is at its prophetic best when it is both unfashionable and counter-cultural.

Interesting day tomorrow – my second Diocesan Synod and on the first anniversary of my consecration as bishop.  It will be an interesting event.  For a small church, we have huge levels of involvement from some very able and committed people.  But I have to confess to some of the feelings which were brought on by the annual Easter General Vestry when I was a Rector.  I would tell everyone how important it was and how I hoped they would all be there – while secretly hoping that it would be the usual faithful 50 or 60.  Best sign of a contented parish – a big attendance usually meant trouble!  And ‘Any other Business’ was dangerous, dangerous …

A furry tap on the shoulder reminds me that Poppy, our Brown Burmese Cat, has not featured here for some time.  Her concern of the moment arises from a casual conversation which she overheard concerning our move to the new house [14 days].  In the context of peaceful, rural location, the word d*g was mentioned.  She needs to know that this agenda item has been shelved indefinitely.

On some of the more lofty areas of discussion which have featured here recently, she points out the following.  She is always ready to be worshipped – whether through Pray as you Go or otherwise.  She also experiences no difficulty with issues such as forgiveness.  Indeed, she carries no hatreds, bears no grudges, makes no judgements – except with regard to small birds outside the window.  Indeed, she suggests that it is humans, with all their false intellectual sophistication, who have the problems.

Spent today in Forfar.  I was wafting towards Coupar Angus on a tide of Scott Joplin Piano Rags –  Elite Syncopations with a wonderful stomping bass – and wondering whether I could get my MP3 playlist to reach Elgar Pomp and Circumstance with Land of Hope and Glory as I passed Glamis Castle where the Queen Mother grew up.  And then realised that I had forgotten Pray as you Go from the Jesuits.  Apart from a phone call in the middle, it was very good.  The lady doing the reading was rather good and gritty but the other voice was a little precious.  Which encouraged my mind to stray as it does to thinking about what kind of voice is best for leading worship – too little personality as bad as too much.  And so to Goldilocks and the search for what is ‘just right’.  And at the end of all that, I had a good day with our congregation – a little visiting of parishioners, a visit to one of the local schools and a visit to a factory.  It encourages me – I hope it encourages them too.