Bright and Shiny New Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway (photo by Gordon Smith)

High Jinks, Holy Days, Consecration, Celebration and Community

This past week (and more) has been a time of great preparation for Saint George’s Day (yesterday - Friday) and for tomorrow (Sunday). If you are a Church singer-person, a church-flower-arranger-person, a church-server/steward/organist/cleaner/administrator-person, or any other variety of person-in-the-pew-type-person, you may well have insight and understanding of this phenomenon of preparation for a Notable Church Event. The best ones see church folk exploring concepts of community – AND still speaking to each other - as they wield mops, dusters, polish and glass cleaner to ensure clean and sparkling surroundings, whilst administrator-persons type Drafts 1 – 10 of the Order of Service, negotiate the many minefields of ticket allocation, and arrange marquees, seating and coat hangers, and senior clergy meantime dream nightmares of Everything Being Other Than Ideal, and pass sleepless nights planning processions.

Yesterday the Scottish Episcopal Church was adding a new member to our College of Bishops, drawing clergy and others from not only our local diocese of Glasgow and Galloway, but from all over Scotland and – despite the best efforts of a certain volcano in Iceland – a few visitors managed to arrive from across the seas as well to join the gathering.

A Local was wielding his camera, and has produced a most creditable collection of photographs of the proceedings, which you can find here.

The High Jinks continued today as ChickPea weeded and re-arranged pots, and TH heroically wrestled with the lawnmower to achieve the first cut of the season (anyone able to recommend a small but reliable lawn mower ? – our current machine needs to be pensioned off to the Local Dump........).

Tomorrow evening we look forward to welcoming singers from around the diocese to a collective Choral Evensong for further Celebration to welcome Gregor as Bishop. 

Do join us at 6.30pm for the service – you, too, will be most welcome.

Going.......... going............ GONE

Got up.  Got dressed. Walking around the house – all well. Chooks n chores – all well.  Nothing much amiss. 

No giveaways.

Halfway into the quarter of a mile walk to work  (ie. Absolutely NOWHERE for retreat or modification of arrangements).......  slight technical hitch....... oooops............. VPL heading steadily southwards.......... re-arrange jacket in hopes of a modicum of disguise.........

BUT - even wearing trousers, VPL has somehow reached midthigh.......... (and still all day to get through........... would ‘going commando’ really be worse ? ......... dunno - there’s years and years and YEARS of conditioning to get through before I could address, let alone explore that one........)

QUESTION: How come lingerie just ..... kinda gives up........ lets go...........no warning whatsoever.............

I guess it’s an age thing........... (another one)

Going.......... going............ GONE !

Got up.  Got dressed. Walking around the house – all well. Chooks n chores – all well.  Nothing much amiss. 

No giveaways.

Halfway into the quarter of a mile walk to work  (ie. Absolutely NOWHERE for retreat or modification of arrangements).......  slight technical hitch....... oooops............. VPL heading steadily southwards.......... re-arrange jacket in hopes of a modicum of disguise.........

BUT - even wearing trousers, VPL has somehow reached midthigh.......... (and still all day to get through........... would ‘going commando’ really be worse ? ......... dunno - there’s years and years and YEARS of conditioning to get through before I could address, let alone explore that one........)

QUESTION: How come lingerie just ..... kinda gives up........ lets go...........no warning whatsoever.............

I guess it’s an age thing........... (another one)

5am

ChickPea has inadvertently joined the ranks of the under-sleeping these past many weeks. With frequent spells of similar over the previous months into years. If you too are caught in this scenario of AWAKE at some early hour, with Sleep happening to Others who you have no wish to awaken, then you have all my sympathy, empathy and commiserations.
   

Leaving your bed runs both the likelihood of becoming SO awake yourself that there’s no chance at all of getting back to sleep, as well as the risk of Awakening Others. However, if you have a bedfellow, staying in bed may similarly run that risk of Awakening Another as you re-arrange pillows/sleeping position/duvet/check the clock/etc...........
     

Gaining Insight into this scenario is a compensation, I guess, enabling greater understanding of the burdens of others.
   

The Feline Thing That Goes Bump In The Night has cottoned on to this timetable and appears about 5.30am for a little company (probably hoping that TODAY may perhaps Be The Day For An Extra Breakfast)... 
   

Concentration for prayer is somewhat absent. 
   

Recalling others in the blogging fraternity who share in this experience may perhaps reach out some support.
   

I suppose ironing in another part of the house is always an option........
   

And, of course, by the time the alarm finally sounds, sleep is tantalizingly close, so actually getting up for the day is no easier than if you have only just awoken.
   

But, however you look at it, this is not – currently - an ideal start to a day, nor conducive to cheerful outgoing self-projection, nor to positive working relationships........
   

Anyway....... have a good day. x

And now Sunday 18th............eveningtime......

Fascinating programme on TV just now about historical maps – some, despite exceeding age, being astonishingly accurate when compared with today’s editions.  Wow !

Tired.  Very tired.  Lots of singing this weekend, away from the home patch all day yesterday, then on usual duties on home territory today; not enough sunshine, and seriously depleted sleep Friday night/Saturday morning - a police helicopter hovering overhead from somewhere around 3am until about 4.20am  (because of a local Incident) dragging us to some semblance of consciousness from the Land of Nod for the duration, and for some (much too much) time after.  

Managed a couple of hours’ work in the garden this afternoon, energy levels seriously lacking.  Grass now growing rapidly, so will have to engage with the lawn mower sooner than had been expected.  With the new Bishop’s Consecration now sprinting into view for Friday, I guess the grass will achieve somewhat of a head start on me again this year, unless the chooks manage to trash the lawn as thoroughly as they did last year.......... Two out of the four of them managed to get away through to the next door neighbour’s garden this afternoon – luckily they remembered how scrummy tinned sweetcorn tastes, so were lured back home without undue incident.

Now you know how exciting my life is, you’ll understand why blogging has been a little sparse recently.  

Thank you for visiting – Live Long And Prosper  (as Mr Spock would say).  x

Sunday 11th

Cor..................SUNSHINE.........BLUE SKY.............not a cloud in sight............and so warm we needed the fan on in the conservatory – a friend told me that it was warmer here in Glasgow today than in Athens................. cor................

Maybe the SADs will depart for a while.............. (That’d be good).

Hope today has been a good one for you, and that tomorrow will be better. Loadsaluv, x

This week....

Some weeks are good/great/grand/positive.  But sadly, not all.  Such is the way of it, and it seems to me, such is The Real World Much Of The Time. 

And such we need to learn to live in, and - somehow -  flourish within, and in which find ways to support, tend and nurture each other for the common good.  If there IS any ‘Meaning Of Life’, then I think this is it.  Someone Else, a few years back, phrased it as “Love the Lord Thy God, Love your neighbour, and Love yourself.” (hmmmn........ look where it got him.......).

But if the ‘Christian’ thing has any relevance, substance or purpose, then this must surely be inextricably  fused into the centre and distilled essence of my life.  Acceptance of Harsh Reality.  Love, Care and Concern for all around.  Some people may understand this in a very localised way to the people they encounter, others may embrace a more ‘wide world’ concept inclusive of All Things – four footed, feathered, ‘creeping upon the earth’ or growing within it.

Such details of a person’s faith need to be distilled, decided and determined by the individual concerned.

So, in dealing with the daily trials, tribulations and running sores of life, where is a feasible starting point ?

“What Did Jesus Do ?” is sometimes a difficult answer to discern from what we have written upon the printed page.  Hence the various interpretations held in thrall by different traditions, which any one person needs to investigate and maybe challenge in seeking their own answers.

“What Would Jesus Do (Here And Now, With Present Understanding And Resources) ?” is an even trickier question.

“Pray” is probably a most valid answer to both questions, and is probably the most unexplored and most unused solution to Everyday Trials And Tribulations in most lives.  It may seem facile, trite even, but yet it still seems to be the answer facing ChickPea, and any subsequent result still seems to be ever one step beyond reach.

I wonder – did the disciples manage to pray and hold fast to faith through those initial days after what we now celebrate as ‘Easter’ ?   Each of them must have felt so bereft, so very empty.

What we do know is that they met together for mutual support.  Truly, ‘Love, Care and Concern’ in action.

Aye, I guess it does it for me.

Easter Monday

Dull, wet and cold. Internal atmosphere in sync. The morning after the night before.

This has been an excellent Easter at the Cathedral.

All the pomp, ceremony and fine music making from which the Episcopalian tradition takes such inspiration and delight; all the angst, confusion, bustle and conflict that today’s interpretation of Liturgy seeks to encompass in order to encourage the gathered community to engage in the deeper aspects of the proceedings; and all the preparation, effort and application that are required to make all this happen.

Of course, each of us can pick at the whole to find faults and shortcomings – we’re all exceedingly accomplished critics, enjoy engaging our heads in dissection of each service that we have attended, as well as a few that we didn’t, and staunchly both exercise and defend this right of critique...... ‘This was too long’. ‘That was too disorganized’. Something else ‘lacked solemnity’.....'had too much waiting around' or was 'too simplistic'.....

All are excellent defences guaranteed to distract our attention from perceiving the essential truths and personal inspirations which are ALSO available.

The hens are out, seeking Tasties. Nothing escapes attention. Everything can be turned over, pecked at, dug into, or otherwise investigated in depth. Try it and see if it’s good. (Who knows what you might find ?)

All it takes is a little positive attention and focus.

New Fire of Easter 2010 (photo: Gordon Smith)

Easter Greetings.......

Sorting Socks..........

One of the delights of a life NOT working as a clinician in a busy city hospital, is waking up on a Good Friday morning, and knowing that you do not have to go in to work. That you can have a bit of a lie in listening to the radio, a relaxed breakfast, a few hours of ‘morning’, and then the option of attending the 3 hours’ service. After working with the NHS for 28 years non-stop, this awareness still arrives with surprise, and a certain degree of pleasure.

This year, an unexpected phonecall both gave great pleasure and resulted in an earlier breakfast than anticipated. Thereafter, the Gathering Of Household Chores were clamouring for attention.

So it was that the Sorting Of Socks became paramount.

CLEAN socks can be disciplined in a drawer, resting - but ready for immediate action. After wearing, amassing socks awaiting communal cleansing can be hidden away – discreetly - in a laundry basket. Clean but damp socks will be found festooning the best drying areas available, until adequate dehydration has been accomplished.

The next bit is where the process dawdles. Serried ranks, sock upon sock, shoulder to shoulder, of multitudinous vintage, sex. patternation and colour need to be re-united with a twin........which MUST be there..........SOMEWHERE........

However you tackle it, there is a need to Sort Socks. Maybe you sort them as you hang them to dry. Or pair them up as you take them down. Or take them down in a heap and sit in the sunshine Sorting Socks.

In the early days of the ChickPea/TH household, TH found Christmas to be A Time Of Socks. Seasonal Santa Socks, and the like joining and re-invigorating the party on a regular basis. (Such Socks may not be ‘cool’ in the office, but they brighten up a dull morning when you’re hanging up socks to dry, and make ‘pairing up’ a doddle). After several years of easy Christmas shopping for ChickPea, TH put the foot down and Such Socks Seest – sorry, ceased.

Hence, drowning in the mire of Sorting Socks, ChickPea overlooked both the little hand AND the big hand reaching 12 on Good Friday, so crept in late to the 3 hour service. Woops.........

(We’ll need to track down some of these racy numbers with patterned heels and toes that were out and about at the Foot Washing on Maundy Thursday).