It Was On a Wednesday Morning …

the bishop came to call.

Bishop Gregor has dedicated himself to visiting all the churches in his diocese and spending a day with them, out with what would be the usual times when the Bishop came a-calling.  Yesterday was All Saints and St Andrew’s turn.

We began with the usual Wednesday morning Eucharist at All Saints, I say usual but in reality it was far from usual as the numbers were considerably up on usual.  We were slightly late in starting due to the Bishop’s car and the Church gate post also wanting to meet up, no damage done though.  Then coffee and cakes along with some chat, a flying visit to the MU before heading off to St Andrew’s were the ladies did us proud for a spot of lunch, (soup, quiche and salad) with a visit to Friendship House.

Back in the car and off to visit one of the House Groups where we both saw Isaiah’s calling in the new light of prayer, then another quick cup of coffee and more cake before we headed off to do a hospital visit.

What fun we had not many hospital visits are filled with so many laughs, ‘G’ who we were visiting is a hoot at the best of times and her quick wit and antics have been keeping everyone in the ward amused.  We also discovered in one of those ‘small world moments’ that ‘M’ in the bed beside her lives just across the road from the Rectory.

Who says fun can’t last we headed back to Bearsden for a Wednesday Sunday School and lots more fun.  It might be Lent but due to the timing of school holidays a decision had been made to preview Easter.  The Bishop made himself a new Pectoral Cross

after very diligently colouring an egg which will reappear in the great Easter Egg rolling competition that All Saints have each year.  While the children reveled at having a bishop among them, trying on his ring and questioning him about all manner of things.  Pizza followed, not sure what the delivery guy thought was going on, before the children headed hone and more adults arrived for the evening entertainment of a quiz.

While the Bishop won the quiz (although I don’t think he should have got a bonus point for knowing his own name), the gold star should go to ‘C’ for knowing exactly how many Munros there are.  Meanwhile ‘M’ and I got slightly confused and somehow ended up giving the same answer to about four questions, I blame the medication – mine not hers!

Thanks go to all those who made the day such a great one, Bishop Gregor certainly enjoyed himself.

(I should have taken my camera along to record the day, but I didn’t so sorry there is only one very poor picture taken with a mobile phone.)

The Annunciation

Tags

Liturgical Seasons, stained glass

Hurrah for Wakefield

While up here in the Scottish Episcopal Church we have been mastering the art of sitting on the fence and not taking a vote on the Anglican Covenant itself, Thinking Anglicans today reports that Wakefield Diocese have said no to it.

I don’t care if it is Lent Alleluia I say, Alleluia.

 

Benedicite Omnia Opera

Tags

Daniel, Religion

In the fiery furnace they sang out, they praised the Lord because amidst the danger of the flames God was.  The whole of creation blessing the Lord because all of it is in God’s care.

All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord;
Praise God and magnify God forever!
You angels of the Lord, bless the Lord;
Praise God and magnify God forever!
You heavens, bless the Lord;
You waters above the Firmament, bless the Lord;
You powers of the Lord, bless the Lord;
You sun and moon, bless the Lord;
You stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
You showers and dews, bless the Lord;
You winds of God, bless the Lord;
You fire and heat, bless the Lord;
You winter and summer, bless the Lord;
You dews and frost, bless the Lord;
You frost and cold, bless the Lord;
You ice and snow, bless the Lord;
You nights and days, bless the Lord;
You light and darkness, bless the Lord;
You lightning and clouds, bless the Lord;
Praise Him and magnify Him forever!
Let the earth bless the Lord;
Praise God and magnify God forever!
You mountains and hills, bless the Lord;
All you green things that grow on the earth, bless the Lord;
You wells, bless the Lord;
You seas and floods, bless the Lord;
You whales and all who move in the waters, bless the Lord;
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
All you beasts and cattle, bless the Lord;
All you children of mortals, bless the Lord;
Praise God and magnify God forever!
You people of God, bless the Lord;
You priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;
You servants of the Lord, bless the Lord;
You spirits and souls of the righteous, bless the Lord;
You pure and humble of heart, bless the Lord;
Ananias, Azarias and Misael, bless the Lord;
Praise God and magnify God forever!

Today as I think of the beauty that God sees and we sometimes miss.  I give thanks for the beauty of the wind and rain, the ice and snow, the frost and cold that along with me is part of God’s wonderful world.

Beauty from the Very Beginning to the Very End

Tags

graves disease, Liturgical Seasons, Psalms

After yesterday’s post I thought I should follow my own advice and remember the beauty that surrounds and is within me.

I am starting Lent this year unwell, which is highly unusually for me as my virtually non-existent doctors notes testify.  A collection of niggly things that have been around for a while all decided to appear at once which, along with some nagging, meant that the one trip to the doctor to shut people up has now become a twice weekly trip as medication stabilises and more tests are done.

You may be wondering where the beauty is in a sick body, well despite how old and decrepid this body of mine might get, it is still part of the wonder and beauty of God’s creation.  As one of my favorite psalms, 139, says:

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb.   I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!  Body and soul, I am marvelously made!   I worship in adoration—what a creation!   You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.  Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.

verses 13-16 – The Message

So today I am remembering the beauty of how wonderfully I am made – even when everything isn’t working quite as it should.

The Beauty of Lent

Tags

Liturgical Seasons

It may be a bit late this year, but Lent is now finally upon us, those forty days when we are often urged to look beneath our surfaces and find the horrors that are lurking there so we can chase them out and be miraculously more ready for Easter, than if we had left them buried and forgotten.

Now I am not saying that there isn’t a place for confession and noting those things which we haven’t got quite right and addressing them because I firmly believe that there is.  The old saying ‘confession is good for the soul’ is loaded with truth for when we confess our souls are lightened from bearing the burden of remorse, or revenge or bitterness, that we all too easily carry around.  While God rejoices in the good confession does for us, we are sadly mistaken if we think that confessing means God loves us more.  If it did, it would also mean that God’s love is conditional and shows partiality, which it doesn’t.  God loves us not despite our failings but regardless of them, God loves the beauty and promise that is within us.

Amidst all the harrowing pictures to come out of New Zealand after their devastating earthquake came this one:

The quake was such that some icebergs toppled over in the Tasman Lake.  Instead of the dirty side of the iceberg which we often see we see the beauty which is usually beneath the water.

Inside each of us, maybe deep inside but there nevertheless, is beauty and this Lent I would urge you to instead of seeking out your failings (which you are probably all too aware of and should be dealing with each and every day of the year) to search for your beauty, your gifts and blessings which often go by unnoticed and unacknowledged.  So that we can rejoice on Easter Day not because we miserable sinners that have somehow still been saved, but because we have searched and seen the beauty within us that God sees and wants to save for eternity.

Into the Breach

There has been some hot keyboards in the province of late in the west on Kenny’s Blog  here and here and in the east on Ruth’s Blog here.

What has caused all these smoking keyboards you may ask, well Dr Elaine Cameron’s slot on the Provincial Gender Audit at the Glasgow and Galloway Synod.  I also attended said Synod and my feelings and conclusion on the presentation is below.

There were four recommendations that the Provincial Standing Committee had sent down for Diocesan attention, however Elaine spoke to the whole report.  The recommendations that were sent down are:-

• Recommendation 1:  That there should be greater equality of gender representation on Provincial Boards and committees. (passed to the dioceses as the dioceses appoint to the boards)
• Recommendation 2: That there should be greater equality of gender representation on diocesan committees.
• Recommendation 3: That there should be greater equality of representation of women on Cathedral Chapters and generally into senior clerical posts.
• Recommendation 7: That the annual congregational returns continue to reflect gender and that another gender audit be conducted in November 2012…

It would appear that Recommendation 1, 2 and 7 are inconsequential (although the last one might be dangerous – will it mean in the future we have to have equal numbers of males and females in our congregations?) as no discussion on them was made.  It was Recommendation 3 that on the day and since has become the talking point, maybe because that is the only one that refers to women directly, or maybe not.

Dr Elaine Cameron pointed out the difference in gender balance in both dioceses and the province, she pointed out areas were the gender balance wasn’t equal and were she felt posts were being filled by gender typing ie secretaries female, treasurers male.  She spoke of the need of equal opportunity and consideration to be given to both women and men.

Giving people equal opportunity and consideration isn’t positive discrimination it is exactly what we should be doing giving people consideration and opportunity regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation or any other force you choose to discriminate with.

There were several instances at our Synod that had I had the energy I would have challenged including the statement that was made on the Gender Audit that passed the buck onto the system!  An image of Pontius Pilate and a bowl of water sprang to mind.