You have to watch this clip through the cringe-making, right to the end. Could solve the problem of not enough priests though!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgmQM9cDPHk]
This week has been rather strange. On Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday, on Wednesday I thought it was Thursday, On Thursday I thought it was Friday and now it feels like the weekend.
Things will get better now that I am keeping a food points diary. Six days to go till the next weigh-on!
Took a trip over the hills to Inveraray yesterday – for lunch and a mooch about. It seems that many others had the same idea, so the atmosphere was quite festive. Not exactly the rush and bustle of Argyle Street in Glasgow, but a pleasant feeling all the same. It was made all the better by the sign outside the hotel. It was positioned next to a set of old-fashioned stocks and read – Don’t forget to pay your bill or you will spend the day in Inveraray jail. Despite the temptation, I paid the bill.
Indeed it was a typical New Year’s Day. Plenty of good food, a modicum of exercise, ( including Misty being mobbed by five large dogs during the walk,) a surfeit of chocolate and overdosing on festive TV. It must be back to a semblance of normality today. This twelve days of Christmas-tide is lasting an awful long time.
Many were the traditions in the days of my youth! The best of them being me as a ten-year old banging the front door letter-box in time with the ships hooting on the River Thames at Greenwich. Well……maybe not the best, but a significant memory nonetheless; it felt so daring. And all this was after the house had been thoroughly cleaned, curtains washed, ashes emptied from the fire and the hearth swept clean. Black bun (I don’t like it!) was consumed, along with a small glass of port and the windows were opened so that the Old Year could be let out and the New Year let in. These things must have deeply pagan roots!
So what happened in Dalamory last night? Was the house cleaned? – No, it can wait for another day. Were the curtains washed? – You must be joking. Was there any black bun? – Of course not; pay attention. Were the ashes emptied? – No, because there is no coal fire. As for the windows? – Well, I have to leave you guessing about something.
Happy New Year.
The last day of the year is an appropriate time to think about the meaning of things. (As I write that I feel a little like Pooh Bear.) Anyway, several people have spoken to me about this blog in the last few days. One person greeted me with the words that the blog had been missed. I am presuming that referred to the lack of daily postings. Someone else said that I reveal too many personal details herein. (ie the concern was about security both online and offline.) And another wanted to know why I had stopped writing in a way that would coerce people into wanting to read it.
Lots to think about then. And yes – I have been watching The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy so I am aware of the importance of the ultimate question about the meaning of life. I suppose the most important thing I have learned about writing is to simply do it. Splatt out words on a page (or a screen) even if they seem to be nothing more than a stream of consciousness. The trick to success with regard to blogging, I guess, is to make the assumption that of course people want to read it. But then I am left with the ultimate question about keeping a daily record of thoughts and doings and posting them online for anyone and everyone or no-one to see. Why do it? EM Forster said “Only connect” – (sorry I cannot remember when or where and google doesn’t want to play the game.) Ultimately, human beings want to be understood; we write to think about how we feel, or to know that we are not alone. And that is not so bad after all.
A good enough thought for Hogmanay.
Yes – I am still here. The silence over the Christmas Holiday merely signifies the term replete. In other words almost, but not quite too much turkey, cake, pudding, TV and alcohol. And as for church…….well there was nearly too much of that as well. But that is not a story for this blog!
Now it is time to rest up for Hogmanay.
Whenever I was preaching at this time of year I was always conscious of people who had experienced loss or sadness during the year. Balancing the joy of Christmas with the aching loneliness felt by many, required skills I did not have. I still do not have them. My only contribution is to hold all those I am in contact with in this world in the circle of God’s love. And that means all people, all races, all religions etc etc….
Surely that is the true meaning of the Incarnation.
Love in our midst.
Today in churches throughout the world, the focus will be on Mary, Joseph and the disgrace of an out of wedlock pregnancy. How apt that the lesson is to learn that doing the “right” thing, in the eyes of the world, is sometimes out of synch with God’s way.
Just a thought.
