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It has started to rain in Glasgow in a way I’ve not seen since moving here. Will it go on until May?

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a young provost who has taken up swimming once again must be in want of a pair of fine flipflops. But first, where does one buy flipflips at the end of the summer in Glasgow? I had to take advice from colleagues. The answer that was forthcoming was…

If I walk from home to work dressed in clerical attire, it is relatively common, especially when passing the outdoor smoking area of one of the pubs, for me to be assailed thus: “Hello Father! How are you Father? Nice to see you Father. Bye Father.” Today, the greeting was simply: “Salaam alaikum, Father. Salaam…

Open doors day in Glasgow – means a busy day with lots of visitors, I hope. St Mary’s is open from 10 until 2 on Saturday and then 10 until 5 on Sunday. If I’ve time, I want to visit a few other buildings around town and learn about other people and places too. Top…

Bishop Martin is blogging at http://followcolumba.blogspot.com/ Can there be another Province with a greater proportion of Blogging Bishops? An excellent development for the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles. Blogging was made for such as you. You cannot leave comments for +Martin unless you are a Blogger user, which seems a shame. We shall have…

Oh, thank you for asking. I’ve just finished reading Zadie Smith’s On Beauty which I enjoyed greatly. A more conventional read than either White Teeth or The Autograph Man but equally enjoyable. I’ve been picking up and mulling over John Selby Spong’s book Why Christianity Must Change or Die. I agree with much of the…

Just back from a meeting in Millport. Cumbrae was bedrowsled with mist. It must have been the Millport Country & Western Music festival last week, I think – or perhaps it is still on. The lampposts were bedecked with US and Confederacy flags. I can’t help but think that Millport is surreal enough without this.