• Let’s hear it for Our Lady. (And for J Paul Getty)

    Let’s hear it for our Lady on this the Feast of the Assumption. Here’s a gorgous pic of her being crowned in heaven.

    Our Lady

    And, let’s hear it for the J Paul Getty museum which has just decided to make a very significant collection of images, including the one above, available under an Open Content Programme. That means that the images are available in high quality for you to do what you like with. They are free at the point of delivery, just like healthcare.

    The religious pics are fabulous and are crying out for use in blogs, courses, Lent and Holy Week programmes, Christmas Carol Service brochures and all kinds of things.

    The picture above is a Coronation of the Virgin from Willem Vrelant, a Flemish illuminator who produced it sometimes around the 1460s. More about it here.

    All hail Our Lady, Queen of Heaven.

    All hail J Paul Getty for sharing her with us today.

11 responses to “We drink from our own wells”

  1. fr dougal Avatar
    fr dougal

    Excellent! 1st class – wanna be Bishop of Edinburgh?

    1. kelvin Avatar

      So far as I can ascertain, almost everyone wants to be Bishop of Edinburgh.

  2. Kimberly Avatar

    except you, I should think.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      I love what I do. The job of being bishop of anywhere seems to me to be far more grim than most people realise.

  3. fr dougal Avatar
    fr dougal

    Yes, I always think the Bishop’s theme song ought to be “naebuddy loves, awbuddy hates me, think Ah’m gauuny eat worms!”

  4. Joe Avatar

    You took a chance that day Kelvin and it paid off for the good. As a gay man brought up in the RC Church, when I was 17 and very confused I thought that my church and God hated me because of my sexuality (obviously not my choice). I was actually told at that age by a priest in Glasgow that I would go to hell if I had sex with my then lover. I’ve seen many suicides over the years because of the fact that some people I knew could not reconcile their religion with their sexuality. Note I said religion not faith. The God I have a relationship with loves me as I am, whether human beings who claim to know better than me what he thinks of me condemn me does’nt bother me. I’ll let God judge not them.

  5. Stew Avatar
    Stew

    Fine line between drawing from one’s own well and ignoring all the other wells. Quite often I get the feeling that some people believe everything they need, all of the raw materials, are within and I can imagine that too much faith in one’s own well is the cause of much wayward preaching also. I hope that this lesson, which I am sure worked well in your case, would not become a maxim for general teaching and preaching,
    without some safety clauses…. Have I misunderstood?

    1. kelvin Avatar

      Well, Stew, perhaps you have misunderstood, I’m not sure.

      I wasn’t talking about what is necessary and sufficient for salvation, if that’s what you are worried about.

  6. ryan Avatar
    ryan

    Great post!
    Stew: Is the very existence of legitimate ” other wells” not, in and of itself, an argument against the dichotomies and simplistic certainties of the One True Well good old bad old days? I read much of the post as tracing the realisation that “neutral” readings are no such thing, and that the wells of teachers and human authorities are no more (or, of course, less) intrinsically real than our wells. The passage beginning ” I had drunk from” suggests someone adding to their knowledge of wells – not exchanging one set of wells for a single well, and therefore choosing a literally less well-informed world view ;-). Although even that would be a significant experience as other people’s experiences with their own wells might not be things they could usefully communicate to others. The blog post IMHO traces an expansion of (not just) knowledge, the opposite of diminuition from a wider to a smaller view. Although maintaining safety around wells is of course important 😉

  7. Ruth Avatar
    Ruth

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mabroccoli/5578370888/in/stream

    When the sermon was over, he dived round the back, hoping to catch you as you left the laptop. I’m delighted that I’m still reaching a feline audience.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      Thanks Ruth – very good.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Having Kept the Feast

    Last night’s service was absolutely beautiful. I’ve never heard the Duruflé Requiem live before and it was tremendous celebrating the Eucharist with all that going on. For me one of the most moving bits comes early in the Kyrie. I love the Sanctus too though it sounds as though the angels are singing their holy,…

  • Keeping the Feast

    It is All Souls Day – the Day of the Dead. The main celebration (and it always is a celebration) here is a full choral requiem (Duruflé) at 7.30 pm this evening. Gentle beauty. Strong memories. Powerful reflections. Black vestments. On this day, we remember by name in prayer those who have died. Never a…

  • Sheilagh Kesting

    Congratulations to Sheilagh Kesting. It was announced yesterday that she will become the next moderator of the Church of Scotland. Sheilagh has a passionate commitment to working ecumenically – she believes it more than most these days. No doubt that will be one of the key features of her moderatorial year. How delighted they must…

  • Playing on the MP3 Player

    Here is the playlist from the MP3 player for today’s trip to Edinburgh… (in no particular order of precedence) 1 – Tammy Wynette – Stand by your man 2 – Folk och Rackere – Stjärnhästen [Fond memories of Sweden in December]. 3 – Zelenka – Missa dei Patris 4 – Runrig – Heartland 5 –…