• Christmas Day Sermon 2012

    Many of you will be aware that I recently have returned from a big sabbatical trip to churches in Canada and the United States.

    I was there to learn and reflect and grow and I did that by making contact with the most interesting folk I could find in church life on the other side of the North Atlantic.

    Inevitably I spent quite a lot of time poking around churches over there and coming from this cathedral, I was interested in what cathedrals over there were up to.

    Which is how I found myself in the National Cathedral in Washington DC just a day or two after the American Election in November.

    It is a mighty building. Far bigger than we are but when I saw it, it was not looking its best. Still recovering from an earthquake which wobbled all its stonework, they have netting strung all across the nave to catch falling fragments. So you stand in this enormous church unable to look up and appreciate the great spaces.

    Unable to look up, instead I went down. For underneath the nave is a maze of twisty passages which lead (more…)

6 responses to “10 10”

  1. PamB Avatar
    PamB

    Ahh, a pulley. I love my pulley – the authentic sound of the Scottish tenement is the screech of a laden pulley being hauled upwards. Connects me with my foremothers just like knitting with fore (sp. deliberate) needles does.
    BTW, did you know that the Norwegian for vacuum cleaner is stoorsooker (sp. conjectural)

  2. David | Dah•veed Avatar
    David | Dah•veed

    So the condensing boiler, which I assume is to heat your home, also has instant hot water? Or how does that work?

    We have an old 100 L tank-style water heater, but I have been thinking of getting one of the new Japanese instant tankless heaters. They only work with natural gas or LP.

    1. kelvin Avatar

      Yes – boiler uses gas, which is piped into the house, to heat water for radiators and (almost) instant hot water for taps too.

      I don’t know how it works. I’m just grateful.

      The graph above includes both gas and electricity.

  3. ryan Avatar
    ryan

    Pulleys? I always assumed, perhaps unrealistically, that there’s some kind of centralised clerical dry cleaners, who take care of vestments, altar cloths,dog collars, liturgically-accurate black socks, etc etc 😉

  4. chris Avatar

    Remember to remove the clean clothes before you cook anything smelly! What about a wee rope outside? Hang the washing out?

  5. Zebadee Avatar
    Zebadee

    Your grandmothers and great grandmothers had a pulley. Why has it taken you so long to realise the benifits? It will also help you with the keep fit programme

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Conference yet again

    Yes, I know that you don’t want to hear any more about the conference. There is nothing more boring than people going on and on about a conference to people who were not at it. (SEC21, I am talking about you!) But indulge me a moment. This is what I have submitted to the Scottish…

  • Muddled links sorted

    I've sorted out the links in yesterday's post. They got mangled as I tried to enter them in a hurry. Both books recommended for anyone trying to understand what o­n earth is going o­n in the minds of those who tinker with liturgy.

  • New Book

    A treat. Richard Giles has another book out – Creating Uncommon Worship. It does for the liturgy what Re-pitching the Tent did for Church Buildings. It is deliciously caustic, wise and very funny and there are lots of pictures. Here is a taster (on whether or not to sing the Collect of the Day): “There…

  • Sunday's sermon

    In response to a comment by e-mail – no, the sermon posted o­n the website is not quite what I preached o­n Sunday. I had written it before going away o­n Thursday last week and before the Russian school atrocity.