The scene is a very busy bookshop. A bepigtailed elderwoman protagonist approaches the information desk. She pauses for a moment and then asks…
“Excuse me, Religion is…?”
Her bearded interlocutor pauses for a moment and then replies….
“Religion is in the gold room, just up the stairs.”
He pauses once again, and then asks, “Or were you looking for a more esoteric answer?”
One of the interesting things about choral evensong is that in some places it can seem like a living tradition that can speak to anyone, whereas in others it can appear to be dry as dust, pompous and irrelevant. What do you think the “method” is that produces a living choral evensong as opposed to an antiquarian one?
That’s a good question, Martin and I agree, it can be miserable.
I think that worship tends to take off when those planning it and organising and leading it care more about what we are doing when we worship than in the form in which we worship.
I suspect that Choral Evensong is not best led by liturgical, musical or prayer book fundamentalists or by those who happen to find this a way of encountering the holy.
A culture of offering the best we can be to God helps. Good relationships between musicians and clergy help. As usual, clear liturgical books in the hands of the faithful help. And whoever is leading needs not to be frightened of a bit of silence now and then amidst the music.
The horror in Iraq grows ever deeper. The photographs of Americans torturing Iraqis have sickened me to the core. That they were doing this in one of Saddam Hussain's old torture palaces has managed to lower the moral status of the continued conflict even further.Not only that, but each horror like this makes it harder…
I was asked today whether I was a nun, by someone on a skateboard.I'm not, of course.
Once upon a time, you never saw people who were both pregnant and presenting the weather forecast on BBC TV at the same time. Now you do. The world does change.
Can Tony Blair survive attacks such as the letter from former diplomats which he received today? It is hard to imagine anyone governing Britain without even the grudging support of the Establishment.
Leave a Reply