• How were my Predictions last year?

    Time to check out how I did with the predictions I made on New Year’s Day 2024.

    1  General Election in UK – Labour landslide. PM – Sir Keir Starmer. (No great change in policies from the Tory government that Labour will replace).

    Yes – fulfilled in every way.

    2  US politics will continue to be dominated by Donald Trump

    Yes

    3  In the US Presidential election in November there will be victory for the Republican Party.

    Yes

    4  AI/Deepfakes have a significant effect in electoral politics.

    Not really – AI/Deepfakes are present but there’s no real evidence that they swung any particular election

    5  Conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine unresolved by end of 2024.

    Alas Yes

    6  No progress for those wanting marriage equality in the Church of England.

    Alas Yes

    7  Twitter goes bust or is sold or both.

    Not quite. Twitter feels pretty wounded but still Xists.

    8  The world will be warmer in 2024 than ever before.

    Yes

    9  Another country will join Nato.

    Yes, Sweden in March.

    A new agreement is reached between the UK and Greece on the Elgin/Parthenon Marbles that opens the door for at least some of them to be displayed in Athens.

    Close but no cigar.

     

    Not a bad year – 7 direct hits with a few misses.

3 responses to “Thuribles of the week”

  1. Stewart Avatar

    The comments by JN1034 are very interesting especially considering the practice I observed in Hong Kong – see http://bonnyton.fotopic.net/p39681149.html

  2. JN1034 Avatar

    V Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, dear sibling in Christ: Thank you for bestowing upon us your esteemed Theological Thurible Award, albeit we’re far from worthy. Though we’re overcome by surprise of your kindness and gratitude, we hope that which we caused you to ponder are good things, all to the glory of the Triune One and of God’s gods. Considering that censing is a multi-millennia-old religious convention, we’ve a deep appreciation of thuribles in our shared traditions, and for their practical mystical expressions in the daily lives of the faithful. Censing marks our homes and families, our weeks and years, our lives and hearts, our Church and God. Censing is a constant element of our histories imprinting a sensual memory of the life of the whole incarnate Church, both at home and in our parishes. When we smell it in our local parishes, our olfactory senses read the aroma as homemade; everything connects; nothing in our world seems detached from God and from us; we transcend spacetime and the universe is one at that fragrant ephemeral instant. And if we smell incense in another’s home, or at a different parish, it all comes together as an unified moment, and we are home wherever we are. We pray God continues to bless you with grace and mercy as you lead your community at St Mary’s Cathedral. Remember us in your prayers. Yours in the shared service of Christ our Lord, JN1034+++

  3. Kirstin Avatar

    Angels and thuribles, that reminds me, I have a rescue to plan. I wonder if my daughter left any camouflage paint!

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Conversion Therapy and why I can’t join calls for it to be banned

    There’s a huge new initiative launched today which brings hundreds of faith leaders together to “affirm and celebrate the dignity of all, independent of a person’s sexuality, gender expression and gender identity”. It is quite an achievement to get so many people from different traditions to sign up and publicly identify themselves with that cause.…

  • Every Eucharist is a Virtual Eucharist

    Every Eucharist is a virtual Eucharist. Of course it is. We know this. We experience this. We forget this. Christianity – at least the bits of Christianity that are worth taking seriously – takes time and space so seriously that it knows that the particular cannot ever express the ultimate. Indeed, time and space are…

  • Daily Prayer – New Life, The Spirit

    Here are the files needed to say Daily Prayer this week. New Life – The Spirit New Life the Spirit – Evening Prayer – Whole Week Compline in Eastertide Kalendar for March – June 2020