• Jesus – the Angry Religious Man

    Here’s what I said in the pulpit yesterday for Lent 3

    Sermon preached by Kelvin Holdsworth on 8 March 2015 from St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow on Vimeo.

    The door opened. That door at the back, with its annoying squeak. And I looked up and immediately I was afraid.

    I saw someone come in and knew that I needed to do something and do it quickly.

    I checked the clock and took off my headphones.

    Either I needed to shout at everyone to evacuate the building or I had to try to do something myself.

    I looked around and decided to walk forward and try to distract him and see what happened.

    We were about to do a Radio Broadcast. A live radio broadcast and the clock was, well, not ticking because things like that need to be silent when we are recording, but the clock was moving inexorably towards 8.10 and the moment when the red light would go on and I would say, “Good morning and welcome to St Mary’s Cathedral in the City of Glasgow, a city that is still in shock.”

    It was the day after the terrorist attack at Glasgow airport. Transport systems were in a mess. The airport was completely locked down and roads were closed all over the place. People couldn’t fly into Scotland. There was transport chaos and the police still didn’t know how many other people were at large who intended harm.

    And that door right there opened right before an advertised liver broadcast and someone unexpected came in. Someone whom I didn’t know.

    And in that instant I saw a stereotype walk into the cathedral. He was young and rather swarthy looking. I later discovered that he was indeed just back from Libya and he looked like it.

    A thin white scarf around him. Khaki camouflage clothes. And a backpack.

    It was the backpack that worried me most as I walked towards him.

    Hello I said, welcome to St Mary’s.

    These are the words that I use when I think someone is about to blow me and the cathedral up.

    Hello, welcome to St Mary’s.

    Hello, he said.

    There was a pause as I looked him up and down and he did the same to me.

    Do you mind telling me, I asked – do you mind telling me what’s in the backpack. (more…)

8 responses to “Glasgow Rain”

  1. Stewart Avatar

    This is only a passing shower – the real rain is still to come 🙂

    Great for filling my water butts though!!

  2. Ruth Avatar

    No, according to the papers today it is to be scorchio on Thursday – 82 degrees or something similar. Oh no, sorry, that would be everywhere else in Britain apart from the West Coast. sorry!

  3. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Yup.

  4. Pamela Murphy Avatar
    Pamela Murphy

    It was even worse down in Greenock last night. The nights really are fair drawing in now!!

  5. mysterious stranger Avatar
    mysterious stranger

    I really like the new look ,especially the pictures on the page headers very arty.Unfortunately I am one of the rare breed that use Macs.OOOPS!I can see the title of your daily blogs but no text appears.I can even post a comment.

    I am able to access the site by PC as well so I can catch up but I thought I’d better let you know.

    Rain has reached us fueled by a vicious South Easterly gale.

  6. Stewart Avatar

    Left Glasgow Airport at 9am this morning in torrential rain. The sun is currently shining in Gloucester (@4:45pm) – now was there not a nursery rhyme about a Doctor going to Gloucester in a shower of rain?

  7. Brian Avatar
    Brian

    (Very) Reverend rainmaker.
    The rain seems to have coincided with an upsurge in the number of native American musicians in the city centre, although I think last year some of them were playing ‘The Flight of the Condor’ and claiming to be from Peru.

  8. Howard Avatar
    Howard

    You’ve seen nothing like the weather in the Isle of Man in the last 48 hours. Storm force and severe storm force gales and torrential rain have forced ferries to be cancelled, and there is more severe weather forecast for tonight. It prevented us from visiting the adjacent island (England) today.

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