What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • While the shepherds at night were a-watching

    While the shepherds at night were a-watching
    Where their flocks in the fields were abiding
    Th’angel of the Lord came and stood down beside them
    Opened his mouth and then greatly surprised them:
    “Shine Jesus shine. Shine Jesus shine”
    [Chorus]

    Fear not said he for dread had seized them mightily
    Minds were troubled, they all worried frightfully
    I bring you tidings of gladness eternally
    Dance with joy and with me sing supernally…
    “Shine Jesus Shine. Shine Jesus Shine.
    [Chorus]

    Unto you is born now a saviour
    Who is Christ the Lord and he made you.
    He’s of David’s line, a descendent
    Sing now to him for his sign is transcendent:
    “Shine Jesus Shine. Shine Jesus Shine.”
    [Chorus]

    You shall find the heavenly babe there
    To human view he looks lovely and very fair
    All simply wrapped in bands that are swaddling
    Sing to the child in the manger, the Godling:
    “Shine Jesus Shine. Shine Jesus Shine”.
    [Chorus]

    Thus the angel spoke and suddenly
    Throngs of angels appeared singing utterly
    Beautiful music, their praises lasted long
    As they sang forth they repeated the glorious song:
    “Shine Jesus Shine. Shine Jesus Shine”
    [Chorus]

    “Glory be now to God in the highest
    Peace to God’s people” they sang without shyness
    Unto those upon whom his favour rests
    With goodwill, may this song be ever blessed:
    “Shine Jesus Shine. Shine Jesus Shine”
    [Chorus]

4 responses to “Politics of Pilgrimage”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Living in Ireland – at one time not too far from Knock – it always astonished me when driving through the village how those who had just visited the shrine seemed to think that it had made them invincible! They’d wander into the middle of the road and totally ignore the traffic streaming around them!

    A bottle of Knock holy water in the shape of Our Lady sits behind me as I type – next to a similar one from Lourdes and a knitted Orangeman bedecked with a collarette proclaiming him a member of LOL 1, Portadown! The juxtaposition is deliberate! (I wonder if + David has one on his shelves from the "support Drumcree" shop?!)

    Which leads to the question "How do holy water taps work?" – theologically, that is! What is blessed to make it holy? Is it the reservoir (but that is constantly replenished and so eventually, after being diluted for a long time, the water becomes "unholy". Is it the tap itself and the water is sanctified by passing through it?

    Discuss!

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Holy Water Taps
    Perhaps the water becomes holy when it is applied by the believer to the cat.

    Reply
  3. Joan Avatar
    Joan

    Holy water and questions about pilgrimage

    Hmmm, yes I can see the dilemma…I guess the female ordaindees (not a word really, apologies for my attack on the English language) are excluded – though would it be possible to construct a small al fresco altar and hold a ceremony of your own?  Pilgrimage places become so because people believe something, not just the ecclesiastical hierarchy, I think?  If we don’t go then it is like saying ‘ok, you have that site of devotion then’.  (Yikes I sound so serious, which I am, but I really do mean my statements to come out as questions…not commands.)

    As to the cat, holy water, and the believer – maybe  all the water is holy and we just think we play a role in making it so?  Alternatively, maybe the cat is the believer and the water is transformed through a great mysterious purr.

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    The Cat in Question
    As for the cat in question, she is not a believer as such. Rather, she thinks that she is the only proper object of veneration.

    Reply

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