What is in Kelvin's Head?

Christmas in St Mary’s (with a twist at the end)

17/12/2022

Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, and there is perhaps no better place to experience the magic of the season than at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church. With its stunning architecture and rich history, this beautiful space offers a truly special and meaningful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

One of the highlights of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the music. The cathedral’s choir is known for their beautiful voices and their ability to bring the festive carols to life. The church also features a grand organ, which adds a sense of grandeur and majesty to the service. Whether you’re a fan of traditional carols or more modern hymns, you’re sure to be moved by the beautiful music at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Another highlight of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the sense of history and tradition. The cathedral dates back to the 19th century and is known for its stunning Gothic architecture. The service itself is filled with rich traditions, such as the lighting of the Advent wreath and the reading of the Christmas story from the Bible. These traditions help to create a sense of awe and wonder that is so fitting for the holiday season.

But perhaps the most special aspect of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the sense of community and togetherness. As people from all walks of life come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, there is a feeling of unity and love that is truly special. Whether you’re a lifelong member of the cathedral or a newcomer to the community, you’ll feel welcome and included in the celebration.

In short, Christmas services at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church are a truly special and meaningful way to celebrate the holiday season. With their beautiful music, rich traditions, and sense of community, these services offer a chance to experience the magic and wonder of Christmas in a truly special and meaningful way.

If you’ve made it through this blog post this far and you have a slight sense that there’s something odd about it the you’d be correct. The post above, not in italics wasn’t written by me. It was written by a machine – specifically the ChatGPT bot that has recently been released to the world. You tell it what you want it to write and it does it.

This one was generated by the prompt, “Write a blog post about how wonderful Christmas services are at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church”.

Now, it doesn’t sound quite like me and it isn’t the most exciting writing there is. Perhaps it is even slightly stilted. But it is a fairly convincing attempt at the problem I gave it to do.

This technology is going to make all things new. Academia in particular is going to have to change very quickly in the way it assesses students.

This is disruptive technology. It can be used to do funny things – I could just have easily got it to write the above post in the voice of Donald Trump.

Thus: “Let me tell you, folks, this place is amazing. The music is absolutely incredible, with the choir singing all of your favorite carols in the most beautiful way. And the organ! Wow, what a sound. It’s truly something to behold…”

But this isn’t just entertainment. It is something completely and utterly new. Nothing you ever read again comes with a guarantee that it was written by a human being.

The world is changed. As someone once sent with a telegraph key, “What hath God wrought”?

12 responses to “Christians and Jews in Holy Week”

FakePete

31/03/2015

Very good piece. Often we overlook the fact that so much anti-Semitism comes from liberals and the left.

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1. Jo
  
  01/04/2015
  
  I’ve moved in left-wing circles for a long time and I don’t think I’ve encountered much by way of anti-Semitism. Not saying there isn’t any but I don’t recognise your “so much”.
  
  Reply
  1. fakepete
    
    01/04/2015
    
    I don’t know what your FB stream is like but during the Gaza conflict – wow, my leftie friends went into meltdown talking of neocon cabals, the cult of bankers, they spoke of excessive influence of Israel on US foreign policy and they got much angrier about Israeli bombs killing Gazans than anyone got when the UK was killing people in Iraq. I was shocked.
    
    Reply
    1. Kelvin
      
      01/04/2015
      
      Just to note that this isn’t a post about Israel or Gaza and that the leap from speaking about the experience of being Jewish to current Middle East politics is part of the problem I’m highlighting.
      
      Reply
margaret of the sea of galilee

01/04/2015

First of all, well done on the spelling of “supersessionist”! (“s” not “c” since you go back to the French/Latin)
Seriously…excellent writing and perfect timing
Come over for a visit and we’ll show you modern Judaism up close. As well as a cute wee Church of Scotland and a lovely piece of water. Oh yes…and where Jesus was too!

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Marion

01/04/2015

Thank you. Just, thank you. (And I’ll see you Good Friday)

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Gordon

01/04/2015

Have a look at http://www.keshercourse.co.uk/
An increasing number of evangelicals are celebrating Jewish festivals and imitating Jewish practices or even styling themselves as “messianic jews” even though they are not of jewish birth.
What do jews make of this? Is it not a wee bit insulting or maybe imitation is the best form of flattery?

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1. Tim
  
  01/04/2015
  
  How would we feel about practising Jews deciding to make a Last Supper of their Passover meal?
  
  I’m normally wary of taking offence on others’ behalf, and it has been said that Christian supersessionism need not denigrate Judaism (David Novak, via wikipedia). But how do I know what flavour of supersessionism my neighbour or leader understands?
  
  The bishops’ guidelines at the start of http://rcdow.org.uk/att/files/faith/catechesis/eucharist/passoverguidelines.pdf seem not unreasonable, “In all events, Christians should take every care to ensure that the correct Jewish ritual is followed and that the Seder be respected in its full integrity”.
  
  Reply
  1. Kelvin
    
    01/04/2015
    
    I think that, in the same way that in our tradition, Christian ritual demands that it is conducted by Christians (and licensed ones at that), …
    
    Reply
Kelvin

02/04/2015

Just to note that I’m allowing comments on this post that are relevant to this post, which is about Christianity and Judaism and how Christians and Jews relate at this time of the year. I’m filtering out all off-topic comments about modern Middle Eastern politics.

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1. FakePete
  
  02/04/2015
  
  I understand and support your desire and right to keep things on topic but I’d personally be interested to read those even if not in this particular thread.
  
  Reply
Elizabeth

03/04/2015

Thanks for posting this. I didn’t know that Scottish Jews were feeling more unsafe, that is troubling news indeed and all the more reason to think and talk about this kind of thing. I think it’s important for Christians to understand the history of anti-Jewish violence around Holy Week and Easter, as distressing as it is. It’s a good week to read Adrienne Rich’s ‘Yom Kippur 1984’ (I wanted to include a quote but can only wish to include the whole thing – so please, everyone go read it http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/240472 )

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