What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Sermon preached on 4 August 2013

    I used to work in a church with murals. Well one mural. It wasn’t this church and it wasn’t these glorious murals. It was somewhere else entirely.

    (By which I mean Edinburgh).

    Throughout the late fifties, the sixties and early seventies, a sustained period of liturgical reform had happened. The altar had been pulled away from the wall. The priest now faced the people. The peace was shared and communion started to happen every Sunday. Those of you who have been around for a bit might remember that story from all kinds of contexts. Those who are new to Episcopal worship might be surprised to learn that how we do things is not in fact as old as the hills at all.

    Anyway, these liturgical reforms in this church had left a big space to fill. Somewhere along the way, the East Window had been bricked up and whitewashed over and now there was a giant wall to fill.

    And, of course, just as we can be sure that someone was heartily trying to encourage the congregation to sing Kum By Yah. so, inevitably, someone got to paint a mural.

    Unlike Gwyneth Leech’s paintings, which surround me here in this church. this was a rather less successful piece. (more…)

    , ,

4 responses to “How to be Single at Christmas – repost”

  1. Stephen C Avatar
    Stephen C

    What wise stuff!

    Reply
  2. Jackie Heatlie Avatar
    Jackie Heatlie

    How wonderful it sounds – no- one to cook for etc, just pleasing yourself. I’ll take a leaf out of your book & set aside a day when Andrew & I can do this with a slight alteration so 2 of us can do it.

    Reply
  3. Dharma Avatar
    Dharma

    To be with yourself at Christmas is one of those things that most people avoid. Probably because they have been told that they must be with family, friends. Otherwise they are people who have no families etc. I’m not sure what I will do yet. Going to stay with my mum and brother is OK. What I don’t like is the food, overcooked or cold or something. Anyway will post afterwards, might be just was alone. Possibly arrested for attacking someone. 😊

    Reply
  4. Suzette van Rooyen Avatar
    Suzette van Rooyen

    Inspirational writing! Love it, and its just what I’ve done for Christmas. Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Previous Posts

  • World Record Evensong

    Turnout last night at Evensong was thought to be a world record around here for modern times. There were 119 people present, though 5 did leave when they discovered there was no sermon. My hunch is that they were looking for St Silas Church and were perplexed by the exquisite offering of music by Purcell,…

  • The Convent #2

    Watched The Convent again tonight on BBC2. Liked the nun dancing the incense around the chapel during a Magnificat. (Which was to the tune of the Wild Mountain Thyme if my ears did not deceive me).I’m impressed with the nuns from Arundel – they are a good advert for what they do, but then most…

  • Theatre Chaplain

    I discovered just recently that I seem to be the chaplain of one of Glasgow’s theatres. (I’ll refrain from saying which one until I’ve made more personal contact).What fun.