What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • The Cure

    Over the past few weeks, I’ve not been terribly well. Bronchitis was the doctor’s diagnosis and it has gone on and on.

    I thought it might be helpful to share the advice that I’ve been given in order to get better. After all, it could happen to you.

    • paracetamol
    • lemsip
    • going to the doctor
    • cough medicine
    • reflexology
    • vicks vapour rub
    • steroid inhaler
    • steaming
    • aromatherapy
    • eating oranges
    • look after yourself
    • steam room at the Arlington baths
    • don’t use the steam room at the Arlington baths
    • go out in the fresh air
    • stay in
    • decongestant
    • garlic
    • orange juice
    • vitamin C tablets
    • multivitamins
    • menthol crystals
    • staying under the duvet
    • making sure you don’t get too hot
    • opening the windows
    • going to Millport for three months
    • make sure you’re getting proper food
    • look after yourself
    • watch the television
    • don’t just watch the television
    • lots of vegetables
    • the triduum
    • incense
    • tea-tree oil
    • fasting
    • antibiotics
    • more antibiotics
    • sleep
    • rest
    • jakeman’s throat sweets
    • fisherman’s friends
    • hot tea
    • honey in your tea
    • manuka honey
    • lots of hot drinks
    • let it take its course
    • steamy showers
    • a bit of sun
    • go to the doctor again
    • you must go to the doctor again
    • stay off work
    • just take another week being kind to yourself
    • hot toddies
    • whisky
    • chocolate

    I presume, as I am still sneezing and coughing that I’ve missed something. No doubt someone will helpfully give me some further advice.

     

    , ,

9 responses to “Turning Up and Being Counted”

  1. Lesley-Ann craddock Avatar
    Lesley-Ann craddock

    Thank you Kelvin
    What a read, I really enjoyed it, all of it. You have touched on the 3 things that I too have been wrestling with.
    Liturgy , turning up to be counted, and being open and real with our peers and counterparts.
    Hmmm I wonder if those aspects of being church in this post pandemic implosion of society will somehow be a catalyst to become braver clergy and have proper discussions about what matters to Gods church in its own context. Can we be diverse and not divided, can we lock into our heritage and yet be able to change too. Can Branson pickle save us. X

    Reply
  2. Christine McIntosh Avatar
    Christine McIntosh

    Great stuff, Kelvin!

    Reply
  3. Robert MacDonald Avatar
    Robert MacDonald

    Good points well made. We find some church members, who organise a community lunch on a Wednesday, then regularly say ‘we won’t make it on Sunday’. Seems the wrong way round – attendance on a Sunday should come first.

    Reply
  4. Peggy Brewer Avatar
    Peggy Brewer

    Reading this made my day and contributes to my celebration of the season! Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Calum Wyllie Avatar
    Calum Wyllie

    Reading this, I feel like it could have been written about me. I couldn’t have been more deeply involved with my church (felt deeply rooted in the weekly liturgy, sat on the PCC, led on diversity and inclusion, set up online streaming for the first time during lockdown), yet I haven’t been back in two years. There is definitely an element of that link of continuity having been broken, and it’s up to me to make the effort to reforge it again. But the anger is also real, and hard to pin down. When somewhere no longer feels like home, when you feel excluded (even when that person was responsible for leading on inclusion!), how do you find the courage to return? When the link with spirituality feels more present in other places (even when I used to absolutely value liturgy, the Eucharist, the community), how do you find a way forward? Too much thinking, and not enough getting on and doing, perhaps…

    Reply
  6. Meg Rosenfeld Avatar
    Meg Rosenfeld

    Wow–this article is not only thought-provoking, and, to someone who’s a church-goer, extremely easy to identify with, but also entertaining and therefore all the more memorable. As one whose parish church (in San Francisco’s notorious Haight Ashbury neighborhood) nowadays gets about 15 people in the congregation on a “good” day, I do often wonder whether we’re ever going to bounce back from this expletive-deleted pandemic. Personally, I have no choice: I am, on the aforementioned good day, 50% of the alto section, and on other days, 100% thereof. All you folks out there don’t know what you’re missing–except, of course, those of you who are watching on your home computers.

    Reply
  7. Father Ron Smith Avatar
    Father Ron Smith

    Well said, Kelvin Perhaps we clergy don’t stress enough the fact that the Host at our worship is not the clergy, but the Incarnate Son of God; who empowers us to the extent that we are willing to be empowered for daily life and work. I still think of that lovely phrase “Turn towards HIM and be radiant”. What a thrill!

    Reply
  8. Kennedy fraser Avatar
    Kennedy fraser

    Yes,I still wonder if we have counted all those spiritual communions

    Reply
  9. John Davies Avatar
    John Davies

    My church (suburban, evangelical Anglican in Birmingham, UK) took a long time to really recover from the lockdown and subsequent fears, but seems to be close to its pre-shutdown numbers again. What my wife and I noticed was that for quite some time the congregation was largely made up of its elderly members – ie those who are not perhaps so nifty with the electronic gadgetry of our age and, also, those who most wanted company. Younger families took a lot longer to return, but are now coming out of the woodwork again.
    One interesting point is that my old church reported a big increase in deaf people watching their zoom or youtube services, because one of the congregation provided signage at the front. Their new found audience felt greatly enabled to join in when they may otherwise never have done so. Is this something worth thinking more about?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Gene Robinson's Sermon

    Gene Robinson’s Sermon can be seen and heard here. Note that a higher quality video will be published later in the week. I thought it more important to get something out fast rather than to go for high quality. (I’m having trouble hearing it when viewing it in firefox but can see it in internet…

  • Sunday Afternoon – and relax

    What a fantastic morning we had at St Mary’s. A few glum looking protesters stood outside the church bearing hateful banners whilst hundreds streamed into the warmth and light of the morning Eucharist. In many ways, it was business as normal. A larger crowd than normal, but it was us being who we are at…

  • Scotsman Article

    I’ve an opinion piece in the Scotsman this morning on why I invited +Gene Robinson to come to St Mary’s. It is available on their website. Or here – text below. ——————- THE bishops of the Anglican Communion are all gathered at Canterbury this weekend. It is the last weekend of the Lambeth Conference, the…

  • Help needed

    At the moment, I think that St Mary’s is one of the most exciting churches in the UK. This year, we’re meeting people like John Bell, James MacMillan, Richard Coles and Gene Robinson. (Did I mention that +Gene is here on Sunday?). We are also having exciting happenings like the art installations called Stations of…