• Egrets? I’ve had a few

    image

    A few years ago something happened that set all the birdwatchers in the UK atwitter. A snowy egret blew in on an ill wind and landed on the island of Seil. I happened to be there at the time and saw it in the flesh. It looked more than a little lost and was probably wondering who turned the sun off.

    Recently I found myself on a beach in the Gulf of Mexico and lo, a snowy egret swooped in and landed right next to me just as I had my camera in my hand. That’s it in the pic above, looking a good deal more perky than its cousin who made it to Argyll.

    Proof that I’ve not spent every single day of the last few weeks chasing around the cathedrals, big churches and cool Episcopalians in North America.

    Almost, but not quite.

    Of which more later.

2 responses to “Cedric’s Sermon – 22 January”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Laughed a lot – thought it was bang on.

    I will say it again, though – in my experience no church ever grows unless it is offering a really good quality of worship and has an involved and welcoming congregation.

    Similarly, any church which cannot offer these is a disaster waiting to happen.

    But every shrinking church is not a church without these things, though too many are.

    Learning to look out, to ask ‘How can we serve others by offering what they truly need?’ is a good place to start. Asking: ‘What if God wanting here?’ is indispensable.

  2. Rosie Bates Avatar
    Rosie Bates

    Thank you so much Canon Cedric. Must admit to a touch of the spiritual glums last Sunday re the history of my personal stance in the Diocese of Oxford. Now you have me laughing all the way to the ‘bank of grace’ and the hope that lies within us.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Previous Posts

  • Psephology

    Do not read if you are of a nervous political disposition.So, Jody Dunn made it a near run thing in Hartlepool last night. She achieved a swing of 18%, which is very impressive.In Stirling, it would take a swing of about 16 % (Lab to Lib Dem) for a Liberal Democrat to take the seat. If…

  • Ordinations

    Several people I know have been ordained this week. Inevitably, it makes me think about my own ordinations, first to the diaconate and then to the priesthood. Tomorrow I’m going to Glasgow to a first Eucharist. No doubt I’ll be thinking of my own first mass. It was outside in the open air, in the…

  • Spiders

    Wallace, the largest spider in Caledonia seems to have come to the Rectory to make himself at home in my living room. Presumably he was encouraged in this by Bruce, the second largest spider in Caledonia, who has, for some time, been residing in the bathroom. I’ve told Tilly that spiders are her business and…

  • Sermon – 26 September 2004

    I did some work once, with someone who had a PhD in Hell. This always impressed me. Well, to be strictly accurate, I think that it was all about the effect that different forms of belief in hell make to the way Christian people go about caring for one another. And very interesting that idea…