Church: as garden, park, glen and meadow…

Against such there is no law…

Consumption 2- Advent conspiracy…

Happy Birthday Emily!
My lovely daughter is 14. 14! We had a lovely day- a lazy breakfast, followed by present opening and telephone thanking. Then lunch out, followed by an afternoon of friends and a house full of teenage girls for the evening party. Emily had a ‘masquerade’ party- everyone wore masks, and played a version of charades called ‘masquerade’. Then [...]

From the ferry…
Yesterday we took a trip over the Clyde. It is a very ordinary trip to us- we do it all the time. We go to the bottom of our drive, turn left and after about 200 yards, there is the terminal. The rhythm of the ferries in their back and forward battle with the tides is the [...]

Advent arrives…
So, today is the first day of Advent. It is also Emily’s birthday! (More on that later!) As part of my journey through Advent, I am going to use a comic-book-calendar version of the nativity, by the wonderful Si Smith (see here for 40, more of his art.) The calendar is available for download from Proost- here, along [...]

Asylums, churches, and the retreat of the institution…
I was in Lochgilphead today, with a series of meetings- including one at Argyll and Bute hospital. The building dates from 1862, and is one of the very few Victorian ‘lunatic asylums’ still in use today. Lovely old building it might be, but it is a total anachronism. Built to house hundreds of patients from all [...]

Weakness…
In her beautiful response to this piece, Aileen reminded me of the following verse But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s [...]