GadgetVicar

Swedish National Day

I've just celebated the Swedish National Day with the group from Tranemo that's been residing in the hall over the weekend. Much hand-over-heart singing and flag waving. They also gave me a Swedish/English New Testament so that next time I visit, my Swedish is improved. Knowing "fika" and "tack" is not enough apparently......

I still think Billy Connolly's suggestion of a national anthem to the tune of "The Archer's" is an excellent one.

Frozen

I enjoyed a lovely Christmas at church, then out for dinner and good company. However, all that was followed by the realisation that the rectory had no water. It's likely to be a frozen pipe from the mains to the house, in which case all I can do is wait for the thaw to kick in. Toilets are getting 'interesting', but I managed a shower at a friend's yesterday. Thinking that I'll need to scrounge water from other friends if this continues much longer. I've been on the phone to British Gas who maintain and repair this stuff for us, but can't get a reply (currently been hanging on the phone for ninety minutes without being answered). I suspect there is nothing they can do anyway, but I need to try. I was supposed to have dinner guests yesterday but put them off until today. I'm now thinking that I'll have to postpone again.

This experience has given me a deeper appreciation of that which we take for granted in this country: the immediate availability of clean water. Too many people in the world don't have that, and while these last few days without water have been difficult for me, it's an everyday circumstance for so many.   

What Goes Around Comes Around

Long term readers might remember that this blog had a run in with the person in the following news story. Sounds like one or two of his 'victims' have decided to thoroughly check him out and have uncovered a little bit more than he would have bargained for........Mr Mackie is in my prayers.

Full story here and more detail here.

'Honeypot' photographer admits benefit fraud

A photographer, who sued anyone using his images for breach of copyright, has admitted to fraudulently claiming £24,000 in benefits at the same time.

According to The Herald, photographer Alan Mackie raised 30 civil actions against companies which used his images, while also receiving £24,368.31 in benefits that he was not entitled too.

During the hearing at Ayr Sheriff Court yesterday, depute fiscal Erin Campbell, who was prosecuting Mackie, claimed that several witnesses spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions, which launched an investigation following an anonymous tip-off into Mackie’s work.

One witness claimed that Mackie attempted to sue his company for £3,000 for using his images, describing the photographers tactics as a ‘honeypot’ in which people would use the images from the website, not realising that they were doing anything wrong.

Mackie eventually received a lesser amount in compensation.

Sentence following Mackie’s admission of receiving benefits fraudulently, was deferred for reports by Sheriff Desmond Leslie.

When It All Goes A Bit Pete Tong

Why is it that when we decide to look at the question in next Sunday's evening meeting,  "What Can I do  When It All Goes Wrong?", I have a week when that is exactly what seems to be happening?

Here's the catalogue of errors (so far):

Sunday - I get a call while travelling on the ferry from Arran. The electrics are off and there is no internet access in church.

Monday - We can't logon to the administration account on the church computer. When we do get in, all files from the last two+ years have mysteriously vanished. "Surely there is a backup?", you say. " Of course.....there isn't!", I reply. IT backup now instituted.

Wednesday - I arrange to leave my mobile on so that if a sick friend needs company in hospital in the middle of the night, they can get hold of me. I switch my phone on when I get home on Tuesday night, but forget it is set to vibrate. Several unanswered calls and texts await me at 6am when I wake up. My masterplan failed and I feel miserable.

This was followed by me dropping my mobile on the new hard floor of the gents toilets at St Silas'. A smashed screen is the result. The phone still works, but I get little shards of glass on my fingers an face when I use it. It's insured though......er, no, it's not because I forgot to tell my bank that I'd changed it. Time for a new phone perhaps?

On the way home from a hospital visit, I found a driving licence and credit card on the grass, so, as a good citizen should, off I went to Partick Police Station to hand them in. I'd noticed a car with it's rear window smashed in in the car park of the hospital when I visited yesterday, and I'm sure the photo on the driver's licence was the same woman who stood by that car. The civilian staff member at the police station took forever to get round to me doing my civic duty. I guess the budget cuts are already hitting the police service.

That's it. The only solution is for me to bunker down for the rest of the week in the hope that nothing else can go wrong.

Friend

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" (Proverbs 17:17).

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24).

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6).

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).

Because I've had to literally put my feet up because of this infection, I've been thinking about a few things. One of them is friendship. I've had lots of friends to stay while I've been struggling, and it's been great to walk and talk with them, sometimes long into the night. Sometimes to simply sit together and watch a movie. Eating together. Laughing a lot. Swapping stories of events in our lives since last we met.

I met Gary while I was in Jerusalem a few years ago. We stayed in the same hotel, and I think we met over a meal, and simply hit it off. I think it was an Australian/Scottish humour thing that made it happen, quietly joking at each other's expense, which we could only do because we liked each other. On our last day in Israel, we drove down to Masada in my hire car. Turns out we'd both wanted to do this for a long time. We roasted in the heat as we wandered around this empty mountaintop fortress, but we were both moved by the awesome history of this place, where the outlines of the first century Roman siege encampments can still be seen from the heights. Sometimes friendships are formed in shared experiences like that. We shared a similar experience on Saturday, when a friend recommended visiting another hilltop fortress, Dumbarton Castle. It reminded us of our first meeting, as we wandered around another place steeped in history. I sang him the words of  'O Flower of Scotland' as we stood beneath the flag of St Andrew on the hilltop and we laughed uproariously together.

We need real friends, even those of us who are introverts (my own company is simply the best company I know!). Not Facebook 'friends' - I think they should be changed to 'acquaintances', surely? There is a running gag in last week's episode of the Radio 4 show, The Secret World, in which Rowan Williams wants to hang out with the other bishops because he has no friends (available on iPlayer until Thursday 4th August 2010).

Mike and Helen visited overnight last night. I 've known them a lot longer. Mike was one of those who put me up to apply for the St Silas' job (he has much to answer for). He has counseled, listened, enthused, challenged and laughed with me through the years and nothing much has changed there. I'm grateful for a whole bunch of people in my life who have done that for so long. That's been especially precious to me over the last few years, when things have been so very difficult and painful. At times, I have felt utterly lost and alone. Even though people have been there for me, the sense of isolation and estrangement has been at times almost overwhelming. Yet friends have fed me, made sure I've taken exercise, had fun, got some sleep and above all ensured that I have not given up. GV Bro, Houston, Jennifer, Philip, Ali, Ruth and many others have all played their part, and I am reminded of the power that friendship has to change us.

Jesus has a thing about friendship  - 'I have called you friends' (John 15:15). In Luke's gospel, Jesus talks about friends all of the time. I'm guessing that his friends mean a lot to him. He got upset when they died or got things wrong. He loved eating with them (a lot). I can't imagine those were boring dinner parties or that everyone sat around in complete and reverent silence. I'd bet that there was alot of laughter and a bit of winding one another up as friends tend to do. We don't always get a sense of this, but I think it's great fun to be around Jesus and his friends. And I'm invited.

But friendship works both ways: to have a friend means to be a friend. I'm watching as people love their sick friends to health. The kindnesses large and small, that make hard times a little more bearable. The weeping with one another that means pain and sorrow is shared. The laughing together bringing glimpses of joy. It all fills me with a sense of hope. And I pray that we will be a church that allows new friendships to form. Where the cynics and the hard-hearted will have those aspects of their lives melted away by love. In order to do so, they'll have to let love in, be vulnerable and give of themselves to others.

New friendships do come our way. Sometimes very unexpectedly. We may be taken by a surprise that will overjoy us. We'll have to make room for new friendships to grow. There might be risk and even doubt. I've experienced all of that myself over the last few years. Even now, I'm feeling exactly that. Yet, I know there is adventure, excitement and real possibilities in getting to know new people.

I hope I am a good friend to those I gratefully count as my friends.

Quizzed

Last year I took part in the ACCA Glasgow quiz. The team of which I was part ('Houston's Ayreheads') came third after I failed to get the tiebreaker right ('When was sliced bread first intoduced to the UK?').

This year we tied for first place after leading for most of the competition. We failed to name any of the five cocktails for one set of questions, which put us in a tiebreak question again, this time for first place. 'How many steps does the Eiffel Tower have?'. I avoided being the person to answer this time, our captain boldly guessing, 'None'. No conferring. We failed and came second.  Next year?

National Prayer Breakfast Scotland

I left home at 5am this morning to hook up with some of the board and staff of Glasgow City Mission. We were travelling together to the Hilton at Haymarket in Edinburgh for the National Prayer Breakfast. It was good to see some old friends, and though the format was a bit staid for my taste, nonetheless it was poignant to pray together for the military, their families and the nation in general. All the more poignant as events in Cumbria unfolded this afternoon. I've just begun reading Pete Greig's 'God On Mute' which trys to deal with the silence of unanswered prayer. It's an appropriate read for such a time.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, was at the next table, as were Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Annabel Goldie, and the Moderator of the General Assembly. I was glad I wore a suit! I was still wearing  it at the Gibson Street Gala meeting later in the day. The manager of one of our local coffee emporia, Offshore, was amazed at this sight.

General Sir Richard Dannatt GCB CBE MC (Chief of the General Staff 2006-2009) was the main speaker, and a fascinating one at that. He shared his personal testimony of his walk with Christ, and gave an excellent presentation on good leadership and leaders' failings. He twice mentioned Radislav Krstić's loss of moral compass when he was ordered to kill over eight thousand muslim men and boys in 1995. Dannatt saw the realisation of that failure in Krstić's face as he was sentenced in 2001. A stark reminder of the need for leaders to keep the moral high ground, even at the cost of one's own life. 

I was reminded again that 'Obedience to God, Commitment to Christ and Openess to the Holy Spirit' are key attributes of Christian leaders. I needed to hear that and was much encouraged by the main speaker's contribution. He had much to say about the state of the nation and the need for Christians to reassert with confidence the contribution that Christ brings to any society which embraces Him.

I laughed when he described how Sandhurst is designed to strip away everything a young potential officer was in order to rebuild them in to what the army needs them to be (I believe this involves quite  a lot of something known as beasting). That sounds just like many experiences of Coates Hall (the defunct Theological College of the Scottish Episcopal Church), only without enough of the rebuilding bit!

It was a very worthwhile morning which I'll need to reflect on a lot more.

Pulled Over

Never, ever, having been stopped by the police, on Friday night I got pulled over in Seamill twice within a couple of hundred yards! I'd been drinking soft drinks all night, so there wasn't a problem - the officers were courteous throughout, and appeared to suss straight away that I was telling the truth.

I am pleased they are out there doing their job, and trying to keep the streets a bit safer this Christmas.

Translate

This story reminds me of an incident when I was a young curate serving in centre of Edinburgh. Having just delivered a sermon, I was greeted on the door by a very posh English lady, who praised my oration with the following, "Lovely sermon, vicar. The trouble is, I couldn't understand a word of it. You really ought to do something about that awful accent!". My response, once I'd counted to ten, was to say as cheerily as I could, "I think you'll find that many people in Scotland speak with a Scottish accent. Perhaps you could learn the language too?". A bit strong perhaps, and on reflection I should have just taken it on the chin, but in my hearing, she never again complained about the Scots accent.

Sorted, Sort Of

Tax Return sent to our very patient accountant just in time for the 31st January deadline. Note to self: this year I will get the return done and dusted before the summer. Good news is that the Inland Revenue owes me money.

Car MOT and service was carried out on Tuesday. Cheaper than I thought. Unfortunately a warning light came on this afternoon while I was ferrying some senior church members to Strathblane for communion. Phoned garage. "You'll need to bring it in". Dropped off the ladies. Went to garage. Spoke to car salesman about changing the car. Butters me up by saying I look too young to have a thirteen year old daughter. He's even more impressed when I tell him we have an eighteen year old too. I'm not buying his flannel. Talk about God, or rather, his grannie's faith. Then tried to persuade me to get a Mazda 3 MPS ("It's cheap!"). This car can bring about catastrophic global warming all on its own. What he considers cheap isn't to me. I'm not buying that flannel, either. Finally gets a quote for a small car. Still too much.  Will need to think twice about getting a new Mazda. Get my car back. Turns out the technician had forgotten to reset a counter when the service was done on Tuesday. I've not been impressed with Mazda's servicing over the years. Time to change make after six years of running a Mazda?