GadgetVicar

Making The Most Of A Weekend Off

I've had a weekend off! That's something I've been really bad at doing, but then I "only work one day a week", so what have I got to complain about?

Only it wasn't really a weekend off, because yesterday I had the privilege of preaching at St Andrews University Chapel. I talked briefly about pursuing studies and research (referring to the Ig Nobel Awards) but then preached on Philippians 3:4b-14, focussing on our pursuit of Christ, who has pursued us. The new chaplain, Donald MacEwan, gave me a warm and friendly welcome as well as an excellent lunch. It was a joy to minister again in such a lovely place of worship, whose people continue to have such an orientation towards mission in the University.

I also managed to visit a few other places of historical interest: Castle Campbell (photograph on the right) in  Dollar Glen (it was once called "Castle Gloom", but it's a spectacular setting on any day), Loch Leven Castle (a boat trip and befriending a melanistic mutant pheasant were additional joys), Burleigh Castle (we got the keys on a second visit later in the afternoon which made it much more interesting),  Broughty Castle (a mixture of medieval, 19th, and 20th century architecture with some worthwhile art in the museum galleries), Arbroath Abbey (spectacular and peaceful) and Claypotts Castle (which we couldn't get into but we enjoyed nonetheless). I'm a member of Historic Scotland which makes the cost of visiting all these places such a bargain. I learn new things about our history with every visit.

I even endured the misery of watching England beat Scotland on Saturday, but the joy of the Irish victory before chapel on Sunday.

Added to all that was the joy of spending time with my oldest and dearest friends, whose counsel and hospitality I still benefit from after thirty years. It's a wonder that they've put up with me for so long.......

Returning to Glasgow last night, I enjoyed the lovely Nerina Pallot in concert at Oran Mor on Sunday night. She's got some good songs (she wrote Better Than Today, which Kylie Minogue covered) a great voice and has the most charming between-songs-banter I've ever heard.

A good weekend. I'd best get back to answering the emails that build up after three days away!

Portencross Castle

I spent a day off visiting castles. Dumbarton and Newark (Port Glasgow) were great, but it was the third castle we visited that made my day. Portencross holds special memories for me: my dad used to take me fishing from the pier there and I can remember finding a way to sneak into the ruined castle. Much to my delight, I recently discovered that a group of enthusiasts have managed to raise the funds necessary in order to restore and renovate the building. But I'd quite forgotten that the intention was to open the castle for the first time during the Spring school holidays, so it was fantastic to find it open and that we could climb up the tower. It's well worth a visit and it's a tremendous tribute to all those who have worked so hard to make it possible. Entry is free (though donations are appreciated) and the doors are open from 11am-4pm every day until the 17th April. Thereafter the plan is to open at weekends or by arrangement.

D37 - The Launch of HMS Duncan Today

 

Finding The Lost Battalions

I watched the Channel 4 documentary about the lives of the soldiers who died in the second battle of Fromelle in 1916, and who were buried with full miltary honours in a new war cemetery yesterday. Finding the Lost Battalions was very moving from the beginning, but the part I found most moving was discovery of pages of the Bible in the mass grave. Their owner had underlined many parts, so that he could return to them again and again. The underlined verse that was mentioned was this:

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6

I suppose in World War One, many more people had a living faith, and so were familiar with the Bible. Of course, after the war, many faced a crisis of faith in the face of the horrors they had experienced.

It reminded me of my cousin, an army sergeant-major who began corresponding with me on the eve of the first Gulf War. Some soldiers take comfort in spiritual things when they face combat.

The programme reminded to pray for those facing the terror of combat in Afghanistan and to pray that a peace can be found that will allow them to return safely.

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.

‘Pragmatic, comfortable and unobtrustive’ : Can the Church of England ever learn to evangelise?

A very helpful and thought provoking article on mission appears in Anvil. It's by the Revd Canon Dr Peter Williams. Though it refers to the Church of England, much of the contents might also apply to the Scottish Episcopal Church. It's been a helpful read, especially as the Diocese of Glasgow & Galloway prepares to call a new bishop.

The introduction explains the contents as follows:

In this article, Peter Williams reminds us that the Church of England is in serious decline and that the contemporary challenge is to evangelise or die. Despite recovering from a comparably dangerous position in the early nineteenth century, through spiritual renewal and structural changes, in the second half of the twentieth century it reversed the progress. He argues it now has to overcome four inhibitors to evangelism arising from its heritage and, as it seeks to develop new strategies for evangelism, highlights eleven missiological principles from the past and from the story of contemporary success in other parts of the world. To put this into practice he presents the case that evangelism should be episcopally facilitated but without tight episcopal and institutional controls because churches need to have the freedom to get on with their own visions in their distinctive cultural settings. A key question therefore is whether the institutional bureaucracy of the Church of England can allow evangelism to be central to its culture without centralising (and thus destroying) its direction, energy and purpose.

Read it all here.

Neville Chamberlain - Radio Broadcast - 3 Sept 1939

Aye, Right

In more news of a historical nature, it seems that the Holy Grail is to be found in the town of my birth, Kilwinning in Ayrshire. If it was the Dan Brown version, that might make me related by blood to.............

Ruby Murray

Chicken Tikka Masala is not a product of the mystical east. It's more of a fusion of the east and west (end). Apparently it was invented in the street where St Silas' building is situated - Park Road, Glasgow.

Valkyrie

Lunch with GV Boy today, followed by the rather excellent Valkyrie, which chronicles the July 20th 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. Tom Cruise plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, the severely wounded veteran who pulls together the plotters and takes action.

For me, there were many reminders of how little events can change history - if only the meeting was held in the usual concrete bunker rather the wooden commmand hut; if only the briefcase containing the bomb had not been moved behind the thick wooden leg of the conference table; if only the second bomb had been planted too; if only General Olbricht had moved to take over Berlin sooner following the assassination attempt.

It was in the wake of this failed attempt that Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in April 1945 along with several leading conspirators. Many senior figures in the resistance movement as well as their families suffered humiliating and cruel deaths as Hitler took revenge.

Faith plays a part in the movie. Stauffenberg, a devout Catholic, meets a colleague in what turns out to be a bombed out Catholic church. The cross around his neck is entwined with his wedding ring, which he can no longer wear on his hand because of his wounds. Loyalty and fidelity lie at the heart of this story. Should oaths to a person take precedence over a greater loyalty to the people or even to God?

The acting is superb with an ensemble cast of English actors including a nervous General Olbricht played by Bill Nighy and the vacillating Erich Fromm played by Tom Wilkinson. Cruise is actually very good too.

Of course, the outcome is never in doubt. But this film reminds us that not all Germans were Nazis and that some resisted. Indeed some resisted Hitler from the outset of his regime. By war's end most of this resistance had been destroyed. We should never forget the sacrifices they made.

Many questions are raised by the film. What kind of regime would have been established if Hitler had perished? Goerdeler, who would have been made Chancellor, favoured a return to a right-wing monarchy. Assuming this new government would have attempted to surrender to the Western allies (in the hope of forestalling a Soviet invasion), would the have US/British accepted it and if so, what then? Would Germany and much of Eastern Europe have survived in tact? Would the Western allies have joined the Wehrmacht in fighting the Russians?

How world history might have been changed by the events of that July in 1944.