It's a fair cop in Coventry

It's always good to have a new year adventure and this year we decided to take a trip to Coventry. Neither Isla nor the girls had been before so we it was about time they did. John and Rozi were also keen to go so we all popped on the train together...

I bought the tickets yesterday before the announcement on the news that the whole west coast rail line was in trouble because a light aircraft had hit power cable near Stafford. Having bought the tickets we had to go - although we had to risk a potential bus journey between Rugby and Coventry - after a change of trains in Northampton...

We didn't do too badly in the end. Izzy had bought her cards so we had a few games of Go Fish and Belgian. This made the time fly by - even when we found ourselves stuck in waiting rooms with a cup of tea. I think we only had a forty minute wait in Northapton on the way up and an hour long wait in Coventry on the way down... All in all it wasn't too bad - although it would have been nice if trains could have been announced on MK station - this would have saved a mad dash between platforms!

As for Coventry... was it a spiritual experience?

Well, we did see Lady Godiver's statue which commemorates an act which could either be seen as a bold act of self sacrificial non-violent action - or a moment of medieval naturism. We missed the clock and so didn't see Peeping Tom - although John gave us a good impression.

We walked through the old and new cathedrals which is always a powerful experience. I'm not sure what the girls made of it, but I'm sure I'll find out one day.

There's an exhibition about Anne Frank in the Cathedral at the moment which includes some videos and statements about racism. This exhibition includes a number of vidoes which are on continuous loop - providing a wonderfully evocative background murmour in the nave - like the ongoing mutter of monks in the scriptorium copying out books...

We had some mixed feelings about the Cathedral. It's certainly impressive and is probably one of the best examples of post-war archetecture you can name - making good use of concrete, steel and pebble dash. There are also many examples in the archetecture of outward looking thought - making connections with local industry, ecumenism and reconciliation...

On the negative side, we found little sign of current life. There were very few signs of diocesan life - and the references to local industry and reconcilliation were a few years old. We wonderred what was going on now. That's not to say that nothing is, but we couldn't find it in the Cathedral. More research may be needed here...

The highlight of the day came after the cathedral visit when we hit the pub for lunch. We found ourselves in a supporters pub on match day and enjoyted the chants of "Kiddiminster!" through our beer, burgers and onion rings. There were lots of police arround who seemed fairly friendly. It was interesting to watch them escourt the fans off to the ground - surounding them like a ring of lumiescent sheep dogs. Unfortunately there was a bit of a scuffle at this point and one fan was escourted off to the vans - presumably to spend the match in the local nick...

One last postscript: we managed to get home in time for Doctor Who Confidential and therefore heard the announcement that the next Doctor will be 26! - oh I'm feeling old...

Happy Christmas

On Christmas Day I presided at communion at St Mary's Shenley. Christmas Day services are always interesting round here since many regular members are away, but our congregations are hugely supplemented by visitors from other churches or elsewhere in the country. This makes Christmas congregations quite unique!

On Christmas Eve at All Saints' for instance, the congregation included a number of members and ministers from other local churches who don't do midnight services themselves. Hence more than half the congregation were members of Loughton Baptist Church, New Life West and Shenley Christian Fellowship.

At St Mary's on Christmas Day the congregation included a number of people who were visiting family - and a few people from local Anglican churches who didn't have Christmas Day services of their own.

At the end of the service I asked everyone to wave and wish you all a happy Christmas. Here are a few of them:
Although it's a real pleasure to worship with such a wide range of fellow Christians, it is a bit tricky to plan for such services - since you never know who you're going to get! Are there going to be any children? Will people take communion? and so on...

On Christmas Day I improvised on the theme of "missing bits":

1. We all have Christmas traditions and if we don't do them for some reason we may feel that we haven't done Christmas properly... I asked people to think about some of the things that they do at Christmas...
2. As a family, we like to watch the Muppet Christmas Carol - this is the moment when we know it's Christmas. This year we purchased a new copy on DVD since our old VHS was no longer playable. We sat down and enjoyed the movie - right up to the point when Scrooge was about to loose the love of his life in his worst Christmas flashback ever! The only problem was that the bitter sweet ballad "When love has gone" didn't happen! This is the turning point of the film when Scrooge reaches his lowest point and begins his ascent to self-knowledge and revelation. This is also Isla's favourite song from the movie. Apparently Disney didn't like the song and felt that it was too sad for a family movie! It's not in the theatrical version - or the DVD - only on the VHS release - which must mean that VHS viewers can cope with a bit of sadness...
   Christmas can become a festival of sweetness and happiness - which is fine - but without a bit of sadness it's a bit flat. Unless you accept that there is brokenness in the world there is no need for salvation. Unless you are willing to face the reality of your own faults and failings there is no need for redemption. Christmas is meaningless without the cross.
3. One of my Christmas presents was a small blue box - a TARDIS. The only problem was that it didn't come with batteries and we didn't have any in the house. A TARDIS without batteries won't go anywhere - or won't make the appropriate groaning noise...
   Christmas presents often need battery power to make them work and God's people also need power if they are to be capable of genuine change or become the people God intended them to be. Our journeys in time and space are not powered by tripple As but by the Holy Spirit. Christmas without the Holy Spirit is just a pretty story.
   

Zechariah?

This was my first attempt to book a final weekend off in 2008. It didn't work because I didn't remember this fact when I said yes to an evensong at St Giles...

Even so, I managed a gentler Sunday than normal which included a quiet morning with the family and walk in the rain with Dave and James up to the North Bucks Way and back...

There were a few phone calls which I had to deal with and then evensong - at which I preached about Zechariah. It was the last evensong of the year so became an opportunity to round off their season on the prphets with an overview and a conclussion...

At the end of the day, I do feel a bit better, but still fragile and tired. After three tough weeks I'm ready for some serious therapy - but another tough week at work will have to do...

...and Doctor Who is 45 today.

Doctor Who Prom

We went to London today for the Doctor Who Prom. It was an amazing event!

We had to travel via Bedford because of weekend "improvements" on the line but we made it in time. The girls didn't know what we had planned - they thought we were going to the science museum!

The concert was spectacular with Ood, Jadoon, Sontarans, Daleks, Cyberman and Gelf appearing at various points - plus Davros himself! We saw Martha, Donna, Micky and Rose's mum and we were seated just beneath Russell T, Peter Davidson and Catherine Tate!

The girls really enjoyed the event and the music was quite something. David Tennant is being Hamlet at the moment but made an appearance through the magic of TV. It was a fantastic event to be part off and well worth a look when it's on.

Saturday

This is the first full day when I'm officially on sabbatical - hooray!

In fact it was like any other quiet Saturday without a wedding or special event.

We did music centre and Iona had a birthday party. I cut the grass.

In the morning I had my first proper visit to the local gym. I ran for 20 minutes and rowed 5k.

The big difference was that I didn't feel the need to check emails and deal with a dozen minor items of admin - the normal process of sneaking work in around family life... An I didn't feel the faintest bit guilty - well, not much anyway...

We took Izzy in to see the Colectomania stalls. She was excited to see anything to do with Star Wars. I bought the Trivial Pursuit Star Wars set for £5 and we played it with Iona in the afternoon. We nearly finished the game before Doctor Who started. It was the second part of a Sontaran story. I've been looking forward to seeing Sontarans since the new run of Doctor Who started. They were my monster as a child. The first Doctor Who monster I remember and the one I hid behind the sofa to avoid. Great fun!

Saturday

Spent most of the day working on my fees and expenses. I need to tie these off for the end of the financial year. Various people hastling me for information. I'm hastling various others. I'll be glad when it's done...
Lunch with the Solloways - good pie!
Wedding in the afternoon. We had the reading from the Song of Solomon about the rain being past - and it was by the time the bride left the church. "Many waters cannot quench love, nor the floods drown it" - never have these words felt more true!
Family treat in the evening: Doctor Who is back!