Virtual Methodist

Nothing for ages, and two in two days... Again, a product of time away on retreat, where the starting point was Jesus' famous invitation in Matthew 11: 28-30 ,  hence the attached image taken from the notebook we were given at the start of the retreat, in which I started scribbling yesterday and today's pieces.  It has been the theme for our current President David Turtle throughout the past year ( and I reflected on that a couple of months ago ) and the inspiration for numerous hymns and songs by writers much better than me. But for some reason, the tune of the old traditional song "The Bunch of Thyme" started going round in  my head in association with these words of Jesus. I probably haven't thought of that tune since my childhood days, when the version by Foster and Allen was a favourite of my mother's... I couldn't abide it (and that was before learning that its actually an unsubtle instruction to "young maidens" to protect their virginity),...

I've not been posting much recently... too busy and my brain has been filled with so much other stuff that any creative impulses have to be channelled into the everyday stuff, and even my periods of early morning wakefulness have been filled with more mundane matters... But discovering late on that I had an additional reflection to produce for our early morning communion, in the walled Garden of Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, taking the place of one of my female colleagues, prompted me to write not so much sermon, but a brief reflection which I finished with this song, set to the tune of "She moved through the fair..." The idea had been "bubbling under" for some time, though I hadn't been able to bring it to a head, but necessity is a good master. It is obviously based on the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the risen Christ in John 20 v10ff, and I am sure that someone else will have done something similar before, as it is an obvious fit... But here is...

Last night I had the joy of being at the QUB Chaplains' Carol Service where not only did the President of the MCI, Sahr Yambasu preach with his usual verve about what God being Immanuel might look like today, but also the music by groups from the Presbyterian and Catholic chaplaincies was beautiful. One piece in particular I had never heard before, apparently an Italian composition from the early 20th century (translated into English) which put the chorus of "Adeste Fideles"/"O Come all ye faithful" into a radically different setting, breathing new life into already powerful, but often overly familiar words. This chimed with an earworm that has been with me for the past few days since Sally and I started our now customary "one album at a time" erection and decoration of our Christmas tree. The first album is invariably Phil Cunningham's peerless Christmas Songbook  and the first track on it is a rendering of Chely Wright and Mindy Smith's senti...

Another Christmas in a new congregation, another outing for this oldie and another reblog. The tune is "Raglan Road..." I chose it mindful of the thousands of people on the move this Christmas, seeking safety and prosperity for their families and of the journey which we as a church are on at present. But Jesus' life from before his birth was a story of journey... Why should ours be any different if we are seeking to follow him? Down Bethl’em road from Nazareth, Came Joseph and his wife Within her womb God’s promise bloomed His Word, the Light of Life. He came to take on flesh and blood To show us all the way And through the night a star so bright Hailed the dawning of His day. And on the hills round Bethlehem, Some shepherds heard the song, The angels sing of a new born King Awaited for so long. They find him midst the filth and grime In a bed of straw and hay, Ignored by the earth that he brought to birth The Lord Almighty lay. And from the east to Beth...