Virtual Methodist

A meditation based on St Francis of Assisi's Canticle of Creation/the Sun : Beyond the grey sky sits brother sun but his heat drives brother wind and draws the waters into clouds. Those clouds, our sisters, that shield the sun bear the water,  sustaining sister water,  to the parched earth; mother earth. From earth we came;  to earth we return, but all through our lives we are watched over by you, our Father God; unseen, all seeing. Grey sky may loom over us but brother sun shines on, and your love for us is more constant than the sun, with no beginning and no ending. Praise you. Hallelujah

Well, I've put off blogging about it long enough... but it is now time to comment on last Sunday's service here in Faith UMC, which was outdoors and included an act of Blessing for Animals... It supposedly came about as a suggestion by the Worship Team here, to which Geoff Hayes, the incumbent minister said, "That's a really good idea... But I'll be in Northern Ireland!" I suspect it may have been his revenge on me for leaving him to feed our cat, even though he is allergic! But lots of people on both sides of the Atlantic have laughed their legs off at the whole thing, especially since I am borderline phobic about dogs. Different people helpfully suggested different incidental music, including, Bob Dylan's "Man Gave Names to All the Animals", Dr. Doolittle's "If I Could Talk to the Animals", or the theme tune from the Vicar of Dibley, in tribute to an episode of that dreadful sitcom when the said vicar hosted a similar service. I w...