New Kid on the Blog

Just a warning, things have been pretty all over the place hence the random blog entries. This is likely to be the case over the next few weeks. There's alls sorts of catching up to be done and some holiday coming too so less and less chance to blog. I am still grateful for all of you who keep visiting and thanks for the comments when i do get the chance to blog. To those whose blogs I'm behind on reading and commenting on, apologies, but I'll catch up later. Have a good August...

Every now and then you need a bit of internet insanity, and a good laugh, so try will it blend - follow the iphone and bic lighters links to watch the best vids, and it is worth it despite the annoying ad that precedes it... This is not a pay per post or an advert or an endorsement of any kind, just something that made me laugh...

As I get older, I seem to be more affected by things - more emotional, more ready to cry, more aware of the things which are less than perfect in this world. Sometimes I wonder whether it's just being tired more often that leads me to this - I can feel myself getting emotional at the end of movies, not just the heartstring tugging stuff! Not that I burst into tears at X-men or anything. I think the more I see of life, the more profoundly affected i am by it. I see the horror of violence and war, the evil that people can perpetrate, the loss which comes from death and the power of the ties of love that bind us. I like to think that I am becoming more aware and empathic than I was as an empty headed teenager, and certainly part of the process of growing older and maturing is having a certain dissatisfaction with the way things are, and longing to change things for the better. It's not a case of 'it was so much better when I was younger' because in lots of ways it was...

Blog talkers from last week ... I never got around to much last week, at least in the world of blogging, so here's another catchup moment. Looking back in life, what did you do 3, 6 and 12 months ago? Have these actions played a major role in your life or has it been like any other day? 3 Months ago - I was recovering from a wonderful but very busy Easter. I had a week off after Easter, but was still feeling pretty tired. Things have been extremely busy around our Team for a while, and we've been shorthanded for a number of months. Fatigue seems to be the order of the day most of the time, just keeping up. Means I'm looking forward to some time off over the summer ;-) 6 Months ago, February saw the start of Lent, which meant extra events leading up to Easter time. There was lots of stuff going on around the place. 12 Months ago, we were all at the house in which we have a small share in France. It was baking hot and we were melting. It was then i decided that at som...

Before preach it tomorrow, here's the sermon I plan to give in the morning, a special treat for you all ;-) Year A, B, C Mary Magdelene John 20.1-2, 11-18 The ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ Today we remember a rather peculiar saint, someone who wasn’t the most expected of saints, a woman. It wasn’t common in the early church, or even in the church up to recent times, to honour women – except for Mary the mother of Jesus, of course – so Mary Magdalene stands out from the list of those who were remembered in the first days of the Church. Mary of Magdala is exceptional, there was no way of escaping the fact that she is was the one chosen by Jesus to be the first witness to his resurrection, to the promise of new life for all that came on that wonderful Easter morning. But there is also no denying that this is a rememberance of both celebration and of frustration… That’s right celebration and frustration. And this reflects much of our faith, even as we celebrate the risen life of our Lord Jes...

The cruelest lies are often told in silence Robert Louis Stephenson I have no idea what it means, but going through the first season of Millennium , which is something I have not watched for years, it was at the beginning of one show... Something to think about? Or just another case of trying to find meaning in the meaningless, let me know...

Been a while since I did a video post... ILike this vid from the Goo Goo Dolls, its made me want to see the movie, so it's done its job! Like the song too, good lyrics.

And that's the weather, let alone my blogging... It's been an odd July, no summer to speak of in the UK, and whenever I dare to venture out in shorts I seem to attract rain - and a comment of 'fat git' from some random person in a car park this morning, which I had to process by thinking of clever insulting replies which I would never say to anyone! It's been a real case of writers block for me in this past couple of weeks, I have struggled even to put sermons together - which is not like me at all, normally the words kind of leak out of me without much rational control, though I like to think I make sense at least 60% of the time. I think it's just being so busy and rather tired with all the events and experiences of the past few months and its all catching up on me as I wait, or rather long, for my holiday in a few weeks time. We are going en vacances to France and leaving the house in the care of a housesitter soon, and i am starting to count down the days...

Meant to post this on Sunday, sorry for the delay. As always here is the opening of the sermon (though preached rather differently on Sunday) and you can read the rest, should you wish, on my deep stuff page by following the [more] link Year C Proper 9 (2007) RCL Principal 2 Kings 5.1-14 Galatians 6.1-16 Luke 10.1-11, 16-20 The hard road A favourite word in our household is ‘faffing’. Whenever Jo or I are in a flap or wandering about looking lost we normally ask each other ‘what are you faffing about?’ or when we are in a hurry to get anywhere (not an uncommon situation) and one of us seems to be distracted then the normal attempt to speed things up is to say ‘stop faffing around’. There is a fair amount of faffing goes on in the McCollum household, and in the past couple of years I have discovered how much children can add to it – not just because of all the things we have to do for them before we go anywhere, but because they are discovering lots of ways of faffing themselves! For...

I was right - this week's blogtalkers gives lots to talk about... What is one item that you own that has minimal monetary value, but has such sentimental value that you wouldn’t sell it for any amount of money? This is my opportunity to say that we don't have a lot of stuff worth much! But we have lots of little things which are priceless. Our photos are - and having recently signed up to facebook it's been great to see some of the stuff that friends have put up, going years back - a real nostalgia fest. Without wishing to seem too holy, something I really value is the Bible I got at my ordination to priesthood. I've got about fifteen translations of the bible, and I have other bibles in the same (NRSV) translation, but i like the fact that it's a normal, not a presentation leather or gilded edge or red letter, bible. It does have the coat of arms for the Diocese of London (where I served for the first four years of my ordained ministry) on the back, but other ...

The blogtalkers question for this week wasn't really a discussion starter for me, Tell me about your most unusual laundromat experience. Have you ever, or would you ever leave your laundry unattended at a laundromat? What would you do if it wasn’t there when you came back? I've never used a laundromat... It's somewhat out of my experience, and though I could conceptualise with regards to the mights and perhaps, I am lacking in motivation, sorry folks... It's cos I'm in Church fete season, so off to stuff my offspring with ice-cream and look vicarly, whatever that means. Perhaps tomorrow's question will inspire me to write at great length...

I have noticed recently, and it was mentioned by Brian to me a few weeks back (not on his blog, as that seems to have conked out) that as I go about my daily life I find myself thinking 'this is how I would say this in my blog page'. I do it without thinking consciously about it, but though I don't blog about everything that happens much of what I do is framed mentally in terms of what I would say about it if I were to post it. Perhaps this is why I've not been blogging as much lately, my brain is saying 'this is way too insidious'! Anyway, this came to mind particularly as I was reading the book by Richard Dawkins 'The God delusion' - as i read it I was thinking 'how would I review this for my blog'. Perhaps feeling that there is no other way to respond to it - the book is clear, concise, well written, engaging, thought provoking, and yet there is a feeling that Dawkins throws out meaningless and uninformed statements about Religion which hav...

Thanks to Jennyhaha at Flaw and Disorder I went off to look at what my blog was rated - and here it is: apparently this is due to only having the word 'fart' in here once. Well, twice now (wonder if that will affect the rating). hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I am informed that adding the link may increase visits from spammers, I wonder if the word 'moron' adds to my rating too?

Boring title, but it does exactly what it says on the label Trinity 4 (2007) Year C RCL Principal PROPER 8 2 Kings 2.1–2, 6–14 Luke 9.51–end Discipleship and discipline I t does often seem that whenever there is an ordination, or a celebration of ministry in the Church then we try to take the clergy down a peg or two! I say this slightly tongue in cheek, but today’s readings and the readings used in the Cathedral yesterday, and the readings we use on Maundy Thursday every year at the renewal of Ordination vows all have something of a hard edge to them, as if we don’t want the Clergy to become too carried away with their status! And in many ways this is quite appropriate. For years us Clergy enjoyed a certain status and, indeed, power, which led to arrogance and a certain amnesia about the message we are called to proclaim, one of humility, servanthood and the need to rely on God’s grace alone. Today’s readings bring this home in a rather stark way. There’s so much it would be possible...

The reason I've been AWOL over the past few days is because so much has been going on! On Friday we celebrated my baby sister's graduation, as she received her degree from Cambridge University, followed by a nice lunchy thing with my mum and my other two younger siblings. Its the first time the five of us have been together for years, so it was fun, and tiring! Then the evening was spent at the Bishop of Ely's garden party, which was a very pleasant way to pass an evening, and a chance to be with lovely wife for a few hours, and my fantastic colleague and acting Team Rector, Fiona. A woman with the ability to spot a pastoral issue at 100 paces, and the best sense of humour in the clerical world. On Saturday I got to go back to Ely again for a great celebration in the Cathedral as two new priests were ordained who are part of our Team. They are both voluntary (also known as Non-Stipendiary Ministers, but that's a post of its own) and have given a huge amount to our ...