Says it all, really ...

I can't remember being as cold as I've been today. We were up and off at the crack of dawn - well, just after it - to get to Oban for a meeting of diocesan Lay Leaders. Usually we've had such meetings in the crypt under the cathedral, but as this was a Friday rather than the more usual Saturday - and in many ways it was better - we met actually in the cathedral. (There was a nursery school in session downstairs.)  If you know the Cathedral of St John the Divine you'll know it has large glass areas in the roof, and that it's more or less on the sea front; if you were in the west of Scotland today you'll know that it was rather fiercely windy from a westerly direction. There were also torrential showers ...

So this photo sums it all up. Bishop Kevin has on One of His Hats, and a wooly scarf; we were discussing the theology and use of the Reserved Sacrament; there were a couple of convector fires and a fan heater which seemed to encourage the draughts that whistled around us. Despite some lively conversation, lentil soup at lunchtime and many laughs - really - there was not a moment when I felt anything other than frozen.

Autumn is definitely upon us, and this is an exposed part of the world. 

My extra photo was taken near the head of Loch Fyne on our drive home, and the poem was written when I should have been paying attention.

RUACH


And as the words flowed
                             about The Word
The winds of heaven howled
                              around our place
Here, on the world’s rim
                              as if to drown
Our querulous words of faith
                               in cries of pain.

The Spirit’s endless power
                               swept us up
And left our words behind
                                like empty clothes
Like leaves from golden trees
                                left dark and bare - 
God, hear our prayers now
                                 and at the world’s end.


©C.M.M. 10/19