Category: Reflections

The Iona Community, one of the most well-known ecumenical communities in the world, is having huge celebrations for Holy Week and Easter. These include lots and lots of music, lots of choirs and sings, and no piano or other instruments on Friday and Saturday, so all singing is a cappella. And the musician (yes, that's… Continue reading God’s sense of humor?

I was walking down Buchanan Street in Glasgow on Saturday, one of the main commercial sections of the city, and found lots of people busking along the street. For nearly the whole walk up and back down the street, I was either in sight or earshot of a street performer. A violinist / fiddler playing… Continue reading Buchanan Street in January

Peanut butter is not as common here. Put peanut butter on bananas in Scotland, and you'll get comments, day after day, week after week. And when you don't get comments, you'll get "is she crazy? what's she doing?" looks. But, oh, there's something much better than peanut butter here... it's hazelnut chocolate spread. And since… Continue reading Two more random posts

What a title for a post, eh? So in a discussion the other day someone said to me "no one can make you feel anything", a phrase I've heard before in my work in mental health, and a phrase that I hate. And in the last few days I've been thinking about why I so… Continue reading Bull Horkey

Yes, supposedly it's true... Macbeth, along with most of the other old kings of Scotland, is buried across the road from my house. I get to walk past Macbeth every morning. I'm not sure if Lady Macbeth is there. I also get to walk past the effigies of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll every… Continue reading I live next to MacBeth

You ever have those days where everything's just a bit off? Yesterday was weird. I remembered I had a phone call to make, an hour after I was suppose to make it. I remembered I had a song to lead in a workshop, 15 minutes after it was supposed to have started. I remembered that… Continue reading Yesterday was weird

When people say "What's your favorite season", I usually come up with something traditional like "spring" or "fall"... the trouble with that, though, is that those answers are constantly changing. I don't know what my favorite natural season is. However, what I really have to bite my tongue to keep from saying when asked that… Continue reading My favorite season

We have worship twice a day here -- at 9am before work and at 9pm at the very end of the day (things change in winter, but that's the routine for most of the year). I'm finding it very important to me to have the day framed by worship and prayer, even on the days… Continue reading Worship at the Iona Community

1. Yesterday in the grocery store: "unsmoked joints" 2. A week ago in staff conversation: "where can I get some rubbers?" "There are lots of them in the cabinet in the front office. Help yourself." 3. Last time I was here in my words... oops: "Wait just a moment. I need to go get my… Continue reading Language Casualties (warning! adult content and language…)

I've been thinking lots about babies lately... One of my friends is struggling with having lost a baby and all the grief that means, another of my friends is newly pregnant, another of my friends is very much wanting a baby but being able to have one seems unlikely. And there is a cute little… Continue reading Babies and choirs