"IT'S CURTAINS FOR JESUS"

Please leave comments of praise or blame at Of Course I Could Be Wrong.... Thank you. :-)

GLENUIG INN - ARISAIG SOUND

Pictured above is MadChauffeur, aka as MadPriest, aka Fr Jonathan Hagger, who blogs at Of Course I Could Be Wrong.... When I requested permission to use his picture and told him that the stars of the post would be langoustines, he insisted that if I used his picture, he had to be at the head of the credits, and there he is with his wonderful suntan. Foxy, isn't he? (Psst...his blog is well-titled, as he is often wrong.)

MadChauffeur was the driver for the greater part of our trip in the Northwest of Scotland last August. Links to my other posts on the travels of the Mad Three, MadChauffeur, Cathy, and me, may be found on the right sidebar under the heading "Scotland".

Pictured below are the stars of the post, the mouth-watering, to-die-for langoustines which we ate at Glenuig Inn on the Arisaig Sound. The proprietor, Steve, who was also a bit of a fox, even though he was bald, told us that the langoustines went from the water into the pot. That's how fresh the delicious shellfish were.



The Glenuig Inn offers contemporary-style accommodations, which are nothing fancy, but quite comfortable and clean, and the proprietors make much of being green, which is a good thing, surely. The restaurant serves delicious food, and it is there that I fell madly in love with the savory taste of langoustines. I didn't order them for my first meal, but MadChauffeur did, as a starter, I believe, with only about 6 in his dish, but he didn't like them, so he gave me his leftovers. How could he not like them?!!! Well, you can be sure that for my next meal I ordered langoustines, and perhaps for every meal after that, except breakfast, while we stayed at the inn. As you see below, the buildings are nondescript, but the setting at the end of nowhere is gorgeous.



For most of our stay there, we didn't spend a lot of time at the inn, except in the evening, for we used it as a jumping off spot to visit other places.

Below are the lovely flowers at the front door of the restaurant/pub part of the inn. We saw gorgeous flowers in gardens and pots all over the places we traveled in Scotland.



The adorable boy with auburn curls and a couple of sheep, along with beautiful scenery which surrounds the inn on every side are pictured below.



See the adorable sheep crossing in front of the inn. Cathy, the prime wildlife photographer in our group, was in heaven when the sheep approached, although cows are her first love.



MadChauffeur left us stranded without wheels for a day, as he headed home to Newcastle, so, since Cathy and I did not want to spend money on an expensive taxi into Mallaig, we entertained ourselves in the vicinity of the inn. We wanted to take a nature walk, but it rained all morning, so we were confined indoors, except for a pleasant lunch at the tea shop just a way up from the inn - pleasant except for the moment when a woman at the next table knocked a floor lamp over onto me. Fortunately, only the shade hit me, but I had raspberry-flavored tea all over my jeans.

On the way to the tea shop, we passed the old church pictured below.



The weather cleared in the afternoon, and Cathy and I walked to a beach on a lake (I believe it was a lake, but I'm not sure. It was water, water, everywhere.) not far from the inn, where we had a lovely, peaceful, soothing sit-down in view of the beautiful surroundings.

Note: I'm told the body of water was very likely an inlet of Arisaig Sound.



We sat on rocks just above the scene pictured below. There's something about a beach....







Here I am in the restaurant at the Arisaig Inn. You can see MadChauffeur's shoulder and side, but I feared he'd think more than one photo of himself de trop, so I cropped him out.





The picture to the left has nothing to do with our time in Arisaig, but I found the photo when I was searching for a picture of langoustines, and I could not resist posting it here. It's a Scottish dish called Tian of White Crab. I had the starter at a restaurant in Tobermory upon the recommendation of MadChauffeur, and, once again, it was food for the gods, food to die for. Can you tell I'm a foodie? Have I rhapsodized enough over the food in Scotland for you to know how much I enjoy good dining?

The following morning, Cathy and I left for the Isle of Skye, where we hired a car, and Cathy drove for the rest of our trip. Several posts on our travels and dining on the Isle of Skye may be found in the list under the "Scotland" heading on the sidebar.

ABOUT RIGHT

OBAMA SPELLS IT OUT

Click on the image for the larger view.

OMG! I can't believe that I'm linking to MadPriest two days in a row. He's already so full of himself and puffed up with pride as to be nearly insufferable, and this sort of encouragement will only egg him on. But what can I do? He put my thoughts into the balloons.

REJOICE IN THE ANGLICAN COVENANT!

From the introduction to the Study Guide to the Anglican Communion Covenant:

In December 2009 the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion sent the text of The Anglican Communion Covenant to all the member churches of the Anglican Communion, asking that they consider it for adoption according to their own internal procedures. It is hoped that there will be wide consultation within those churches, so that Anglicans around the world will have an opportunity to understand and rejoice in the commitment which the churches are being asked to make. (My emphasis)

So. Anglicans around the world are to rejoice in the commitment to the covenant even before they undertake to study the text of the covenant to see if its implementation WOULD BE A GOOD THING FOR THE AC! I'm sorry to shout, but I thought studies were to be impartial, with the conclusion left open to come AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE STUDY! Oops! There I am shouting again.

Alan Perry, a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, who blogs at Insert Catchy Blog Title Here, riffs off the crazy-making study guide which accompanies the daft covenant and introduces sanity into the discussion. Please read his post. Thank you.

"BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR"


Click on the cartoon for the larger view of this fine example of MadPriest's brilliance.

(MadPriest insists that the description of the cartoon includes "brilliance" or "brilliant" as a condition for its use.)

MADPRIEST TURNS PIOUS

ELSEWHERE ON THE OCICBW... EXPERIENCE

THE ANCHORHOLD: "About Spiritual Direction"and a Westminster Abbey Choir vid.

ST. LAIKA'S: Daily prayer with music. I particularly like the version of the hymn, "Lord, teach us how to pray aright," that I bunged into the service today.

Posted by MadPriest

No doubt helped along by the good influence of the lovely Ellie, who runs The Anchorhold, MadPriest has taken up praying and even posting entire prayer services on his alternate webpage, St Laika's. I suspect that the posting is done by his alter-ego, the kind, gentle, compassionate, polite MadPriest, whom we catch a glimpse of only from time to time. But, if you visit the web page, you will see that, hidden away though he may be for much of the time, the alter-ego is real.

FEAST DAY OF ST AELRED OF RIEVAULX

In 2008, I had the great pleasure of visiting the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey in the company of MadPriest and Mrs MadPriest, and a lovely visit it was, both for the pleasure of their company and for the lovely walk through the beautiful ruins. As I said in my post:

What a holy place. I could sense the presence of many saints from the past who prayed there, and the prayers seemed to linger in the abbey. I thought of our blog friend Prior Aelred of St. Gregory's Abbey, because his namesake was abbot of Rievaulx Abbey.

And Happy Feast Day to Prior Aelred!

Collect of the Day: Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167

Pour into our hearts, O God, the Holy Spirit's gift of love, that we, clasping each the other's hand, may share the joy of friendship, human and divine, and with your servant Aelred draw many to your community of love; through Jesus Christ the Righteous, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Rievaulx Abbey - my photo

Image at the head of the post from The Daily Office.

BISHOP CHRISTOPHER - THE DESMOND TUTU OF UGANDA?

From San Diego Gay & Lesbian News:

SAN DIEGO – The Right Rev. Christopher Senyonjo could have retired in 1998 as Bishop of the Diocese of West Burganda, Uganda, with his pension and the satisfaction of serving the Anglican Church faithfully for many years.

But in 2001, he felt a calling to help the young people who came to his private counseling service for advice on how to deal with coming out in this east African nation of 33 million people where homosexuality is illegal and where gays and lesbians are routinely tormented and harassed.

So Bishop Christopher, as he is fondly known and who is often referred to as the Desmond Tutu of Uganda,, was compelled to help the confused and frightened young gays who had mustered up the courage to seek his counsel.
....

A scandalous tabloid in Uganda called Rolling Stone even put his image on the front cover of a recent edition that called for the hanging of LGBT people, putting his life in danger. Never mind that the bishop is straight, and is a husband, father and grandfather.

To his enemies, Bishop Christopher turns the other cheek. He believes he is doing God’s work – and so do many of his supporters across the globe.

The bishop is in San Diego this week to accept California Senate Resolution 51, which will be presented to him by state Sen. Christine Kehoe on Thursday, Dec. 2, during a reception at Eden in Hillcrest.

Senate Resolution 51 commends Bishop Christopher’s work and calls for government to be more stringent in monitoring abuses by churches that are supporting the false claims of so called “ex-gay ministries” and exporting homophobia to countries like Uganda. It also encourages faith-based organizations in the U.S. to support the creation of policies in other countries that do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ever the humble man, Bishop Christopher says he feels honored by the resolution.

“Thank God there are people who appreciate what I am doing,” he says. “I didn’t think, in my lifetime, that I would be recognized for what I am doing. … It encourages me to go on serving to the end of my life.”

H/T to MadPriest, who called my attention to the article and the video of the courageous Bishop Christopher. MadPriest himself also speaks powerful and true words about God and God's love:

There is one credal statement of which no greater can be imagined. It is never provisional and it cannot be subject to any other statement. All other statements are subject to it and are untruthful if they do not fully agree with it or give rise to anything that is not of it. There are no exceptions. Scripture, the Church and God cannot add to, lessen or change it in any way. It is of itself as God is of Godself, because it is God. It is the greatest truth from which all reality flows.

God is love.

Read the rest of MadPriest's words at the link above.

PRAY FOR POOR MADPRIEST

MADPRIEST UPDATE:

This is just typical of my life.

Having gone through a course of antibiotics a few weeks back to get rid of a tooth abscess, I was persuaded by my dentist to have root canal work on the offending premolar to stop the abscess returning. This morning, after a fitful sleep, I woke up to find my jaw had swollen up (not quite like a melon but certainly resembling an average size satsuma). So, off I went to the dentist to discover that the surgery to stop me getting another abscess had given me, yes, you guessed it, an abscess.

This has been why I have been in such agony since Monday. Unfortunately, because my dentist had warned me that I might get some toothache for two or three days, it hadn't crossed my mind that it could be anything other than post surgery pain.

Anyway, it's back on the horse tablets for another week. I hope they take effect soon as, at the moment, I look like a lopsided hamster.

Lately, the poor heart has had trouble upon trouble. I wrote in the comments:

If I could draw, I'd make a cartoon of a lopsided hamster, dressed in clericals, with a black rain cloud over his head, if I could draw....

Of course, perpetual prayers for your troubles without end.

Well, I can't draw, but I drew a lopsided hamster anyway.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Jonathan the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

MadPriest's Longest Day

On the day that MadPriest and I were to meet in Newcastle, I left Leeds on the 9:05 AM train. MadPriest told me that I had to be on that train. We'd had the near miss in our previous plan to meet at Thornaby, and neither of us wanted a repetition of that.

Before the alarm went off at 6:00 AM, I awoke at 4:00 AM, anxious about the train, I suppose, and there was no falling back to sleep. I had lots of time to get dressed and drink my tea in my room and eat my cereal bars and an apple in good time to get to the train station by 8:00 AM, which I thought would be enough time to buy my ticket and find the right platform. It was. Once I boarded the train, I dutifully called MP to tell him that I had caught the right train at the right time, and that I was on my way to Newcastle.

I'm not sure I remember the exact sequence of events after I arrived in Newcastle, but I believe we walked from the station to the River Tyne, along the river (a lovely walk!) to the pedestrian bridge to the Sage Music Centre. The picture at the head of the post shows the river, the Tyne Bridge, a graceful structure, and the arched roof of the Sage beyond the bridge.

We bummed around in the city center, saw one of the oldest buildings in the city, a timbered structure, and many handsome buildings in the classical style, which were built in the 19th century. Newcastle is a compact city, and I liked that. MadPriest is an excellent guide. You'd have thought he was a professional.

If memory serves, The Cathedral of St. Nicholas was the next stop. The cathedral calls for a post of its own. There's so much to see there that this would be the post without end if I described and linked to the highlights there. It's well worth a visit. All this before lunch.

We stopped for a cuppa, tea for me, coffee for MadPriest, and to rest the feet, and then we were off to meet Mrs MadPriest for lunch at the university.

After lunch, it was on the bus to MadPriest's shrine house, into the car, and on to Hexham Abbey, on the site of an ancient church built by St. Wilfrid (I know. Lotsa links, but it can't be helped.) in the 7th century, which is also the present Parish Church of St. Andrew. What a magnificent structure, part quite old, part not so old, but all-around wonderful.


At first, one of the guides took us around. She was pleasant enough except when it came time for us to go down into the crypt.

For visitors who come to Hexham Abbey in search of the past the greatest thrill of all is the Anglo-Saxon crypt. A steep stone stair descending from the nave takes you back thirteen hundred years, into rooms and passageways left intact from St Wilfrid’s original church. The only comparable crypt is beneath Wilfrid’s other great church at Ripon. Everything that he built above ground at Hexham has gone, except for carved fragments set in the walls of the nave. Only his crypt is essentially as it was first built.

She blocked the gate to the stairs down to the crypt until she recited her entire long-winded spiel. What an inspiration to watch MadPriest fight a valiant inner battle for restraint, as the lady droned on and on. In the end, he won the battle and did not shove the old lady out of the way. She did not even mention some of the coolest things we would see down in the crypt. Once again, MadPriest was an excellent guide, much better than the real guides.

Inside Hexham Abbey Crypt. Note the various stones in the wall... all reused from the Roman settlement at Corbridge, some 3 miles away.

Photo and quote from Sokabs at Flickr.

The decorative stones set in the midst of rough stones took my breath away. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but it is not.

Below is the stone stairway in the abbey.

Thirty-five worn stone steps rise from the south transept of Hexham Abbey, leading to a broad gallery behind a stone parapet, with three doorways opening from it. People have used this Night Stair through eight centuries. It was probably built early in the 13th century by masons working for the team of canons who then lived and prayed in the Priory.

I won't say an unkind word about the other guide lady in the abbey, because when nature called rather insistently, she permitted me to use the church choir's private loo, which is through one of the doors at the top of the the worn, uneven stairs. She volunteered that the choir, along with the crucifer, processed down the stairs at the beginning of services. The stairs are quite a challenge without a cross in hand. Just sayin'.

I'm giving just a few of the highlights of the riches to be found in a visit to Hexham Abbey. What can I say? Read more about it, or go visit yourself.

The post is running long, so I will hurry through the visit to St. Oswald's Church, which I was quite pleased to see, although, to get there, I had to walk across a field in a gale wind which included a light rain on the way back to the car. My knees are bad, but I can still walk.


The Battle of Heavenfield, between Oswald, King of Northumbria, and his soldiers, against the Celtic king Cadwallon and his men in the 7th century was fought on the site of the church. Oswald prayed to God to win the battle, and he did, although he fought, it is believed, against superior forces. God was on his side.

The earliest church was built in 1140, with reconstructions over the years. At the time of the visit to the church, I couldn't keep the history straight, and I probably caused MadPriest a good bit of frustration, but after doing some homework, I believe that I have a better grasp of the sequence of events.

After our windy and wet walk across the field to the car, we returned to MadPriest's shrine house. Mrs MadPriest was home, and I had a glass of wine and a delicious Yorkshire cheddar and good brown bread sandwich, fixed by the hands of MadPriest. It was just what I wanted. I left a only small corner of the bread on the plate. I should have wrapped it and taken it home with me and bought a small reliquary for the bits of bread. MadPriest will be canonized one day, don't you think? Perhaps even by Rome if he decides to swim the Tiber like his mentor John Henry Newman. If he deserves sainthood for nothing else, he should have it for his kindness and graciousness in his long day with me. He and Mrs MadPriest are lovely people, and it was a great pleasure to meet them.

Before I left, I managed to break their towel bar, (or re-break it, for Mrs MadPriest told me that it had already been mended) and nearly forget my HANDBAG at their house, which would have meant that I'd have missed my train, which I caught with only minutes to spare, and stretched out the day even longer and caused further complications in the lives of MadPriest and his missus.

Thanks again for a lovely day, you old curmudgeon. I became a bit soppy there for a spell, and I know how you hate that.