Saturday, June 14, 2008

Synod - taking it personally

Whew. Free at last! And managed, despite an hour's traffic halt on the M8, to have some time in the sun after being closeted in Synod. As others have commented live and reflectively on the proceedings, and the official website* does an excellent job of knowing what actually transpired, I'm going to stick to the personal: how was it for me?

Well, quietly satisfying, actually. This time last year I posted this about what I wanted to see happening, including training for people who need modern communications technology, and this year I learned that there will indeed be training. And two years ago, after my first Synod, I wrote this about my plea to think about blogging as a tool for ministry and sharing. I was despairing and dispirited. But this year? We had a lunchtime session on The Blogging Church, and the whole process of blogging commended to Synod - officially, rather than by a pink-haired newcomer. So things are happening, and I'm happy to be a small part of the process.

And for the rest? Well, I have a confession. I agree with the statement in the Synod papers about the importance of the shared Morning and Evening Prayer which framed each day of Synod. But on Friday my participation in prayer was marred. Overcome with the unpleasantness of the harmonies for the Antiphon to Psalm 4, I was completely distracted from asking for the light of the Lord's countenance as I realised that the source of my discomfort was nasty parallel fifths. And a further confession: I was delighted that, forty years after my last formal music education at university, I was able both to hear and see parallel fifths.

Pedantry can take many forms. Usually it's the split infinitive. I'm diversifying ...

*If you listen to the first audio report from Thursday, you'll hear me, sounding ... anything but profound. Ah well.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:20 AM

    Perhaps this is it! The Anglican Communion can start afresh by uniting against the use of parallel fifths! :-)

    So glad you enjoyed Synod! You seemed so dispirited last year, I remember!

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  2. I like the brief audio reports, but I have to sit at my PC to listen to them, which is a bit restricting. Is there some way to access the audio files and download them to my iPod?

    Robin

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  3. Couldn't we start afresh by uniting against George W? Even the yanks would join in!

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