wedding

The long weekend of total 'cyber silence' is easily explained. I was at a wedding.

Not all the time since I last posted anything here.

Just yesterday. First in a place called Rothbury (which I'd never heard of before). And then at Alnwick Castle (which I had heard of before).

It was a case of being fairly late back at night. And long past my computer bed-time (usually). So no post.

The wedding was great. A beautiful old-time village church which had character written all over it.

(Not literally, of course: there were far more pious things than simply 'character' painted across its vaulted roof and on its stained glass windows)

The music was terrific. A lively worship band, with a lovely lead to the singing of some rousing songs being given by some girls at a microphone.

They needed all the amplification they could get to better the lead being given by the bridegroom himself. Graham was simply belting the worship out with all that he'd got - just lovely to see!

It was that sort of wedding. Lively and fun and shot through in every part with a sense of the presence of God.

And the reception at the castle later on was just the same. Lively, fun, and shot through throughout with that sense of the presence of God.

The contrasts were really striking. The old, old village church: and the very modern music that accompanied the praise. The 'marriage' of the two was really something special. The old and the new. The long years of Christian tradition: the freshness of something quite new.

And it was the same along at the castle. The very formal setting (I mean, you can't have a meal in a castle without it being a somewhat formal thing): and the informal ethos pervading the whole of the time.

It's that sort of balance, and that sort of mix, that I suppose that I'm looking for here.

The way we talk of Scripture is indicative of this. The old and the new. Together.

Getting the mix is the trick, though. That's where the hard work comes.

And, reflecting on it all tonight, I recognise that through the different meetings that I've had with three quite different folk today, it is precisely that which we've been grappling with.

Combining the two. The old and the new.