From the Vicarage

Beards are fashionable; two priests serving culturally mixed parishes in East London have grown beards; the Bishop of London has commended them for reaching out to the culture of the majority of their parishioners, pointing out that in some cultures a beard is seen as a mark of holiness. But not every newspaper that ran the story last month explained that his original article in the Church Times was a learned discussion of the Church’s changing attitudes to beards through the ages.

Dear Friends, You may have noticed that the world didn’t collide with another planet in 2012, although a couple of years before some websites had forecast that it would. Cleverly – and controversially – this turned out to be publicity for the film 2012, which tells a tale of how, microwaved by the sun, the Earth begins to disintegrate. A feast of special effects follows, and eventually a bunch of boffins who have foreseen these events build a modern Noah’s Ark and save the day.

I recently decided to leave my collar at home, find a cathedral and spend a couple of days praying, reading, and generally recharging my batteries. I chose Chelmsford - not too far away, and with the railway station, Cathedral and pleasant riverside walks all near each other.