Yesterday was another dull cold grey day. Apart from a trip to Tesco's for weekend food shopping, I spent the morning in College, writing emails, working on next term's chapel rota and clearing the office of my stuff ready for Mark Clavier's arrival. Then I drove over to Bristol to return James' repaired laptop and visit Amanda in the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
I slept longer and rose later this morning. For once I didn't need to drive somewhere for an early locum duty as I was booked to attend the College end of term Palm Sunday Eucharist, at which Archbishop Barry presides. Having prepared the student team that was sharing in the conduct of worship, I turned up early to give them some support and check on last minute details, and give the Archbishop a quick briefing about the arrangements. All was happily in order.
The chapel was full, and all went according to plan. Wendy's way of presenting the narrative dialogue Passion story from Luke's Gospel took me completely by surprise. Three of the key part readers were dressed in black robes and wearing masks over their eyes, the fourth representing Christ was in white. Other part players were in the congregation. When we got to the crucifixion part, all the players left the 'stage' so to speak, and then there was a slide-show of via Crucis images set to a song (which I didn't know). The rest of the text was on the sheet provided to follow if desired, but the invitation was there to simply watch the images and recall the story.
It was amazing to move from something theatrical in quite a classical manner to contemporary audio visual, in such a conventional liturgical framework. It compelled me to pay attention, but then I know the story well and have been reading or listening to some version or another of this in dialogue form over the past fifty years. I wonder how it would have been received by someone less than familiar with the text?
Archbishop Barry preached well, comparing and contrasting the procession of Jesus with that of Pilate arriving from the opposite direction to watch over the security situation on Passover weekend. Which procession are you part of? He asked. Are you sure?
Afterwards the College photo was taken in the Old Library conference room. It was took cold to arrange to take it outside, as it had been to cold for an outdoor procession. Peter and I sat on either side of the Archbishop, which gave me a rare opportunity for a brief chat. I felt as if I was there in a prominent position under false pretences, as my role this past term has been unofficial. There's also of photo in which I feature prominently on the cover of the College Annual Report, even more embarrassing. I bet many outsiders with College connections will wonder who on earth is this guy?
With Clare being away in Kenilworth, it was nice to sit down to a Sunday lunch with all the College members and families, as it meant I didn't have to cook. Then I went home and uploaded the photos I'd taken during the service to a newly opened Flickr account, so that they could be shared. Some I was quite pleased with, but others, particularly the telephoto ones were less sharp and prone to motion blur. Indoor lighting conditions were quite good, and it seemed as if auto-focus and image stabilisation weren't working as well as intended. They are at their best in bright light outdoors. I daresay my Alpha 55 would have produced better pictures indoors.
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