Festival fatigue.

I was a good wee boy who signed up for 2 events this week to listen to Rabbi Lionel Blue (who I met years ago when he was leading a retreat in sunny Millport) at the Festival. Sadly, LB is seek & no weel and was replaced unexpectedly by Peter Tatchell!! I still toddled along and was surprised (pleasantly) by his arguments: his radicalism springs from love of fellow human being not anger, it all started as a teenager campaigning against the death penalty and the Vietnam War in Oz-land. Rather more to this controversial figure than I had expected. His dialogue at lunchtime with +Gene Robinson was very illuminating and he had a pop at the ABC (the Beard of Cantuar)for hypocrisy. Well, what do you expect, matey? The late Dom Gregory Dix said: "the sign of a Bishop is a crook and that of an Archbishop a double cross". And my old mentor Fr Donald Nicholson used to advise me: "Put not your trust in princes - especially Princes of the Church!" (Oddly, he succeeded Dom Gregory as Parish Priest of Beaconsfield!)

I heard +GR preach on the Transfiguration this morning. It was perfectly orthodox doctinally, shed a new light on a Bible passage for me (unusual in most sermons I hear!) and was evangelical in the best sense of the word (sharing personal faith and experience in a simple yet profound way). He also celebrates Mass very well - not every Bishop can! I've really become rather a fan of the wee man!

Now, I'm cream crackered and off to walk Max in the pouring rain beofre curling up in front of the telly for a bit - all this running about to Edinburgh fair tires ye oot! Then tomorrow - the Archbishop of Burma!

A night to remember.

No, not the old film about the Titanic with Kenneth More doing that stiff upper lip thing he did so well, but Monday night at the Fringe. I popped along to listen to +Gene Robinson at St John's Princes Street. Never condemn a controversial figure until you have heard what they have to say and can offer a honest reflection is the way I like to work. GR was impressive: modest, funny, forgiving and human. And also refreshingly normal and theologically orthodox. Not some mad radical who wants us to worship Gaia and call it Anglican, but a human being with his faults seeking to love and serve the Lord whilst being truly open and honest. I am now officially a fan.

Then it was off to Nitekirk to do a bit of anointing. Whilst there, I had one of those rare but utterly compelling conversations when you are simply totally aware of the presence of God and the Holy Spirit moving and working. The nice lady who stopped to chat was an RC sister based in Stirling and we began to talk about prayer and the presence of God. Which led into one of the deepest conversations I've had about prayer in a long time. I had to catch a later train as I lost track of time. But we swapped phone numbers and agreed to continue the conversation at another time. Marvellous.