John Wall in this week's Diary column: I
NEVER thought that I would be upset over the closing of a
Starbucks. But I am.
Diary: Many of our readers can have
only just finished struggling through the more turgid passages
of Lady Chatterley's Lover when
they felt duty-bound to give their attention to Lord Denning's
report, another instant bestseller of 1963.
Diary: I HOPE that the glow of the resurrection
is still pervading your inner being, as we wend our way toward the
Ascension and Pentecost. Here, in Cambridge, Ascension is almost a
bigger thing than Easter, because, while Easter is invariably
celebrated out of term, Ascension falls slap-bang in the middle of
it.
Diary: GREATLY to my surprise, I received
a late invitation to the enthronement of the Archbishop of
Canterbury. The mystery was solved, in part, when I discovered that
my fellow General Synod representatives from religious communities
were also there.
Diary: I WAS born precisely 150 years
after Giuseppe Verdi - if precision allows for a variance of up to
24 hours - and he is undoubtedly my favourite among those with whom
I share a birthday. This October, he would have been 200; so even
the most challenged mathematically can calculate a significant
milestone approaching for me, too.
The Revd Dr John Pridmore writes from
Jerusalem, a city which "breaks your heart".
Diary: For nearly 20 years, my Palm
Sunday perambulations were past church-hall dustbins to another
Holy City, on the Boarded Barns estate in Chelmsford, when it was
under the care (successively) of two future archdeacons, Frs Stroud
and Fox, and a host of curates.
Diary: As part of my Lenten observance, I have
been saying the Litany each day - greatly to my profit, I might
add. There is one petition, however, that causes me a problem. It
is the one where we ask God to forgive our "enemies, persecutors,
and slanderers", and to "turn their hearts".
I HAVE recently become the increasingly doting owner of a
Labrador puppy, Sophie. The most unlikely people go all gooey: "Can
I say hello to your puppy? How old is she?" has been the start of
many an encounter with parishioners and others.
Diary: GIVEN the events of recent weeks, you
could be forgiven for wondering if there is anyone left in the
Church to resign or retire. I now poke my head around the vestry
door on a Sunday morning, just to check that there are actually
people in the building.
Diary: RESIGNATIONS and replacements are in the
air. Lord Williams has resigned, and has been replaced by the Most
Revd Justin Welby, and - far less predictably - Pope Benedict has
announced his abdication, and there will soon be a new pope.