Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Winchester Cathedral

Back to a proper cathedral today: Winchester. Of course it's fabulous and ancient and historic and uplifting. But I think I'm beginning to suffer from cathedral fatigue. There's only so much cathedral you can take in in a week. And there are two more to go yet.

There was Anthony Gormley's installation in the crypt. There was a lunchtime concert in the north transept. And the Winchester Bible upstairs, next to the bishop Morley's library. I didn't quite get thrown out of there despite taking a photograph, which are disallowed for "security reasons". I.e. people nick the books. The guide lady told me that, and also that the books were science and astronomy and other things as well as theology, which had been bequeathed to "the clergy" because the bishop thought they should be as well educated as possible. I agreed. There are also a couple of very large globes. Which are visually much smaller than the one I've just seen on TV, although the BBC one for explaining the earth is only a virtual one.

In the cathedral bookshop I found something I really liked. It's s cross and a fish at the same time. Depending on what angle you see it from. A dimensional combination of the two great Christian symbols. I think it's called "Dimensions of Christ". I'll try to put a picture here, though it has to be seen in 3D to be fully appreciated.




I was reminded of my favourite Rob Bell video, Everything is Spiritual. There's a bit later on (after he's mixed up his fundamental particles - come on, Rob - quarks not leptons!) when he explains something with a pen. I think it's just after the excellent Flatland bit. He says a whiteboard pen looks like a circle from one angle, or a rectangle from another. His metaphor is that we sometimes disagree about things - some see a circle, others see a rectangle. God sees both. So sometimes when we want to know is it A or B, God says, "Yep!".

I think Rob may do this, but in case he doesn't, one example is the age of the earth. How long did God take to make it? 6 days or 14 billion years? Yep.

2 Peter 3:8 (TEV)
8 But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same.







Location:Winchester

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