Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 June 2006 09:02:01
Well, that was weird.
For years I'd worried about having no impact on the world whatsoever, and then in just one entry I attract the attention of Maggi Dawn and a former member of the Liturgical Commission.
How strange is that?
Better not say too much, though, as it might draw the attention of other authorities, and the Bishop of Ripon and 250 clerics will launch a raid on my house at 4 in the morning, looking for prayers of Mass celebration.
Thanks all for the comments - and a big "Hi" to Paul and Maggi as well. I particularly liked the comment "There's some god stuff in [CW]". After all that debate in Synod, I should flippin' well hope so.
I liked someone's comment - Maggi's? - that CW is a bit like a website in a book. That's rather astute (and therefore I shall claim it as my own idea and appear far cleverer than I actually am). I remember being in a nunnery when CW;DP Preliminary Edition was the office book and (apart from their very annoying way of chanting the psalms - do NOT get me started on this) - the really, really annoying bit was the jumping about for seasonal materials, refrains, and all sorts. It was an absolute nightmare, particularly for someone like me who is partially sighted (page jumping not a good thing, especially when they're pages printed by Church House Publishing whose appreciation of the subtler points of the eyesight of their market are as much as that of a concussed bee - if you're reading this CHP, go and look at the Methodist Worship Book or the Words Only edition of the URC's Rejoice and Sing or the Cambridge UP 3-volume BCP - that's how you do this properly).
I approach my use of the ASB as a variation on the permitted "Prayer During the Day" - intro, Psalms, reading, Canticle (which is of course variable to the day of the week), Prayers. Easy. In fact, I'm adapting as I use it - e.g. yesterday at MP I found it helpful to go from the end of the Venite ("... for he comes to judge the earth" etc) into using the Confession from EP. I'm being post-modern with a modern text. Woo, and, indeed, hoo.
What I find odd is that the ASB Shorter Form - which is in structure a bit like PDtD, but without the Canticle (boo!) - wasn't retained. Perhaps nobody ever used it? It's interesting to note that the Durham Office looks a bit like it, with the addition (sadly) of some poor opening prayers and those hated responses.
Am I being nostalgic for the ASB in some bizarre pre-midlifecrisis-crisis sort of way? Possibly - some of these texts are suprisingly deep-rooted in me (along with the 1588 versions of the Lord's Prayer and Psalms 23 and 100 in Welsh which I had to learn as a child).
But there's also two practical reasons, which I mentioned before - typeface, and you don't need a separate Bible. I worked out there's some 70 Sundays and other days (e.g. Easter Week) in this book, some with as much as 6 readings due to the two-year cycle. That gives 350-400 substantial portions of scripture, even before you get to the Saints Days and Commemorations for the Installation of an Abbot.
At present I'm taking the Year 1 OT reading as my daily reading - which draws out the stepped thematic purpose of the lectionary quite well. That sort of pattern should keep me busy for a good couple of years, and then adapting the lectionaries in tables 1 and 4 is enough to keep someone going for a lifetime, without having ever again to try and navigate those booklets with all 17 different daily lectionary options all spread out across the page. Bliss.
Ok, so they're out of synch with the calendar, but whenever I've tried to follow a set calendar I've found myself failing after 6 days and getting depressed and cross, so for now, if it's alright with everyone, I'll stick to a pattern that allows me to follow the readings in the book at my own pace. Anyway, I'm laity carrying out a private devotion, so the rules for clergy don't apply to me. Nerr.
Sorry, didn't intend this to be so long or so grumpy. Must get back to work.