CICCU & Carols
Well, this evening, after a day which saw exciting post, a Russian history lecture featuring evil beetles, a Politics of Gender lecture where I was distracted by the fact the lecturer had a fob-watch, the doing of laundry, the having of a DOS meeting & the excitement of rostis for tea, I went to the CICCU carol service.
The service is held in Great St Mary's Church, which is the university church - the one undergraduates have to be resident within ten miles of during term or we aren't allowed to graduate. (Well, something like 58 nights of term or something I think. I forget...)
There were, unsurprisingly, carols & readings, and there was also a very good talk by Jonathan Fletchers who is involved with a church in Wimbledon, and who spoke in a very balanced way, and was not (unlike Mr Blood-and-Thunder of my first year) raving & frankly offensive. A definite bonus. He was also amusing (in the witty way, rather than the poking fun) and to good effect. For example, talking about a play a friend of his had written, about Christmas tree ornaments discussing the birth of Christ: "well I bet they didn't hang HIM on a bleeding tree" - no, they hung Him on a tree, bleeding... It was very very interesting & thought-provoking.
I love Christmas carols. We sang "O Come, O come Emmanuel", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Once In Royal David's City", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" & "Oh come, all ye Faithful". I now have the urge to sing Christmas carols. At random, and at will. Yes indeed. But I still reserve my right to complete freaked-out-ness from Laura calmly turning to me when we came out of church and informing me she hadn't been singing, she'd been listening to me instead because I have such a beautiful voice... I am, in fact, still blushing. Gah...
The service is held in Great St Mary's Church, which is the university church - the one undergraduates have to be resident within ten miles of during term or we aren't allowed to graduate. (Well, something like 58 nights of term or something I think. I forget...)
There were, unsurprisingly, carols & readings, and there was also a very good talk by Jonathan Fletchers who is involved with a church in Wimbledon, and who spoke in a very balanced way, and was not (unlike Mr Blood-and-Thunder of my first year) raving & frankly offensive. A definite bonus. He was also amusing (in the witty way, rather than the poking fun) and to good effect. For example, talking about a play a friend of his had written, about Christmas tree ornaments discussing the birth of Christ: "well I bet they didn't hang HIM on a bleeding tree" - no, they hung Him on a tree, bleeding... It was very very interesting & thought-provoking.
I love Christmas carols. We sang "O Come, O come Emmanuel", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Once In Royal David's City", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" & "Oh come, all ye Faithful". I now have the urge to sing Christmas carols. At random, and at will. Yes indeed. But I still reserve my right to complete freaked-out-ness from Laura calmly turning to me when we came out of church and informing me she hadn't been singing, she'd been listening to me instead because I have such a beautiful voice... I am, in fact, still blushing. Gah...