I wish I could have met John--he'll be on my list as someone with whom I hope to have tea in Heaven someday! Perhaps I'll join all "The Vagabonds" for some tea someday in Heaven. Only thing is, in Heaven, there won’t be any theology to debate!’ Kate from Ohio USA
6 Comments
Dick
16/9/2013 15:12:27
That’s such a very sweet comment Kate – and I’m sure people who knew John and loved him will be delighted at reading it. It’s good to see John’s inspiration crossing the great pond! He was actually quite a paradox – he had a quirky theatrical charisma (but not a noisy one, or a self obsessed one). He was, of course, much loved for his individuality. When I went to the Vagabonds anniversary bash a month ago a lovely woman called Meg who came along was remembering fondly how John, when he a server at the Eucharist, always had his pink boots visible under his cassock. However, John was also one of the most down to earth blokes I’ve ever met; absolutely sold as a rock and a very good and kind friend. His Christian faith – in terms of his beliefs - was pretty ‘conservative’. He was orthodox on the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Virgin Birth and believed very much in the world to come and the restoration of all in Christ. He also held to a high view of the sacraments. One of the most heated debates I ever remember at a Vagabonds was after we’d visited a Quaker meeting and John turned to me – and he didn’t mince his words – and protested that what he’d just experienced in no way compared to an Anglican Eucharist. That was cool – it’s what good dialogue is all about; people stand in their own truth and are honest about their differences. My answer? Well I pointed out there’s no accounting for tasted and that some who have worshipped in both ways see similarities – especially in the deep stillness that people sometimes feel during, and immediately after the Eucharist and the deep stillness that can be at the heart of a truly gathered Meeting for Worship. Also I gave a bit of historical perspective on how the Quaker’s silent meeting were originally derived from Anabaptists Spiritual groups on the Continent who suspended celebration of the Eucharist during the religious wars there in the early modern period. People were slaughtering each other over the meaning of the Eucharist so they entered into inaugurated mourning by suspending the rite until Christians would one day understand its true meeting with purity of heart. At that point he nodded satisfied. But he wanted clarity from me – and no nonsense either.
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Kate
17/9/2013 20:20:58
Now I am even more certain I would have liked John (and will like him someday when we do meet in Heaven!)
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Dick
18/9/2013 16:17:00
I think John alone inspired John’s pink hair and pink boots! :-D – and sometimes he had pink streaks in his beard too! We must have looked like chalk and cheese at a Vagabonds – I always dress ‘sensibly’. Oh I’ve had my moment of trying to be fashionable or eye catching when I was younger – but I could never quite carry it off :-D
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Kate
19/9/2013 19:03:44
You know I always enjoy an excursus from you, Dick. :) I'll try to reply with a bit of my own!
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Kate
19/9/2013 19:03:52
You know I always enjoy an excursus from you, Dick. :) I'll try to reply with a bit of my own!
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Dick
20/9/2013 16:18:54
Hi Kate –
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This page features some of the comments made in response to the St James's Vagabond groupWhat prompted them? See Dick Whittington's memoir here |