500 + 500 miles

This coming weekend we celebrate our churches Scottish heritage with a Tartan Sunday service. There will
be bagpipes, liturgy from the Church of Scotland and a smattering of tartan wearers scattered throughout the congregation.


The origins of Tartan Sunday go back deep into British history. In the final confrontation of the 1745 'Jacobite Rising' the English defeated the Scottish at the Battle of Culloden. In a misguided attempt to break the Scottish spirit an 'Act of Proscription' was passed that outlawed the wearing of kilts or any other tartan garment representing Scottish heritage. It also forbade any speaking in Gaelic, outlawed Scottish music, Scottish dancing, and the playing of the bagpipes.

The Scottish people protested. On a given Sunday every year they would secretly carry or wear a piece of their tartan as they went to Church, or 'Kirk' as they called it. The minister would slip in a blessing as a defiant way of honoring the clans and their tartans. Tartan Sundays had an extremely subversive theme.

The 'Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans' service was  revived during World War II by Rev. Peter Marshall, who was originally from southwest Scotland and at one time pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. In 1947 he served as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. Partly as an effort to encourage Scottish-Americans to sign up to fight on behalf of Great Britain, he recreated a 'Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans' ceremony. Again, the aim was one of protest, rather than a celebration of heritage.

Our Lenten reading (from John4:5-26) focuses on a man born of blindness, whom is healed by Jesus. This leads him (and his family) into a confrontation with the religious authorities, who want nothing to do with the radical message that Jesus proclaimed.  It's an amusing passage as the 'wee' man confounds the know-it-all religious experts with his simple explanation about what Jesus had done for him. At the end of the passage the man again meets up with Jesus and expresses his faith in the Kingdom Jesus represents.

All this talk of Scotland and making proclamations made me think of a band I was fortunate to see perform many moons ago at the Greenbelt Arts festival in England ... 'The Proclaimers'. Their most well known song is the classic 'I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)' with it's chorus 'I would walk five hundred miles,And I would walk five hundred more, Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles, To fall down at your door"

It's a song about love and commitment and raises the question for those seeking to live a life of faith... just how far are we prepared to go when conflicts arise or opposition comes our way? Jesus spoke about walking the extra mile... the Proclaimers talk about walking an extra 500 + 500 more miles!

And just in case you are wondering about the lines 'And if I haver, hey, I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you', 'To Haver' means to 'babble on, endlessly, about nothing'; something we preachers have often made into an art-form. But we are glad you stick with us, and if any of you are in the Baldwin area this Sunday March 30th, and want to blow your cobwebs into kingdom come, our piper, the very wonderful Jerry Dixon (pictured up above) will be happy to assist.

In the meantime... here's the Proclaimers live in Edinburgh on You-Tube and the lyrics for your own personal karaoke moment.

 I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by 'The Proclaimers'

When I wake up, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
If I get drunk, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver, hey, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

When I'm working, yes, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home (When I come home), oh, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

Da lat da (Da lat da)...

When I'm lonely, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you
And when I'm dreaming, well, I know I'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you
When I go out (When I go out), well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
And when I come home (When I come home), yes, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you
I'm gonna be the man who's coming home with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

Da lat da (Da lat da)....

And I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door