Pipe Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

ARCHBISHOP STUART BLANCH, late of York, wrote

The Devil was once asked what he missed most after he was cast out of heaven. He thought for a moment, and replied – “I miss most the sound of the trumpet in the morning.”

The military procession in Glasgow this morning followed the call of the pipes, the music of home. Freedom, the very kingdom of heaven, is won by those who rise above their own doubts and fears and doctrines and preferences to respond to higher priority, to a recognised call.

Trumpet, fiddle, pipe or drum: the music of order, of discipline, leadership and inclusion that stirs human souls to rise up and to strive for some place good, this is to be the sound of a synod.  Certainly the Church needs more leaders, not fewer; episcopal heralds of  a disciplined freedom that makes possible inclusion for all. Let their music inspire. Even the Devil came to miss the sound of the trumpet in the morning.