Come, sit here awhile

Invitation to linger

In a week crammed full to overflowing with work, this bench, even virtual, is very inviting.
It always quietly amuses me how irate folk get when their calls are not returned and emails go unanswered. Both of these tasks involve being home long enough (or at the desk long enough) to respond. As I try to work out what can be shelved for now simply because there is no space left in my diary, I imagine Jesus sitting, enjoying the view, taking the air and beckoning me to come sit awhile.
And, even though there's no time and even less energy to engage with the invitation, I'm drawn nonetheless. Drawn to Jesus' calmness, to his easy, undemanding company. How refreshing to be embraced by such unconditional love. A love that asks nothing of me but yet draws my response of love and gratitude.

Faith and longing

I once heard a preacher talking of faith and using an aeroplane as an illustration. He made an assumption, as preachers often do: He said, when you drive past the airport and see planes taking off, you don't think - I wonder how that stays in the sky - you just have faith that it does. I didn't altogether agree with his premise. Furthermore, when I see an aeroplane taking off, I usually think, I wonder where that's going and I wish I was on it!
The ascending aeroplane speaks to me not so much of faith but of longing.
And, it seems, longing is more likely to lead to a striving than any blindness of faith.
I never did like to conform just to fulfill a preacher's assumption!

The A Team

This is the God Squad - the ministers team who were runners up in the church quiz this year, defeated by the Kirk Session - so what's new! The good news is - over £300 was raised for Christian Aid.

In focus

Today was much more of a beach day with a few work interruptions. A good opportunity to blow away some of the cobwebs that have gathered this week.
All good preparation for this evening, meeting up with colleagues around the table, kicking around ideas for another installment of Spill the beans.
We're hoping to have another pilot ready for Lent, picking up on all the valuable feedback we received from our first offering, before tackling a complete all age resource that should be available for the start of next church session - September 2011. Seems very far away now but, with all the work involved, we have to get started.
We had an interesting discussion around the Scottish flavour of the materials we produce - that's an important part of the resource and differentiates it from other curricula. It was interesting to discover that this "Scottishness" is not contrived but is authentic - arising simply because of who we are and the culture out of which we write. Out last pilot reached some far flung places. Hopefully the Scottish slant was an attraction and not a barrier in other cultures and settings.
One slightly amusing aspect is that we didn't want to spoon feed people and supply everything ready made but the responses seem to indicate that that is exactly what folk want - a ready to use resource, so we'll do our best to fill in some gaps and provide even more options. A challenge - but one which was met by relish by the group who started the ball rolling tonight. Looking forward to some more "spilt beans".

Beam me up

These wee guys look inviting. I'd love to go wherever they are headed. Escape from the endless round of meetings that have made up this week.
A wise old minister once told me that "preparation is an act of love" and so I've tried to be well prepared for meetings. This week, though, all the preparation has left me worn out. The weekend is pretty packed too - and not with R and R. Alien abduction sounds like a good alternative.
But, then, tomorrow is another day.

Finding peace

Our hospital chaplaincy team arrange regular education sessions for parish clergy. These are always informative and useful, as well as providing the opportunity for fellowship and networking. The latest session introduced us to the work of breathing space, a  first stop phoneline service for anyone who is experiencing low mood. I'm not sure whether to be disturbed by the extremely high figures on call volume quoted by Tony Mclaren, National Coordinator for Breathing Space,  or relieved that such a service is available to point those calling to other means of support.
The other speaker of the day, a charge nurse from the Acute Psychiatric Service in Ayrshire and Arran, gave us an insight into the integrated, holistic therapy they are attempting to provide. Both sessions provided lots of information and new perspective. As is often the case, my thoughts turned to how the church could be of use in lightening the load of service users and service providers. But the sad fact is that, probably, the church is the last place that many folk would turn even though, in many places now, there would be a welcome and an acceptance that might not always have been found in our churches. How can we change the perspective of generations who have lost faith in an institution but who still would claim to have faith in the ability of good to triumph over evil, even if they are only clinging onto that with their fingertips?

Getting the priorities right

Call me shallow but, when a colleague mentioned this evening that the local crematorium was exploring the possibility of making DVDs of funeral services, my immediate response was one of delight - they would then have to employ a make up artist AND my hair colouring would become a professional expense.
Then I would have no need to take in ironing:)