A great joy

My dear parishioner J. did tell me after last Sunday's sermon that she didn't agree with me!!!
My goodness someone actually listened!
And she and the lovely H still continue to come week by week and sit in the front pew!

Simple gifts

By its very nature my job means I spout a lot of words into the atmosphere. It can be vaguely disconcerting because you are never quite sure if people are hearing what you are saying (or for that matter if what you sayign is worth being heard!).
Yesterday morning for example things seemed to be going quite well then I noticed that M (who notoriously absents herself from mental engagement with sermon and/or worship) had sort of connected...but about 5 minutes in became quite animated. She was obviously watching what was going on behind me!
Then H was looking in the same direction.
I felt a degree of anger well up within and wanted to turn round and see what could possibly be more fascinating than me! I resisted the temptation and the desire to publicly chide them.
The stupid candle, which hadn't been changed because for the third month in a row the rostered sacristan hadn't done her job, had gone up in a blaze of glory. Obviously far more more interesting than the proclamation of the Gospel!
It is easy to be judgmental. I have absented myself from too many homilies in the past to be judgmental about those who couldn't give a stuff about what I am saying.
Any way. God, who is rich in mercy, allowed me to have two simple gifts the next time round.
There were a number of young kids in the later service...it's always difficult to compete. But they were good and indeed..delightful.
It was great when asking a rhetorical question "After all we people of faith know that Jesus is alive, don't we?" To have a little 3 year old voice say "Yes!" without looking up from her drawing and without any casuistry, total conviction!
Then after the service, checking that the oldies were OK, I asked K who's having a rought trot at the moment (and who's had a helluva life...but she would never see it that way) how it was going.
And she beamed, in way that I had worried she had forgotten how and said "OOOh you know Easter, Don't be alarmed!"
She was quoting back some of Mark's account of the resurrection about which I preached on Easter day (here). It is worth it if one person listens!

Collegiality and the modern priest

When clergy get together we talk a lot about collegiality. The college of presbyters(priests), the college of bishops, we even have a service called a collation...which leads to the obvious jokes...but more of that at another time
Our monthly Deanery meeting, which is a principle expression of our local collegiality (clergy of the southern region) was yesterday. One of the things we do is talk about what we are going to preach about next Sunday (riveting stuff...but it is of course our bread and butter)
It was hard work yesterday, the passage we looked at principally was Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus's encounter with a Canaanite woman. It is quite a tricky little passage as Jesus seems to eb quite rude to a woman. One of us began with assertion, "Of course this is clever it is a play on words...", another (perhaps the least formally trained of us all) had obviously done more preparation than any of us and gave us a sensitive pastoral account, I chipped in with my usual this is about struggling with what it means to be authentic. The theologian tried to link it backwards and forwards.
I was left wondering what the people would hear on Sunday.
It was, this time, a fairly frustrating sort of discussion in which we didn't really engage with each other. Sometimes (even usually) we spark each other. But this time weall seemed to have quite different agendas.
I suppose this is both the strength and weakness of a college. It allows for difference, but that difference can also be frustrating.
I remain committed to the idea that it is the struggle with difference thta is creative and dynamic.
But I would, wouldn't I?

What end blogging?

Pursuant to a conversation during which my neighbour (who I shall refer to as Dr W for the sake of anonymity)harangued us because his hearing aid didn't appear to be working properly...or was it because I was at the other end of the table (either way W it was like the good old days) we were told that we should be careful lest our lunchtime conversation appear on my blog.
This is not unreasonable, though I would always remove personal comment if asked.
It does raise the question about the way information is now being transmitted, but I shall leave you to think about that.
But I did think the cartoon below was rather fun!

Mind your feet

As I reflect on the idea of faith footprint (it proves a little harder than I thought), I am thinking a bit about the footprints I, and we, made last week. Some of it seems Ok, some of it seems indifferent, and some of it seems well just wrong.
I felt OK, but sad by my visit with my declining friend. I tried to cheer him up by helping him to connect with the outside world...sometimes he would try, but other times he wouldn't
I enjoyed talking with someone who is thinking about what it means to be a priest, and another who is having some real difficulty on the ministry front. I had a fruitful time talking to someone who will be ordained quite soon about some of the contemporary issues of ministry.
I tried to pray and meditate with some quality each day.
I prepared a couple of sermons, and various entries for my weblog, and my preaching site.
I said the Eucharist three times
I had a couple of snappy exchanges
S & I went to the pictures to see Knocked Up
I drove up and down to school umpteen times
I read a whole lot of material on Jung
I visited my sister
I went to a 2 year olds birthday party
I baptised two children
I had more than a few moments when I felt depressed

What all this means and what sort of picture it begins to paint. I continue to reflect on