A day of annual leave, and a lovely day out to Liverpool Cathedral to see the 'Threads Through The Bible' exhibition.  It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours, and lots to ponder.

I think my favourite section was probably the Creation, and the photo is of 'In the beginning, God' - an attempt to express something of the mystery of God as a three-stranded spiral... an image that recurred throughout the panels.  Vibrant colours, tiny details, and a dancing creation from a swirling creator, it really was a delight.

The section on the life of Jesus was beautiful, and I loved the playful detail of a different bird on each panel, chosen for their symbolism, ancient or modern, fanciful or thoughtful.

For me, Threads through Revelation, wasn't anywhere near as attractive, in fat, apart form the final panel, it left e quite cold.  It was courageous and creative, attempting to express complex symbols without trying to make them something literal when they aren't, so all credit to the creator, just not really for me.

The exhibition will be touring over the next couple of years, and well worth visiting if you have the opportunity.  See more here

Today we looked at the story of Ruth, and at the numerous commandments given t the ancient Israelites about care of widows, orphans and 'aliens'.  Using a number of other Bible verses about prayer, we used ears of wheat to gather our intercessory prayers.  People joined in well, they are really good at going along with slightly bonkers ideas!

Last week, the church email was migrated to a new platform.  It works just fin in outlook on my laptop but try as I might - and I have tried many times - it will not work either in outlook or mail on my iPhone.

This morning, BT email and webmail are both down, so no personal emails are arriving or leaving.  Just as well I have other means to check orders expected today.

And, as it's the weekend, my college email is largely silent.

This is a bit like how life used to be, before smartphones, before I had a computer at home, before email was a thing... and it is surprisingly joyous!

Today, part of what I am doing is preparing some teaching notes for a one hour session on risk management for ministers.  It's fun for me - and hopefully useful for them!

Today was my first foray into academic marking... an interesting, enjoyable and mostly fun experience, from which I learned a lot.

I was 'moderating' which is not the same as marking or second-marking... The scripts had already been marked by a very experienced tutor, and my role was two-fold: to see if the marking felt right (i.e. that I felt it was all in the right ball park) and to ensure that it was fair (i.e. that all scripts were treated with equity).

I confirmed what I've always know - I am a pedant on grammar and formatting (truly I am my mother's daughter)!

I'm glad I have the opportunity for another round of moderating later in the year so that I can feel a bit more confident before next year needing to start marking academic work I've set (eek!) as I am not sure I've really grasped how to 'pitch' the criteria.

On a lighter note, it was interesting and amusing to read reviews of a book by someone I led occasional joint services with in Glasgow, in which the story is told of a young, inexperienced minister who, many years later I worked with on CoP26!