Just a little teaser for the reader.

Today was our usual Coffee Club day, and as ever, a goodly number of us took over the settees of the local hostelry to sup lattes, capuccinos or teas and share in some good 'crack'.  It is a special point in our week.  A time and place of deeper sharing, where memories are recalled and life-stories begin to be shared in an atmosphere of open trust and mutual support.  From the wonderful influx of students over the weekend to the state of someone's back step; from our concerns and frustrations about reactions of the wealthy nations to the Commonwealth Games to concerns for folk on the edge of our church, conversation flowed far and wide and was genuine.

It is the deeper sharing that strikes me - the people telling their stories, discovering overlaps in their pasts, saying 'I never knew that...' which builds and stengthens the bonds that unite us.

So to Padgate.  Area of Warrington and former barracks where endless national servicemen began their training.  It transpired someone from church had spent some time there... Over the years countless people have told me this, which makes me wonder just how many poeple passed through that place over the years.  Padgate is the home of DJ Chris Evans, of several of 'my' former GB girls and a place that is part of my past too.  A nowhere place, full of nowhere people... a lot like every other place on earth.  And a place where lives are shaped, stories formed and memories made.

Telling out stories, finding our connections, it seems to me to be a good thing to do... for we are, afterall, part of the one Body.