No posting for a couple of days as I have visitors coming from Dibley for the weekend.  It will be great to see them and hope they remember to bring the sun (it's currently only shining in three out of four UK countries).

This Sunday is Passion Sunday (well it is for Proddies) when we recall how Jesus 'turned his face towards Jerusalem.'  I am always struck by the poignancy of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19) and how much he must have loved the place and the people.  He had quite probably been there every year of his life at Passover time, or certainly at key points in his life.  He must have known the city well, had favourite places to shop, to eat, to sit and chat.  He must have known the Temple well, its riches and its rags, its worship and its hypocricy.  And he loved it dearly.

I wonder how much we love the places we live in, and the people among whom we live out our discipleship?  Does our love for them - people, places - ever move us to tears?

I am often asked what I think of Glasgow and always reply 'I love it.'  I do.  I am a city girl at heart I guess, and the diversity, complexity and energy of the city delight me.  And I love Dibley too, with all its unique, if sometimes exasperating (sorry folks) features, its gritty determination, its lovely rural landscapes, its sense of 'istory (ironically they don't, as a rule, do H's), its ability to love even this incomer ('you have to live here three generations to be accepted').  Loving isn't blind, and that's why it can provoke strong reactions - such as Jesus weeping.

Let us, in our imaginations, find a high spot near our villages/towns/cities and look at them in love... what emotions does that provoke?  How about we do it for our churches too?