One of the delights of our church is the diversity of accents that can be heard on a Sunday morning.  Yesterday, though I was slightly bemused by a visitor who told me I had a west country accent...  East Anglia or Midlands maybe, North West England (with southern vowels) possibly, even a hint of Glasgow these days.  But west country....?  I don't think so!

As it happens probably a coincidence, but it was appropriate.

A lovely apocryphal tale of Ascension can be found here... it would make a delightful children's picture book methinks.

Yesterday after worship we had an end of year picnic for our students.  It was great fun and despite the weather forecast it remained dry and wasn't too chilly (it later got flippin' freezin' and rained).  The picnic took place in the roof garden of the flats opposite the church, where one of our members lives.  This is a decked area with some tubs and benches running around its perimeter.  It affords an alternative and quite quirky views of the environs.  It was something that the students wouldn't otherwise have been able to do, and as one of our most senior members observed, they are making memories.

It was a super culmination to a year of student events that began last September with an afternoon tea to which around 40-50 people came.  Of course not all the students who came stayed with us, but several have, and now as the year ended it was good to see how the relationships have developed.  From carrying tables from the church to the roof garden, to making humus, to buying cooked meat, to supplying crisps, all our students - and that's how we see them - played an active part in preparing for the event, this was not mere consumerism, it was a community gathering.

All in all a good day, in which the hairs-breadth gap between earth and heaven was narrowed just a little more.