Been a bit of an odd week - lots to do but nothing of note to report back on.

This morning I saw the physio for the second appointment to treat my De Quervains tenosynovitis... I kind of like the incredibly long name which translates as 'inflamed sheath around the tendon that stops it moving properly'.  Suffice to say, a week of being splinted has made no difference at all, so this morning it was on to therapeutic ultrasound - two minutes of said process which is meant to aggravate the injury enough to make the body heal it up, or some such similar thing!  Anyway, I remain mostly 'armless' for the foreseeable future.

By contrast, I spent yesterday afternoon doing one of the most privileged things a minister can do - sitting at the bedside of someone who is very ill and nearing the end of life, so in a hospice.  Reading well-loved psalms and hymns, holding his hand, signing him with the cross and then praying with/for him... no other walk of life offers such privilege.  Pastoral care takes many forms, but just sitting in the silence and sharing the waiting seems both to acknowledge our powerlessness and our faithful hope beyond this life.

Today I am intending to do some reading ahead of my next preaching series.  This has the advantage of not needing functional hands, beyond turning over the pages!