Regular readers will probably have spotted that of late I don't seem to have much to say... it goes like that sometimes.  At the same time, people are kind enough to keep returning and reading, some even valuing the mundane and ordinary as a sign of authenticity.  Anyway, after yesterday's great fun service I am still rather sleepy, so the morning so far has been work-from-home doing my tax return and attending to a few admin tasks.

Tax return... one of those task I always love to get out of the way.  One that is actually the work of a few minutes once I've gathered all the relevant data in one place, because the software I use is just SO easy.  Pay Mintaplan (or someone similar) and then spend the year collating how many coffees and biscuits I give/purchase for how many people all in the interests of saving a few coppers?  Nah.  Amazon for most of my book ordering means a quick flip through the list to tot up what I spent.  P11D and P60.  Pension statement (or pay slips).  Done.  And this year for the first time ever it seems I actually hit 'break even' rather the +/- £100 of past years.  I am remarkably happy!  I'd definitely recommend TaxCalc (Acorah software) which I've used for several years.  I started using it as it was one of the few that had 'minister of religion' pages; perhaps by now some free ones have them, but for ~£30 I reckon it's good value.

PAYG this morning was the parable of the Good Samaritan, so very familiar and much of the approach stuff I've done before.  But even so, a new-to-me insight ocurred.  The man asking the question 'who is my neighbour' I have always heard as being 'how wide does this stretch?' but PAYG suggested he was asking 'how narrowly may I define this'.  It could be semantics, but these feel like different questions... the first essentially 'who may I count as 'in'?' and the latter 'who may I count as 'out'?'  Perhaps it is the fact I've always heard this as 'how wide' rather than 'how narrow' that shapes my attitdues on inclusion and exclusion, that I am more exercised by 'how can I be more inclusive whilst still true to my core convictions' rather than 'how will my convictions be compromised if I don't exclude on the grounds of x, y or z'.  Does that make sense?

So, the new work pattern continues... not without it's challenges, because having worked hard on Sunday I am tired on Mondays and have a late finish ahead of me.  Allowing myself to lie-in a little (as much as a moggy will permit anyway) and take sme space at the start of the day is the sensible way forward... Rather than seeing Monday as a very long work day, better to try to cultivate it as a 'late shift' that starts in the afternoon and gives me the morning for myself.  And then to overcome the guilt at not being 'productive' when the rest of the world is busy!