Each week in Morning Worship, we have a psalm or an anthem, chosen by our Musical Director (sounds way more posh than reality, but he is absolutely BRILLIANT).  This morning we had one of my favourites:

I will be with you wherever you go.
Go now throughout the world!
I will be with you in all that you say.
Go now and spread my word!

Come, walk with me on stormy waters.
Why fear? Reach out, and I'll be there.
    Chorus

And you, my friend, will you now leave me,
or do you know me as your Lord?
    Chorus

Your life will be transformed with power
by living truly in my name.
    Chorus

And if you say: 'Yes, Lord, I love you,'
then feed my lambs and feed my sheep.
    Chorus

Gerard Markland (born 1953) © 1978 Kevin Mayhew Ltd

If memory serves correctly (it may not) this was the piece we used at the first service I took after I made my cancer diagnosis public; certainly it was used in a service around that time, and really spoke to my heart at a time when I was utterly terrified.  It feels pertinent that we sang it today, the second anniversary of my surgery, when I feel happy, fulfilled and very much alive. 

I am really miffed that I can't find a video or mp3 of this gorgeous piece online, so I can't share it with you, but maybe you can find a recording somewhere (for anyone in the know, a recording of the service will be on the Gathering Place website in due course.)

A propos of nothing whatsoever.

Holly Cat has lived with me for roughly eighteen months.  We get on well and she often sits next to me on the settee, sometimes even extending her front paws onto my knee.  Today she actually sat on my lap, curled up and stayed put for a full ten minutes. 

A purr-fect end to what was, in my opinion, a good morning at church.  I don't often say things like "God was moving" or "the Spirit was abroad" because I think they are bad theology - God is always moving, the Spirit is always abroad - but as I looked around during the celebration of Communion I did feel that something was afoot... that somehow we (or I anyway) had tuned in a teensy bit more with God.

Preaching on the lectionary gospel, and Jesus nearly getting lynched by the congregation at Nazareth was challenging, but I loved working with it this week, and I expect that made a huge difference to what I delivered.