That's it, I just booked my flights and accommodation for my trip to New Zealand... a big hole in £2000, yikes!  Have arranged it so that the conference is slap bang in the middle of my visit giving some fun days either side.  Just need to write that there paper now!

Very exciting and slightly scary!  BC I would have been much more wary of something like this than I am AD... some changes are definitely to be embraced.

Because I woke up early today (my radio alarm clock changes automatically, my cat alarm clock does not!) I found myself listening to 'The hour' on Radio 2 ... not really my cup of tea, but at least now I know that.  One of the songs that was played would have annoyed me anyway, but with hurricane force winds forecast it was just plain wrong...

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a suddent, I am aware

of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.

And I realize how beautiful you are

And how great your affections are for me...

John M McMillan (c) Kingsway

So it's alright people, don't fear the hurricance that threatens to blow off your rooves/roofs and wreak havoc in your lives, don't be worried if the rivers overflow, washing away and destroying everything in their path... because evidently that's what God's love is like.

It's a terible metaphor and, in my view, an ill-conisdered choice by the Radio 2 production team. 

Sorry, but in my mind it is, as I've already said, at least twice, just plain wrong.

What a wonderful theme!  How annoying, then, that I only discovered it on the last day of BBC Radio 2 World of Faith Week.  Lots of stories told on the Radio 2 website from different perspectives - never married, widowed, divorced, ordained, 'lay' etc. that are worth listening to or looking at.

The difference between aloneness and loneliness is noted, and the place of solitude and socialising recognised.  There a few nice twee stories with happy endings - but then I guess there is a need to give hope to those who long for such and ending themselves.  There is also quite a lot of painful honesty.

Living alone well - I wonder that really means?

I recall a singe male minister telling me how a search committee asked him if he could look after himself, and wondered who would cook and clean for him.  So is living alone well measured in terms of our diet and the frequency with which we dust?  I think there are challenges in the domestic sphere for people who live alone - cooking for one is somtimes a huge effort and the temptation to grab a quick snack can be very strong.  Batch cooking and ready meals each have their place, along with a fruit bowl and a good dose of self-discipline.

But that's surely not all we mean by living alone well?  Surely it is something about thriving rather than surviving, about being fulfilled rather than filling every waking moment with actiivty.

To be honest, I cannot imagine not living alone now - for roughly 30 years that has been my lifestyle, and it suits me well.  There are enormous freedoms that my friends-in-relationships don't have - eating odd things at strange times, slobbing around all day doing nothing (yes, it does happen sometimes!), accepting invitations withoout the need to consult anyone, and so on.  There are less fun aspects - the need to get up and make food if I feel ropey, the lack of potential for someone to bring home a pleasant surprise, the absence of a sparring partner or sounding board for important decisions.

But on the whole, living alone suits me.  Cat by name and cat by nature, perhaps.  Independent but not isolated.  Able to enjoy company but not dependent on it.

I'm not sure quite how living alone well is defined - but I like to think I don't do too badly.  Here are the tips that Radio 2 offer!

On a more sobering note, a substantial number of people who are part of faith communities reported that they felt lonely - that challenges me as a minister as I wonder who in my congregation feels that way.  And what, then, might we and they do to alleviate that?