I am back home after a wonderful time in Manchester at BMS Catalyst Live (aka Catalyst Olive courtesy of Lucy Berry).  Whichever metaphor you choose - smorgesbord (sp?) or box of chocolates - it was certainly diverse and rich.  Not everything was to my taste, but there was much to delight the senses and nourish the grey matter. I laughed, I frowned, I regretted, I delighted, I chatted, I listened, I hugged, I was hugged, I was on familiar turf, I was with friends for whom it was foreign 'turf', I met new people... With music, art, poetry, preaching, science, history, current affairs and more it was, all-in-all, one of the best times I've had in many a long day.

And then into my inbox came the offical registration for the International Symposium on Theology, Spirituality and Cancer in which I am clearly identified as a speaker.  I am a little apprehensive about this - the paper is not even in draft form yet, let alone honed, and I am 'the' overseas speaker.

Yesterday there were several overseas speakers, chief among them being Jurgen Moltmann.  Oh dear, these poor New Zealanders will get a very pale imitation in me - even I have just spent a whole month preaching on hope and saying pretty much what Moltmann said yesterday!!  Still, for the one and only time ever, I am able to put myself in the same sentence as Professor Moltmann when talking about conference speakers - how smug is that!