Often enough we minister types speak of the privilege of pastoral encounters, especially those that coincide with major life events, and to do so is valid.  Less often do we talk about responsibility, by which I meaa not our repsonsibility to those who grant us this privilege, but to ourselves (and where appropriate our families).

It's not just about time management - if it were that easy I'd have had it sorted years ago - it's about the unpredictable nature of real life and the way that the unexpected tends to arrive in several large dollops all at once.  So, it's Wednesday evening and although I've read the commentaries and made some notes, there is not as yet a single word committed to paper for Sunday, which is not the way I like to be.  And I'm tired.  Tired enough that tomorrow I may steal a lie-in as it is yet another day with evening committments.

Back in the day, I could work 70 hour weeks regularly and thrive on it.  Now if gets much past 50 I'm fit for nothing, and I try to keep it to around 40 if I can.  Workaholic ministers are not really a good thing - not good for ourselves and certainly not good as examples to others.

So this is me being a little bit responsible and fessing up to fatigue, fessing up to the fact that sometimes there is just too much work to do and that it just can't all be done.

For all that, I am looking forward to the second session of mindfulness this evening, as the stillness and quiet helps me to re-establish a bit of balance amidst the busyness.