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  • Scottish Baptist Women in Ministry

    This little news item from BUS/BMS is quite exciting, not least as it means there are now two ordained Scottish Baptist women working directly for the BUS (the other being my super, splendiferous mentee).  I am obviously thrilled that there are women being appointed to these roles, but I'm afraid there has to be a but...

    I am still the only woman minister in sole pastoral charge of as Baptist church within the BUS... there are a few 'associates' (under the headship (even if notional) of a man minister) and a few chaplains... but this Rubicon is evidently rather too wide for many to cross, at least as yet.

    It is one of those things that continually strikes me as ridiculous, that Baptists (English, Scottish, Welsh) will cheerfully appoint women to 'translocal' posts, even to overtly 'strategic missional' posts far more readily than to local churches... Union Presidents, Regional Ministers, Mission Co-ordinators, Youth Co-ordinators, tick, tick, tick, tick... but bog-standard minister-type person, ooooh, not so sure...

    But, back to the good stuff, big congratulations to Judy on her appointment, and I look forward to seeing how the new BUS-BMS collaboration works out.

  • Hypothesis Testing

    Last night I was doing some internet trawling of medical research papers (as one does) to investigate my hypothesis that my gammy wrists are a side effect of my current drug regime... I think I am on the way to demonstrating that I just happen to be someone with a rare side effect.  I won't stop taking the drugs, sore wrists/thumbs are definitely the lesser of two evils.... (high) risk of recurrent cancer vs sore thumbs/wrists... no brainer, imo.

    Anyway, what made me smile was that the first research paper that seemed to affirm my hunch emerged from the alma mater of both myself and my tame oncology professor... so it must be trustworthy!

  • Third Week in Advent: Tuesday

    Today's readings:

    Psalm 40:12

    Numbers 13: 30 - 33

    Luke 4: 1 - 13

    Once again, it seems as if joy is in short supply.  The one verse from Psalm 40 is especially gloomy - the writer's sins outnumber the hairs on his head (which we cannot fail but hear in conjunction with the NT assertion that even the hairs on our heads are counted).  The Numbers reading is the report of the spies who were sent to inspect the Land of Promise, where Caleb offers a negative reaction - great place but peopled by giants. And Luke gives us the Temptations of Jesus.

    So, hmm, yes, joy.  I think I have to come at this from a slight tangent, and work with the Luke:

    Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,  where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.  The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."  Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’"  The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.  So if you worship me, it will all be yours."  Jesus answered, "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’"  The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here.  For it is written: "‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;  they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’"  Jesus answered, "It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"  When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

    One way we can look at these temptations is that they run counter to the essence of joy-filled living.  The quick fix solution to hunger, as if material well-being was the only thing that matters.  The allure of power, achieved through questionable allegiance and dubious practices, as if power was an end in itself.  The publicity stunt to attract attention, as if celebrity was the key to success.

    Joy somehow survives struggle, poverty, disease, hunger, even physical death.  That does not mean that we can ignore injustice or become narcissistic or ego-centric.  But joy is not the product of material satisfaction, it is something that both precedes and survives it.

    Joy cannot be manufactured through power or celebrity, as the saying goes, 'money can't buy you love' or happiness, or fulfilment or anything else.

    Perhaps these various readings, with seeming dearth of joy, lead us to pause and reconsider what motivates us, what we are seeking when we aspire to bigger better, brighter...  We won't find fulfilment in 'bread alone' we need God-given joy.

     

    The X-factor winners have been named

    The Young Apprentice has her prize

    Soon Master Chef (the Professionals)

    And Strictly will announce their winners.


    Five minutes of fame,

    Of celebrity,

    Of public recognition.

    And we are pleased for them:

    That their goal has been reached,

    Their endeavour rewarded.


    But -

    Do they have joy?

     

    God of the wilderness,

    Literal and metaphorical,

    You alone are the source of joy

    You alone give us the ability

    To keep on

    Keeping on

    And on

    And on

    And on...

     

    Fullness of life is not located in material wealth

    Worth is not found in the power we wield

    Acclaim does not arise from celebrity

     

    Grant us instead

    Dogged determination

    Resilience against negativity

    The assurance of your accompaniment

    For these, surely,

    Are the outworking of joy

    Amen.

  • Fairtrade Soy Free Chocolate - Found It!

    Now, I have yet to purchase any, so I don't know what it tastes like but I have found some soy free (and as it happens some are also vegan, so that's useful for some of my occasional visitors) fairtrade chocolate.... HURRAH!

    It's available here ... just hoping they don't sue me for adding the link as a scary message popped up on the website when I tried to open in a new tab with a right mouse click!

    I'm a happy soy-free chocaholic!

  • Voice Recognition Software?

    On the bais that I now have two gammy wrists/thumbs - gee I look so funky with my splints - someone suggested I consider investing in voice recognition software for my computers.  So I was wondering, if anyone has any experience of this, what works and doesn't, and any hints or tips.  I had a quick look at one popular package but it seems not to 'speak' (pardon the pun) to Firefox which is my preferred browser... it may do, but it's not listed on the things it does speak to.  I am a PC user with Windows 7 and Office 2007 or 2010 (depending where I am).  I use quite a bit of specialist software such as HymnQuest, E-sword, Endnote, and TaxCalc, so would be intrigued to know if any voice software can drive any of these?  I also use Skype now and then.

    Don't get me wrong, my hands work, and hopefully my wrists/thumbs will recover or at least not deterioriate, but I am curious to know if this is worth considering.