So today it is back to work properly, back to leading worship, back to being among the people God has called me to serve, the people I love, the people who love me........... enough mush already.

Anyway.  Epiphany Sunday.

I have just been arranging the nativity scene for worship... you have to appreciate that after each service the characters have travelled upstairs to the vestry where they live on the mantelpiece in a rather random arrangement.  During Advent the shepherd (we only have one!), then the wise ones travelled around the gathering Place, from balcony stairs, to top of the heater to the table.

Today the wise ones, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and assorted livestock are on the table, the shepherd is on the heater, back at work, and the angel is hiding under the flower arrangement.

I know most people have a full tableau, but biblical it isn't... I'm not utterly convinced Joseph needs to be present today (Matthew just says child and mother), but the shepherds and angels are long gone!

I think a nativity scene that moves, changes and reflects the transcience of the story is a helpful symbol... we never quite 'arrive', the 'journey' goes on again.

Next week sees the start of a new sermon series loosely titled 'active waiting' - just about every resource I found for this phrase was for Advent so there you go.  We will begin with a phrase stolen from a talk I heard about three years ago "In the Meantime..." before moving on to think about what we do 'in the meantime'

Looking forward to it!

... or so my mother used to inform us regularly when we were children.  I suspect she may be correct.

Next Wednesday is 'the' day on which my chemo curls will be cropped in favour of what the nice hairdresser man calls "a style" - something he assures me will put an end to the wayward, wacky and actually rather fun waves to which I have grown accustomed these past few months.  I never, ever wanted curly hair, or short hair for that matter, and now I am used to both.  In a perverse way I am sad at the thought of losing my curls, as they give more 'body' to my otherwise very fine hair.  I'm sure "a style" is a good thing... just a bit scary to change my looks yet again.

Anyway, here's a quick snap I took yesterday, mid tropical moment, to celebrate the curls before they become one more memory!

The word 'epiphany' is overworked, a point I will be making on Sunday when we mark the arrival of the magi to visit the young Jesus.  The significance of the festival - the Light to the Gentiles/Nations, the 'en-light-enment' of those deemed other is more important than the name we use.  I am sure the purists will tell me that the festival must be done today and not 'transferred' to Sunday, but frankly I'm not too worried. 

There are lots of hymns/songs I COULD have chosen other than those I did, one of which would be this one:

Christ for the world we sing!
the world to Christ we bring,
with loving zeal;
the poor, and them that mourn,
the faint and overborne,
sin-sick and sorrow worn,
for Christ to heal.

Christ for the world we sing!
The world to Christ we bring
with fervent prayer;
the wayward and the lost,
by restless passions tossed,
redeemed at countless cost
from dark despair.

Christ for the world we sing!
The world to Christ we bring
with one accord;
with us the work to share,
with us reproach to dare,
with us the cross to bear,
for Christ our Lord.

Christ for the world we sing!
The world to Christ we bring
with joyful song;
the new-born souls, whose days,
reclaimed from error's ways,
inspired with hope and praise,
to Christ belong.

Samuel Wolcott (1813-1886)

Whether you are taking down your decorations because it's twelfth night, marking Epiphany in an act of worship, or even having Christmas Day (Eastern churches), I hope you have a good day, and that new light, new understnading just might dawn on your horizon.

Today I've had a bit of a blog tidy, moved things around a bit, corrected some of the long-standing typos, updated some of the lists (though not all by any means) and added a new loosely 'worship and spirituality' section on the side bar.  This is something people might like or hate, might find useful or might confirm their worst fears that I'm an unreconcilable heretic, but it's there, because they are sites I find useful and others might too.

It seemed right to move the cancer links down a bit but not to take them off - people still land here seeking cancer info, and it still lurks in the shadows of my own life, sometimes sneaking up on me unawares!

I will get round to updating the blogroll soon - there are some defunct or all but defunct blogs still linked at the moment.

Now back to preparing for Epiphany Sunday when our wise men finally reach the end of the their journey around stairs, heaters and tables en route to their encounter with Jesus!

Recently I was gifted two fans for my more melty moments...

This oriental gentleman has a little battery powered motor within that causes his fan-blades to rotate... he is very cute and very efficient at reducing the temperature of my face!!

This manual model comes from Japan and the ice-cream design panels add a sense of coolness as I waft myself frantically.

Each now lives in my bag and goes whither I go, in readiness for the tropical moments that make life such fun.

I suspect I am still the only person in Glasgow with windows open and delighting in the cooler weather!