After this morning's service, someone commented that tey loved to hear babies crying in church - because it meant there were babies in church.  We obviously don't want the experience of church to make anyone cry, though we do want it to be a place where people of any age may cry, if that is what they need.   I liked the sentiment, though, and wondered if, maybe, it was a jumping off point for a litany (a series of prayerful petitions) covering all ages and stages of life? 

I should perhaps note, lest anyone tries to guess who the people are who have informed my litany, that I have drawen on experience in several churches.  Whilst folk at the Gathering Place range in age from zero to ninety nine, they may not exhibit any, never mind all, of the characteristics I have identified.

Praise God for the wail of the newborn, brought for the first time to worship -

For it means there are newborns in the church

Praise God for stage-whisper "don't close you eyes" of the toddler during prayers -

For it means there are toddlers in church

Praise God for the pre-schooler who skips along the aisle -

For it means there are pre-schoolers in the church

Praise God for the early reader, always a line behind the congregation -

For it means there are new-readers in the church

Praise God for the eager hands raised to answer questions -

For it means there are children in the church

Praise God for girlish giggles and boyish scowls -

For it means there are teenagers in the church

Praise God late arrivals, bleary eyes (and maybe hungover bodies?) -

For it means there are students in the church

Praise God for demanding questions and youthful enthusiasm

For it means there are young adults in the church

Praise God for those who 'shush' their children or stare back at those who glower -

For it means there are parents of younger children in the church

Praise God for those who are absent because of the demands of employment -

For it means there are thirty-somethings in the church

Praise God for those whose certainty gives way to questioning -

For it means those of middle years are in the church

Praise God for those who yearn for the good old days when the church was full and fid themselves surprised by their own reluctance to change -

For it means there are fifty-somethings in the church

Praise God for those who are absent to visit grandchildren, or arrive, flustered, with them in tow -

For it means there are grandparents in the church

Praise God for those who are away, again, on a cruise or or holiday -

For it means there are healthy, young retireds in the church

Praise God for the people who sleep through sermons, complain they cannot hear the preacher or rustle sweets wrappers during the quiet moments -

For it means there are elderly people in the church

Praise God for the days when we weep with those who weep -

For it means there is love in the church

Praise God when rejoice with those who rejoice -

For it means there is joy in the church

Praise God when there is disagreement over matters great and small -

For it means there is life in the church

Priase God when we catch a glimspe of heaven in our reconciled diversity -

For it means there is hope in the church

Praise God that despite what irks, disrupts, discomfits

With all the challenges wrought of authentic community

People choose to meet to share their faith and their lives -

For it means this truly is the church.

Help or hindrance?  Holly Cat trying to stow away in one of my suitcases!  Did two lots of packing yesterday (all bar the shouting) and still have drawers and cupboards full of clothes... when did we get so wealthy?  (That said, some of the clothes I have had over thirty years!!  And I can still get in to them, she says, smugly!))

Looking forward to some 'down time'but know I will REALLY miss all my Gatherers.

It was lovely to have two days off at the start of the week (all bar a two hour meeting on Tuesday afternoon) but it has the inevitable impact of playing catch-up thereafter... fitting a week's work in to the remaining days in a role where the deliverables dates cannot slide!  In a way, this just puts me in a place more similar to the volunteer people who have to fit in their churchy stuff on top of their 'real' work, so I'm not complaining, just observing.

All of which means that today, when the sun is shining, I need to be disiclpined enough to sit at my desk and do the jobs that have not yet been done this week!

Being in the 'final countdown' now to my sabbatical brings with it a strange mixture of wind-down (nothing new to pick up for a while, no sermon series to prepare, a break from meetings etc.) and potential overload, as I still have to finalise sabbatical plans (chasing other busy people) and ensure all the literal and metaphorical tidying up is done by the end of June.  Stir in a week of holiday, a friend's daughter's wedding, a few pre-existing and new appointments in my diary, a cup-cake-bake, the Glasgow West End Festival, the Sunday School end of year celebration (being skillfully put together by them :-) ) and you have a recipe for a busy few weeks.

May be blog-lite for a couple of weeks as I try to get stuff done by Wednesday ready for the craziness of wedding near Chorley on Friday, preach in Glasogw on Sunday, fly out from Manchester at 5 a.m. Monday to psend a week in Maderia!!  But then it probably wouldn't be me if it wasn't a little bit crazy.