This new website may or may not be of interest.  It is a collection of responses by Baptists to the statment at the recent BUGB Council on 'Same Sex Marriage'.  Many, but not all, the contributions are from ministers who have 'accepting ' or 'affirming' understandings.  Some contributors are gay, some are straight, some are married, some are single/celibate.  Some use their real names, some are anonymised.  All are committed to being properly "Baptist" in this and, indeed, other matters.  Whatever your own theological standpoint, it is worth reading these letters, reflections and stories from people who want to get it "right" in a way that reflects all that is good about being Baptists... and that isn't always easy.

Not afraid of elephants - and recognising that it isn't possible to eat one in a single bite!!

Tomorrow I will be one of three speakers at a little symposium type thing on Baptist History.  I will be speaking on the 17th century hymn-singing controversy among English Particular Baptists, and will end up with some of Benjamin Keach's most terribe doggerel, one sample of which is here:

Our wounds do stink and are corrupt,
Hard swellings do we see;
We want a little ointment, Lord,
Let us more humble be.

(Try singing it to Winchester Old (While Shepherds Watched) which is a tune that was around at the time - I have no idea of the tune originally employed)

Tomorrow is also Shakespeare's birthday/deathday, so by comparison here is what is allegedly one of his most overtly religious sonnets:

My apologies to those frequent readers who use this blog as a way of keeping up with what is going on in my world.  Life is a tad daft at the moment and I'm afraid blog updates are pretty far down the priority list.

Long story, short-ish, my Mum has beem either in hospital or in care since the middle of January, and a fair amount of time, energy and long-distance travel arises from that.  I am now very familiar with the X336 Glasgow to Birmingham night coach, and am rapidly learning my way around the completely revamped Birmingham New Street and Northampton railway stations!  It's tricky to be supportive by phone and at a distance, but among my sibs I am the one best placed to handle this.

Church is busy and fun and challenging and busy some more.  My short series of sermons on women's stories is eliciting some feedback - not lots, but some; it is largely positive and even when not, it's helpful.  There are oodles of other things to fill up my time from meetings to visits, from strategy to service planning, from preparing a talk to talking about preparations... I am enjoying being back at work and, finally, as I near five years since the end of my "active treatment" for cancer, my brain is beginning to wake up again.  Being able to read and retain information is wonderful!  Also now I am not anaemic and bleeding I have energy - who knew?!

So, updates are likely to be sporadic and brief, but I am still here and still living life as best I can.

Today's sermon on the woman caught out in adultery ranged over quite a lot of stuff... the gender inequality/injustice enshrined in holy writ, the fact that I cannot imagine anyone ever sets out to commit adultery, that all of us is vulnerable to adulteries whether sexual or otherwise, that it needs opportunity, invitation/initiation and consent. I even noted that the woman was freed whilst the man was left with his guilty secrets - so did he really get away with it?

The new thing for me was when it struck me that "go and sin no more" was not a finger-wagging "you got away with it this time but..."  No, if we recognise that 'sin' means 'falling short of a target' rather than 'wilfully choosing the wrong thing' then it may better be heard as, "you deserve something so much better than this cheap, tawdry imitation of love" or "this falls way short of what God wants for you" or maybe even "don't settle for second best".

If we can hear it like that - that "all have sinned and fallen short" is not about being bad but about being fallible and finite, is about missing out on the best because we settle for less - then it becomes less harsh and more like our own experience.  Whatever it may be, in our own place of sin/failure, embarrassment/exposure Jesus refuses to condemn us and says "you're worth so much more than this, put it behind you and live the life you deserve".

I had a good morning, I hope others found it helpful/interesting/challenging/comforting or whatever was needful.

Saturday is a slightly strange day in my world... technically it's a working day (ostensibly I am available six days out of seven) but it's also a slower day, a day to catch up on household tasks, make final tweaks ahead of Sunday worship and generally be there if anyone needs me.

One Saturday morning a month, the cats and I take an hour or so to listen to the smallVOICE podcast, and it is always time well spent.  Wide-ranging, thoughtful and thought-provoking, it is worth listening to.  I don't always share the views expressed, and nor will you, and that is part of the joy of this podcast.  Always topical, always gracious it is one of the few things that I make a special effort to listen to.

If you fancy listening to this month's edition, then go here.  I am biased because people I know and love are among the those speaking in this edition, but it picks up some really important topics worth considering.

Otherwise, just enjoy the kitty cats photo, and have a great Saturday (whatever day it is) yourself.