This morning as part of our response to a reflection on Psalm 20, we sang this which has copyright dates of 1987 and 2002.  Written thirty years ago (!) and presumably updated fifteen years ago, yet could equally have been written this week.  Sung to the Geordie folk tune "The Keel Row" it is thought provoking, if not exactly beautiful poetry.

Power stalks the earth both by purpose and accident,

filling with pride those it does not fill with fear.

Power may be hidden or power may be evident,

macro or micro, far off or very near.

Look to the one who has chosen to live without

power to seduce or corrupt or to repel;

learn from the one who refuses to scream or shout,

yet can convince that with him all will be well.

Power of computers to file information may

keep for the few what the many should be told.

Power of the party which governs the nation can

seldom be questioned and rarely be cajoled.

Look to the one who embraces the frightened folk,

those more aware of their wrong than of their right;

learn from the one who will speak for the silenced ones,

hear for the deaf, and provide the blind with sight.

Power of the privileged in talent or parentage

discounts whoever it cannot understand.

Power of the bureaucrat, anxious at every stage,

struggles to keep what's unstructured close at hand.

Look to the one who forgoes his advantages,

sits on the ground with whoever cannot stand;

learn from the one who has known our predicament,

baffled all systems, and lived from mouth to hand.

Power of the press on the button or media

kindles the fuse to a scandal or a bomb;

power of the keeper of secret or confidence

suspects the ones he must keep the secret from.

Look to the one who speaks peace unpretentiously,

defuses hate and is antidote for fears;

learn from the one who accepts, unconditionally,

those whom he summons to share his joy and tears.

John L Bell (born 1949) and Graham Maule (born 1958) © 1987, 2002 WGRG, Iona Community, 4th floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland

Sophie cat is busy watching over the latest stack of packets waiting to be posted off to all corners of the UK!

A couple are the remanants of my craft stuff, going to people who will use them in charitable endeavours, the rest are maps and guides from long distance walks I've done or places I've been.  Scattering this collection of maps, etc. between around a dozen folk feels surprisingly positive.  I have had pleasure from the walks and holidays, and somewhere, deep in my memory, they can all be relived.  Now other people can enjoy making thier own memories, leaving their footprints in the same places... and that feels quite a precious gift to offer.

I'm not quite sure where the clear out will stop... there's still a heck of a lot of stuff that needs to be shed, but it's surprisingly liberating to let this stuff go, and, by doing it now when I am comparatively young and in good health, I have the pleasure of knowing where things go.

By the end of tomorrow, several large items will have left the building en route to new homes overseas via a Baptist charity, and over the coming weeks I am fairly sure that CDs, DVDs, books and other stuff will set off on new adventures.

Many years ago, I recall chatting to some overseas mission workers who said that they learned to hold possessions very lightly - it wasn't that they didn't want or enjoy having 'stuff', they simply recognised it as what it was, enabled to enjoy it and let it go.  If I can reach that level of 'lightly holding' things, I'll be happy.... and, as the saying goes, there're no pockets in shrouds!!

Many people have loyally read this blog over many years, and have continued to be supportive and encouraging as I've moved on after breast cancer.  Today was my annual check up and, subject to the results of the mammogram, I am still a NED.

I think I have the best breast team in the world, not least because after these years we can share some good banter as well as discuss serious stuff.  Kind of nice when your consultant walks in and says 'Hello Trouble' and refers to the BCN as 'a Monster' all the time with a smile on his face.  And equally nice when you can ask questions and express concerns (should they arise) knowing you'll be taken seriously and taken good care of.

The NHS, in its various guises, and despite the things that are not good or not fair or less than ideal, is a truly wonderful thing, and I am very blessed to be a recipient of it.

Not a greeting, a statement of fact.

This evening the planning group for our up coming Church Away Day met, pretty much with a blank sheet of paper, and in 90 minutes, during which time we also shared a meal, we had come up with something that I think is exciting.  Lots to sort out and lots of 'maybes' but I know with this great Team on the case, it'll be really good.

Can't give you any details here, yet, except to say that my celery soup tasted OK and the cheese scones went down a treat!!

Today, being my 'day off', I took myself off on the train to the place where the West Highland Way starts, and enjoyed a walk of roughly 7-8 miles, blowing away a lot of cobwebs in the process.

On the inbound walk, I stopped to take photographs, including this one which says, just about discernibly, "privacy's edge" - being on the boundary of public land and a private, permissive path.

It got me thinking a bit about the boundaries between public and private in our own lives, and more epsecially, about the stuff I share on this blog.

Privacy's edge... that delicate balance between what is or is not appropriate to share; and another between what I choose to offer because actually I think that someone has to say it (which is why my cancer stuff always drew a large readership) and between what I don't offer because, actually, I don't want to share it...

I kind of liked the fact that the stone was obscured, that I had to look closely to make out what it said, because that seemed to reflect the blurred, imprecise nature of public/private boundaries in blogging.

I'm not sure I'll ever fully suss out the answer, but I did have a lovely, muddy walk, which did me a power of good - something I am quite happy to share!!