Do NOT send me any so-called 'large letters' with 'letter 'stamps affixed, otherwise I will be sending you a bill for excess postage and waste of ministerial time!

Today my postie put a card through the door addressed to the church (I live next door to the defunct building) to tell me there was a letter to collect with excess postage required.  I dutifully headed off to the sorting office, fortunately only a mile away, and a good excuse for an early lunch, to discover it was a one page unsolicited letter in a 'large' A4 envelope with a 'letter' first class stamp affixed.  This wasn't even enough to cover the second class 'large letter' postage.  As a result I had to pay 6p excess postage plus a £1 handling fee for a letter I didn't even want.

I will be posting the letter back whence it came and assuring the sender that I am not even remotely interested in their services. I will even be suggesting that they may like to refund the excess fees and subsequent postage.

Churches are meant to be loving and forgiving, but not doormats.

How many temptations did Jesus face in his 40 days in the wilderness between his baptism and the start of his ministry?  No, I'm not playing games with the idea that a whole heap were unrecorded, rather just working with the three incidents listed in Matthew/Luke and ignoring discrepancies in order.

I came up with at least six this morning as I was preparing the sermon for Sunday, but as most operated at more than one level, I suspect I could have counted differently.

The first one (though I indentified it last) is egocentrism - this is all about me.  Certainly the temptations are personal, and their first referent is Jesus himself, but there must have been a temptation to self-centredness: my will be done...

Others, which can be read as personal or with universal application are...

Materialism - to make all the bread he needs/wants, and by inference anything else material.

Avoidance of risk - leap off the Temple and you won't get hurt - no risk of pain, injury or failure

Fame - leaping off the Temple as a stunt and/or to end world hunger or poverty at a stroke

Power - the whole world at his feet

Quick fix - instant change, now this minute

Abuse of scripture - finding a verse to say what you want, rather than thinking what the 'bigger picture is'

These temptations are ones we all face, to some degree, both at personal and at global levels, and it is useful to reflect on my own responses to them.  Not comfortable, but useful.

The trouble with being a regular giver-up of things for Lent, is that my church folk now expect it!  So, no tea, no coffee, no cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweets or treats until Easter.  After anything up to 30 years of this practice (I've added on over the years) it is hardly a major challenge plus I know that once the caffiene has cleared my system I am actually more energsied anyway.  So what can I usefully add on this year?

I have opted in to the much derided Carbon Fast and removed the two lamps that operate in timers to fool potential burglars.  I'm not convinced they make that much difference as a deterent but, even with 40W bulbs, and being on for about 4 hours a day each, it all adds up (around 2kWh per week - imagine that multiplied up across the UK - you could probably shut down an evil power station!).  Most of the other carbon fast stuff I already do or cannot do because I have no control over it.  I also quite like the Christian Aid Count Your Blessings approach, and will be trying to encourage church folk to join in with it.

Now, if I wanted a REAL challenge I would abstain from overwork, force myself to constrain it to around 8 hours a day, but I know I don't have the will power needed to allow things to crumble if I don't do them.

I love children's paintings!  Tonight our girls were painting their response to Saint Saens 'Carnival of the Animals' and to Disney's version of 'The Sorcerers Apprentice.'

There was a wonderful cross-eyed, yellow-faced lion, resplendent with golden brown and black mane.

There were two fabulous tigers with legs all the way up to their necks (so they looked more like octopusses/octopi that had gained stripes and lost a few legs)

There were a couple of box-shaped elephants, a monkey in a blue jumper and some very stormy water scenes.

Too soon children grow past these wonderful unselfconscious pictures and doubt therir own ability, so we made sure they got plenty of praise for their efforts, which now adorn the wall of the hall at D+2.

Confidence is such a fragile commodity, difficult to create and easily shattered.  Some of these girls will never have the opportunities that I've to discover and develop latent talent, so it seems all the more important that we help them generate self-worth now.

Long live long-legged tigers, that's what I say!

Tomorrow it's time to find time to start reading this year's Lent book - as in recent years I'm using the Archbish's recommendation.  So Life Conquers Death by John Arnold.  Two chapters (meaning 40 to 50 pages) a week - should force me to slow down a bit in order to get it done.