Just occasionally you read a sloppy poem in an obit notice and feel it's right.  I saw one for Dennis, one of our lunch club members, whose funeral is today at the same time as we sit down to eat.  It spoke of a special smile, and it was right.  Dennis was always smiling.  He was an uncomplicated chap who told me my explanation of Easter last year was the first time he'd ever understood it.  He had a lot of pain and failing health but he was always gracious and smiling.  I will miss saving him a seat at the front of the coach today; we will all miss his smile.  At least now he is pain free, and I pray, at peace.

Sunday 17th June is one of my 'let the peeple choose the hymns' Sundays.  Secretly, I relish the challenge of making a coherent act of worship from the things people pick.  This time it's a bit diffenret - D+1 and D are together; intriguingly, and perhaps because it's only a couple of month's since D last had the opportunity for this, most of the choices are from D+1.  As expected (and I'm almost ready to say, 'come back These are The Days, most is forgiven' but only almost) Dibley's own 'glowing spirits' hymn has been picked.  Ah well.

So, what hymns await us...

• Tis sweet, O Lord, to sing Thy praise til all our spirits glow 
• My God, I thank Thee, who hast made the earth so bright
• Dear Lord and Father of us all ('mankind' in original)
• How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord
• Blessed Assurance
• I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus
• Let me have my way among you, do not strive
• Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah

I've had to pick a couple of other things to begin and end the service (as Guide Me, which is a great 'ender' is being used for Communion) and fitting in a 'thought for the day' will be 'interesting' but overall, even if not all would necessarily be my choice, the hymns are, 'melting hearts' excepted, pretty good.  What's mildly amusing, and probably a bit of a shame (with the obvious exception: have you worked out I can't stand this song yet?!) is that a good proportion of English Baptists aged under 40 won't know any of them! 

Just spoke to someone from church and asked how yesterday's service went.

"It was just an old fashioned service.  Some of your services are a bit strange, but having an old fashioned service seemed rather boring."

I think that's a compliment! 

I'm also mildy bemused because liturgically (in its proper meaning) you don't get much more traditional than my services.  Ah well, strange it is then.

It's a funny thing you can't get used to, as my mother would say.

A rare free Sunday.  I was going to be diligent and do some writing but the sun was shining so I went out and had a break from everyone and everything.  In fact, one way and another I've managed to get most of the last three days off, so am a tad less stressy to be around!

I took myself off to Shugborough, near Stafford, which, thanks to my National Trust membership cost me £3 for an 'access all areas' ticket.  It was a lovely place to spend time, with beautiful gardens and a virtually complete working estate with costumed guides.  There were lots of signs telling us these people thought they lived in the 1880's and did not know anything of the 21st century, so would we please not confuse them by referring to it - which was a nice touch.

There were some delightful anachronisms - electronic till and scales in the sweet shop, photocopied recipes on sale in the kitchens and paper cups and plates in the tea room.

It made me smile, as I found my mind connecting all this with what I'd read about the dangers of history reducing past generations to 21st century people in fancy dress - exactly what Shugborough is doing in a valiant attempt to make the past interesting for 21st century people.  So much for avoiding work!

The nice man in the sweet shop told me he was looking forward to the law changing next month to allow him to use pounds and ounces again because he'll be able to get out the old scales (though presumably he'll keep his electroinc till!).

I came home with a bag of traditionally milled organic bread flour - plus instructions to keep it in the freezer once opened - and a sense that even if we cannot recreate the past, and even if our best efforts are full of anachronisms, there really is something to be gained from an active engagement with the stories, artefacts and records we do have.

I was attracted to this novel out of a sense of nostalgia for the not so long ago days when I used to walk through Rushlome's Curry Mile regularly.  I liked the cover with its montage of familiar signage and the references to places I knew - from Hulme Arch to Cheadle Hulme.

Its critics describe it as an important novel in exploring the world of British-Asian young people as they establish their own identity.

The plot line was not, in my view, the strongest I've ever met, but the resolution was satisfactory and, being in terms of some sort of reconciliation between cultures and generations, almost a 'coming of age' novel - if these ever move beyond equating 'coming of age' with 'sexual awakening' (this was a given at the start of the story!).

Quite an easy read, and if you want a glimpse an Asian woman writing about Curry Culture worth the price at ~£7.95 in book shops (less from Amazon).

For something utterly different - and I understand about to made into a film, 'Atonement' is a prize winning novel that plays tricks with the reader.  I almost saw through it at one point when something didn't stack up, but what I took for shoddy research was actually all part of the cunning.  Unless you read to the end, it isn't a spectacular a story - but that is all part of it.

I hope the film version does not reduce this story to something like the 'Titanic' of the late 1990's, which I found utterly predictable.  As with the Curry Mile, it is a pretty easy read, and despite its oh so theologacal title uses the word 'atonement' in a pretty general (non-theologically speaking!) way.  Again, sells at about £7.99

Anyone want to suggest anything else?