So, today's service brought our summer series on "Aspects of Spirituality" to a close with twin reflections on pilgrimage and soul friendship (anam cara).

I hope the series has been interesting and helpful -  feedback has been very encouraging.  Certainly it has done my soul 'good' and given me space to identify areas of exploration for my upcoming sabbatical year, of which more another time once it's all agreed.

Mentoring, pastoral supervision, spiritual accompaniment/direction, all these are helpful and meaningful, if not quite the 'anam cara' of ancient times.  And so is covenanted community - that very Baptist self understanding that says 'we are pilgrims on a journey, and companions on the road, we are here to help each other, walk the mile and share the load.'  So it was good this morning for each person to take away a small scallop shell, and a card with the song words printed on them.  Simple signs of a profound truth - we are in this together, and the God who has brought us this far will see us all safe home.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I may have the grace

To let you be my servant too.

Another hint for tomorrow's service... last week of 'summer pattern' so a bit of a 'wrap up' maybe.

And, in its long form, a lovely Irish blessing for all my loyal readers....

Deep peace I breathe into you,
O weariness, here:
O ache, here!
Deep peace, a soft white dove to You;
Deep peace, a quiet rain to you;
Deep peace, an ebbing wave to you!
Deep peace, red wind of the east from you;
Deep peace, grey wind of the west to You;
Deep peace, dark wind of the north from you;
Deep peace, blue wind of the south to you!
Deep peace, pure red of the flame to you;
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to you;
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to you;
Deep peace, pure brown of the earth to you;
Deep peace, pure grey of the dew to you,
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you!
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you!
Deep peace of the Yellow Shepherd to you,
Deep peace of the Wandering Shepherdess to you,
Deep peace of the Flock of Stars to you,
Deep peace from the Son of Peace to you,
Deep peace from the heart of Mary to you,
And from Briget of the Mantle
Deep peace, deep peace!
And with the kindness too of the Haughty Father
Peace!
In the name of the Three who are One,
Peace! And by the will of the King of the Elements,
Peace! Peace!

So what does this say? Come along on Sunday and you may find out!!

Yesterday, tipped off by a friend who had enjoyed reading it, I bought the audio-book of Revd Richard Coles' book, 'Fathomless Riches'.  Hearing him read his own story was great.  And because he's a mere nine months older than me, and grew up roughly twenty miles away from me (albeit a very different life from mine) it made for a fairly enjoyable nostalgia tour, as well as providing a very profound insight to his life up to the point of his ordination (a couple of years after my own).

If you can handle some swearing, a lot of reference to sex and drugs, and some brutally honest stuff about faith and doubt, it's worth a read.  Indeed, it is a story of grace, redemption and hope, which has much to say to those of us who never did sex, drugs or rock-and-roll, and who are the white, heterosexual goody-goodies that the church likes so much.  That said, both he and I have had, 'cue spooky music' moments, and experiences of the Holy Spirit descending as a pigeon.

Now, I'll return to Michele Obama reading her book 'Becoming' which is interesting and informative, but for me is not quite 'doing it' in the same way.  I guess I must be odd, most people rave about this book - whilst it's a good listen, it hasn't yet had an 'aha' moment for me.