I used to know a minister (well I still do, but they are no longer a colleague) who would sometimes say, "if you were religious you might think that God had something to do with it."  It always made us chuckle and we knew exactly what we meant.  We didn't "do" a kind of cheap theology that glibly attributes good or bad to God or satan, we didn't expect God to be surprising us at every turn, rather we trusted that God was there even when we felt God to be silent or absent.

Today a message was forwarded to me that had been sent via our church website... it was from a former school friend who I last saw in 1971, when she and her family moved to Australia, just a year before we moved to another part of Northamptonshire.  As is so often the way, our letters, sent surface mail and taking months to arrive, petered out over a few years.  Over the past few years, I've tried several times to track her down, wondering where she was and how life had worked out for her.

The email came out of the blue - turns out she is visiting relatives in the UK, and the wife of her cousion is the big sister of one of my classmates, who knew I was in Glasgow (via the now defunct "Friends Reunited").  It was a lovely email, full of encouragement and a shared faith, and its arrival really "blessed" me.  If I was religious, I might think that God had something to do with it!

That's grace - not something anyone can predict or manufacture.

That's God - prompting or preciptating unexpected blessings in the ordinariness of life.

If you want a fun read for 1st April then this might be the one for you - so long as you have a very rudimentary grasp of textal aspects of Biblical history such as described in the back of my Good News Bible or any elementary text for Bibilical studies!

Enjoy!

This introduction to the book of Numbers from the NRSV pretty much sums up the core of what I'll be speaking about on Sunday.

I'm glad to be back into routine, and hope that the ideas that have been perculating will coalesce into something that makes sense for the hearers.

It's surprising what time out can do to confidence and self-belief/esteem that isn't entirely helpful... being back in harness is definitely a good thing for me.

Low Sunday will hopefully not leave us feeling flat!

Had some fun and games with computers and servers synching or communicating, so only just been able to access photos sent to me from church folk.

Here's the cross, dressed in white and with oodles of daffodils expressing the joy of Easter Day.

Better late than never. 

Photo (c) Brian Muir.

Returning to work after an extended break is always a bit odd - the sense of being completely out of touch that may or may not be totally justified, the need to catch up with correspondence, read minutes, check in with various folk and begin to do some actual work as well.

Day 1 was productive, and tiring... so recognising the need to take it steady, not run before I can walk, and ease my way back in to the assorted stuff I do.

Day 2 has already seen some service prep and admin and will move on shortly to assorted pastoral stuff and maybe some sermon drafting if time permits.

It's good to be back in harness - I certainly thrive better with plenty to occupy me!