This morning's Pentecost service seemed to be well received, and I certainly had some fun.

The All Together bit involved balloons and bubbles - without air all you have is a bag made of rubber or a pot of soapy water.  And you have to get the blowing just right.  I accidentally burst the first balloon I blew up - amazingly no small people burst into tears and everyone laughed.  And the bubble mix was tempremental, taking a few goes to produce half decent bubbles.  But it did give an unplanned illustration that the Holy Spirit as 'breath' of God is more than just pumping in air, it has to be the right amount at the right pressure.  It reminded me of a ditty once in SU material that said:

If we are all mind we dry up

If we are all spirit we blow up

If we are mind and spirit we grow up

The readings in German, French, Yoruba and Welsh were lovely, and it was possible to pick out words that made it possible to follow what was being said.  One person commented on the French reading and the word 'soufle' for breath, which is so close to souffle (or maybe is just a variant, I'm not sure) and the image of a souffle as the 'breath' filled expression of, well on omelette I suppose!

It was a good morning, lots of amazing music in many styles.  I had fun and I hope other people found something helpful along the way.

Today I read an online magazine article written by someone who is shy and an introvert.  It resonated with my own experiences as a shy child, and an introvert adult, sufficiently that it prompted me to buy the book mentioned.  "Quiet" by Susan Cain, which I bought electronically and have managed to read 25% of in a single sitting before my brain went "phut" after two hours, seems to be a helpful and well researched exploration reclaiming the value, even the necessity, of people who naturally introvert in a society increasingly predicated on extroversion.

So far, it's good stuff, and I hope by the end of it I will feel more energised and inspired to be who I am...

This evening I visited the chapel at Glasgow's Western Infirmary for the first and last time, sharing in a poignant and beautiful service/ceremony to mark its closure along with the hospital in a few weeks time.

I have spent many hours at the Western... twice in A&E as a patient, umpteen times in Clinic 5 (breast clinic) and even more in MAU, F1, F2, G2, G3 and level 10 visiting folk from church.  The privilege of holding the hand of very sick people... The anxiety and the relief of results... the cup of tea from a china cup on the day I learned what fear actually is... the conversations in the car park or in lifts...

As the Western closes and services are sent elsewhere, an era ends.  The future will be fine, in time the concerns (some of which are really quite serious) will be overcome and we will all forget that once we sat in a tatty, draughty Victorian hospital that was built a year after the Gathering Place.  The memories will live on on the hearts of all for whom it was a place of work or a place of treatment.  I am grateful for the Western and was pleased to be there tonight to say 'goodbye'.

I still wish I knew the answer to that one!  So far today it has included...

Admin stuff before I left home

Putting a new battery in the clock in the church corridor

An important meeting off site

A phone call on an important and fairly urgent matter

A 'door-knocking' encounter from folk in crisis and needing support

Sorting out heating for a room hire where it seemed not to have kicked in on time, which involved both checking the timers and carting numerous heaters and fire guards around the building.

And it still isn't lunch time!

So of course, instead of work, I opt for the displacement activity of blogging.

As I've been preparing for Pentecost this week, it has struck me that almost everything I read about the Holy Spirit is 'functional' - about the work and purpose of the third person of the Trinity.  Which is not everso helpful when I am working with three of the symbols/metaphors each of which convey something of the mystery of this aspect of the divine.

My ideas have yet to coalesce in to anything coherent... I have two lines of thought neither of which quite works but hopefully between now and Sunday things will fall into place.  Given that the two strands of thought relate to ancient classical philosophy on the one hand and the legend of a coat of arms on the other, getting to a common end point is not going to be trivial!