This is quite a strange week, workwise, as I have the next two Sundays off, so no sermon to prepare (though some prep work undertaken for the service the first week I'm back!).

It ought to be a reflecting week, I suppose, but in practice it is a week of pastoral visits and meetings, consisting of several long days in the process.

But it is good to slow down, to spend time with some of the most frail and vulnerable of folk, rather than simply rushing on at my normal pace (which is half what it used to be!)

So a wind down week, then a week off and then full tilt into "Think, Pray, Vote" in the run up to the General Election in May.

And it does look as if spring is finally making an appearance - daffodils in bloom, bits of blue in the sky and a mysterious yellow orb has been spotted too!

Looking forward to some rest... which means even less blogging for a while, then looking forward to being back in harness again too.

Sunset at the close of a truly golden day.

A lovely open air service attended by around fifity people from six different churches.

The joy of our own muli-national congregation and sharing in the Lord's Supper because Easter and "Communion Sunday" coincide

A relaxed and thoughtful evening service.

And the gift of a glorious sunset.

Thank you God.

This is advance posted because Easter Sunday morning will be far to busy even to contemplate the wonderful world of blogland!

At 9 a.m. we will join with folk from up to five other churches for a very short open air service in Glasgow's iconic Botanic Gardens.  After a quick cuppa and a hot cross bun, it will be time for our main service of celebration for Easter at 11 a.m.

Then over more tea/coffee we will be celebrating with some newly weds and a newly called BMS mission partner as we share in cake...

I am very grateful to Mr Sainsbury for baking the cakes, Google for the logos, and my cats for staying off the tbale as I worked!!

That empty aching void... the blend of disbelief and certain knowledge... the wishing we could make it go away and the realisation it won't... we've all had such moments, and if we haven't then we will.

The death of a loved one

The failing of an important exam

The words from a doctor "I'm sorry it's... [cancer/terminal/incurable/non-viable etc]

The final slamming of a door

The trampling of our dreams beneath the feet of history

The many, many 'little deaths'

We have no choice but to enter the pain, feel the loss of hope, experience the isolation...

Holy Saturday is the day when, like no other, God demonstrates sure and certain knowledge of grief and desolation.  As Jesus dies, something within God's very self dies; as Jesus lies in the cold darkness of a borrowed tomb, God experiences the icy gloom of bereavement.

Don't rush on, don't try to bypass the bewilderment, the emptiness, the all too long, all too hard to face day.  This day, of all days, God's message to us is this: me too, I have felt like that.

Today I think of friends who grieve or are in fear, of friends whose dreams are shattered.

For the joys and for the sorrows - for this, we have Jesus.

We made it!  The last  day of Lent 2015 and the final challenge... which is in some measure a real challenge unless you are by nature very ungenerous!!  What can I think of?  Hmmmm.

There is also an invitation to recall the challenge that made you the most happy... I think for me it was the 'hug' challenge and the unexpected opportunity to give the lollipop man, called Joseph, a hug for his birthday!!  That and the smile on the face of the bucket-shaker to whom I gave a bar of chocolate.  I was also quite chuffed after I'd litter-picked at church!!

Anyway, here it is:

We're here! Today is Holy Saturday, and tomorrow Christians celebrate the most generous act in the world. So, with that in mind, the culmination of our 40 day journey ends with this: do something today that's more generous than anything you've done in the last seven weeks, and do it anonymously.

ONLY ONE OPTION TODAY: Only you'll know what over-the-top generosity looks like for you. This isn't about spending lots of money or doing something on a large scale (unless you'd like to, of course!); it's about stretching yourself– whatever that happens to look like. By now you'll know that it's the heart attitude that counts. Go ahead and push the boat out today, without your name attached.