Someone asked a question in a Baptist facebook group, and I knew the answer because it was something I researched way back in my NAM days, and which I had thought might form part of my doctoral research (it didn't because I shifted from case studies to methodology as a focus, and then of course I abandoned it all after my cancer diagnosis).

It took a bit of digging, but there it was a 97% complete essay on a data stick, in a box, in a drawer.  And I had remembered correctly!

Maybe it's an essay I ought to tidy up and do something with if, as it seems, it is useful for others?  And maybe I should pair it up with the one I actually did complete, which gave rise to the hypothesis I had planned to explore... The PhD will never be done now, I just don't have the intellectual capacity anymore, but maybe the two pieces of work I did deserve to be read more widely than just by my NAM tutor of way-back-when?

At the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, today's challenges are all about trade justice...

£

If you can't support Fairtrade with your wallet, use your voice instead. Read up about the movement, and tell someone why it's a cause worth supporting.

££

Buy Fairtrade today when you stop at the shops for that drink or bar of chocolate. Even better, buy two and give one to a friend.

£££

Ever thought about a Fairtrade wardrobe? It might be more costly, but ask yourself: if that high street store can make a profit on those £5 shoes, how much really reaches the factory worker paid to make them?

Given the title of this blog, given that I have supported faitrade since the 1980s, this one is really preaching to the converted!  However, I will succumb to the invitation to post photos with a fairtrade logo...  me this morning drinking fairtrade tea from a mug I bought in a fairtrade town back in 2003 !!

Oops, yesterday I planned two surprises and then forgot to deliver each of them!  Never mind, I will surprise someone yet today, I will. I will...

Today I was preaching mainly on Genesis 9 and the Noahic covenant with the whole of creation.  We had hymns and songs that mentioned rainbows and rain... and the rain came down in torrents, including inside the foyer of the building...We (I) really need to learn not to choose songs about rain... :-)

Surprise, surprise!  Whoops, I already sort of did this one!

MAKE 'EM SMILE

It doesn't take much to make someone feel special. A treat through their letterbox or on their desk, or an unexpected compliment, can go a long way.

DO THE UNEXPECTED

If you don’t normally cook, surprise your friends or family with a meal.  Don’t forget acquaintances or strangers. Give out flowers on the bus or pay for someone else’s parking.

GO CRAZY

Your imagination is the limit. You might write someone a note of encouragement every day for a week, send them on a treasure hunt, take them out for an unexpected treat or even throw them a party 'just because'. This is the day to go all out, no reasons required.

Hmm, well I will be seeing quite a few folk one way and another today, so I'll get my thinking cap on... but just in case any of them happen to see this, I'd better keep mum!!