Yesterday morning I was at a consultation/training type thng looking at proposed changes in the way charities report to OSCR in order to improve accountability and transparency.  It all seemed a bit of a no-brainer to me (and to most people there) but it's good that there has been a consultation process rather than simply implementation 'from on high'.  I do feel that Scotland is better at this, overall, than the equivalent bodies for other parts of the UK.  Some of that has to be about size/scale but I am sure there are things that could be scaled up by a factor of ten and still be workable.

Yesterday afternoon I was happily exploring the Book of Judith; this morning I've been thinking about midweek reflections/worship/prayers for the first half of 2015, ranging from Mindfulness to Ignatian to a Lent Study to Compline.  Later I have to write a talk from the Friday afternoon 'gospel meeting' style group.  And all of that is good, too - contextual and diverse, reflecting the constituency we serve.  Good job I have catholic tastes in spiritual expression!

In between times, I've been doing some admin, some general planning, clearing the actions I picked up at various meetings and preparing for some pastoral responsibilties.  All in all, it's proving rewarding and serves to remind me why I love this church so much.  It's never dull, and usually it's fun.

I've just spent a happy couple of hours putting together some supporting handouts for up-coming Bible study on the book of Judith, the third in a short series looking at aspects of the Apocrypha.  It's proving to be a lot of fun (for me anyway) giving me lots of "aha" moments as I spot resonances, echoes and similarities with other Bible stories.

Having already done a quick overview and a deeper study (led by someone else) on Tobit it certainly is proving an enthralling series, with (I think) Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon still to be explored.

The next challenge is to find something new for Advent!

On Sunday we had 'organised chaos' as we celebrated harvest and raised lots of money to help people in food poverty.

This morning I was at the uni chapel to lead morning prayers on 1 Kings 22 (a very weird story!) only to discover a team from the BBC filming for The One Show as part of a segment relating to the commemorations of 1914... the relative of a Glasgow Uni trained VC who died in 1914 was there... so were eight young things from the CU...  Good challenge to think on my feet how to hold all that together.

Next I am off to meet with two others ministers to plan a service of Grieving and Gratitude for the evening of the first Sunday in November... this is always a privilege to participate in.

After that it is a sermon for Freedom Sunday, focussing on human trafficking, a mini sermon for the very conservative group that meets on a Friday afternoon and a Bible study on Judith to prepare for next week.

So pretty much the sublime to the 'cor blimey' I think! (I'll leave it to you to decide which is which!!)

All good fun, and the diversity certainly fuels my imagination. 

But next time I'm at uni chapel prayers, I hope I have less unpronounceable Hebrew names to tussle with!

As part of this morning's service I tried to say something about the power of words for good or ill, that actually words construct our world and our worldview (bit philosophical but true)... and I tried to play around a bit with the idea of seeing all humanity as 'us'.  A few folk looked vexed so maybe I failed miserably.

Anyway, this video which I just stumbled across says something similar, only so much better...

I had fun at church this morning - not everything went to plan, but people were at their most gracious I think, even when I dropped the lemons, knocked over a mug and bumped into something or other along the way!

I don't know the final figures on financial giving but...

The children brought enough fresh produce to make a wonderful meal for some people who otherwise might not get any tea tonight

We raised enough in cash donations for Glasgow City Mission to feed someone for a year!

We collected enough cereal, coffee and squash to last a family of four for a couple of months

We collected enough toiletries to ensure lots of refreshing hot showers for homeless people!

We also raised a tidy sum (I don't know how much) for Operation Agri to support farmers in Afghanistan and Tanzania.

We recognised our part in the 'body' that is the whole of creation and pondered what the unique role is that we each play to ensure the ehalth of the whole, starting on our own doorsteps and then reaching ourwards.

..and we sang the samba harvest song, so that makes me happy!