On Saturday I had lunch with some friends, travelling with one of them by train between Glasgow and Falkirk.  In conversation it transpired that we both know, in very different contexts, the new rector of IBTS... she when he was a 'wee boy' and I from his time at SBC.  It made me chuckle, and it was good to discover yet another connection.

Then today I was out visting with some other folk and we got chatting about English teaching and the imapct of teachers on their pupils for good or ill.  A passing enquiry as to where one of them went to school revealed that they had been at the same schools as my mother, but three years behind her.

And so on and so-forth.  The world is smaller than we think, our lives intertwine more than we realise, the global village is maybe just that.

All good fun, and, if not very theological, it does make me mindful of how interconnected life really is, and how we should learn to care for one another.

This new venture sounds really exciting and full of potential.  Good to have been part of that story, albiet in a way that is now quite a distance in their past.  Wishing every blessing on this new project as a new season brings new growth, and in time another harvest to re-invest.

Today is going to be busy - and hopefully good fun.

Off in the next hour or so to church to lead worship on the theme of Ascension, with a side track via a quiz, some English literature and a couple of theologians.  Then over to the south-side for Sunday lunch.  Then back over the watter to an inter-church BBQ followed by a short, informal, communion service.  Then collect a house guest and bring her home - hope she can cope with the slightly chaotic state of my appalling house-keeping skills.

All good, all about communing and worshipping and relating and sharing and learng and growing...

But I will be glad of my lie-in tomorrow morning!

It's been a while... not done any baking since before Christmas, so it was fun to get up early this morning to start on a bit of a baking frenzy... two separate lots to do and lunch out in Falkirk to fit in as well.

So these are part of the first batch - little gifts for the friends with whom I am having lunch.  It's a long time since I've seen many of them so I'm looking forward to a good blether and lots of laughter.

Then, in a moment of rashness a few wekes ago, I offered to bake for the inter-church BBQ taking place tomorrow, and need to knock off a couple of batches for that - it won't take long and I can decorate them this evening or tomorrow morning so the pressure is not too great.

Above all it's fun - most people like cake, and it's lovely to do something that brings happiness to others.

Lots of tributes to Maya Angelou, and lots of quotes from her.

I liked this one, which I think echoes, or more properly parallels, since she was way before me in the journey of life, much of my own learning in life.  In any case, I have always believed that our discoveries are our own, even if zillions of other people have already amde them before us...