One of my worst traits is overworking, and pretty much every year I tell myself I must do better, as the 'leave year' resets to zero and I am eligible for however much leave it is that I can never remember without checking.

Today I have booked my first weekend break of the year, beginning after the final Zoom to Oz and ending on my day off at the end of Feb.  So, notionally, one day of leave and one free Sunday, but actually just right, and long enough to unwind and regroup before the start of Lent.

Having given up on owning a car, and rarely if ever, driving in the past seven years or thereabouts, I choose places I can get to by public transport, which is always something of a logistical challenge.  Even so, today I have booked an apartment that's an easy walk from Lancaster railway station, with access to river walks, cafes, a pleasant town centre to explore, and which will give me privacy and space to relax.  Ideal.

It's curious how my feelings about time out have evolved over the past couple of years, and how much I find myself drawn to shorter breaks with easy public transport.  Just need to invest in new novels and puzzle books between now and then!

At the start of the pandemic, all across the world, Christians made 'virtual choir' recordings of a song simple called 'The Blessing'.  Almost two years later, someone has drawn 500 of these together into a single, incredible single video.  Click the video and enjoy a glimpse of heaven.  You may need a tissue or two though... look out for people from countries where to be a follower of Jesus is very very dangerous.

Time is racing by - I am amazed that's it more than ten days since I posted here. So much for good intentions! Today I seem to have been wearing a multiplicity of hats, fulfilling a range of roles, from sermon writing to updating paperwork for a committee I chair, to answering queries for another committee, to the joy of Supervision for another minister. Sometimes, though, it's good to take off all the hats, and just be... which is why, this year, I being far more intentional about down time and days off... so far, so good!

Having lived in an office where my bookcases were hidden behind my advent drapes for over a month it was so lovely, this week, to take them down and see my books once more!  And it's also nice, if not entirely liturgically correct to revert to green.  The Christmas Day candle now takes on the role of 'Christ Candle'  until it burns too short, probably around the start of Lent.

And my clothes are definitely old, predating my move to Glasgow.  I am nothing if not environmentally sound when it comes to clothes!

Beginning a series of series in Luke (the gospel, not the Luke-Acts combo) and hoping it engages other people, as I am enjoying working on it,

Epiphany - the revelation to the Gentiles, the visit of the Magi, a new insight or understanding, an 'aha' moment... 6th January, or Christmas Day if you are of an Orthodox tradition.

Unless you are hanging on until Candlemas (2nd Feb) then today is the day to pack away your decorations, if you haven't already done so.

Whatever you think about today, I hope that the days ahead bring some smiles and some moments of new or renewed insight.