Just been doing some online research for an upcoming service broadly titled 'Frankincense' and, on the basis that a couplple of years ago I threw away the tiny box of it I had and had never used, looking to buy some.

In the end I ordered a small Tibetan incense burner which includes a little pack of frankincense and some indoor charcoal (way easier than trying to find a thurible secondhand or making one out of baked bean tin) as well as some scented cones.  I did look at packs of frankincense ranging from 50g to 5kg - but studying the images and imaginging trying to explain to the Glasgow constabulary if the package split open before it reached me, I decided not.  I think a trip to the local RC suppliers may be called for...

(I have myrrh, which I'm offering to lend to my colleague who's doing that week... we reckon the mutual colleague who landed gold ought to provide his own...)

On Sunday I mislaid/lost one of my mobile phones.  That sounds uber posey, to have two phones that is, not to lose/mislay one.  As it happens both are very inexpensive pay-as-you-go, one of which I keep for church use and one of which is for family/friends.  It was the latter I could not find.  I had been using it at the start of the service on Sunday to discretely keep a check on the time ahead of the 2 minute silence, so it was in 'silent' mode; phoning it to find out where it was wouldn't help!   After I got home from church I realised I did not have it, and have spent a not inconsiderable amount of time searching for it in church, at home and in my car.  I even asked in the coffee shop in case it had been handed in there.

So, this morining I came to church thinking I'd have one last look before giving it up as lost.  The most likely place for it to be was on my desk (which I'd already searched twice) so I decided there was nothing for it but to remove everything from the desk (it's VERY cluttered) to see if it was, afterall, hidden there.  The first thing I picked up was a box of tissues... which felt unusally heavy... and lo, hidden in the folds of paper was one mobile phone.

Thinking back, I would have carried the box of tissue back to the vestry along with the phone, my Bible and a whole heap of other stuff.  Clearly the phone had slipped into the box an dout of my consciousness.

Anyway, y'know that story about the women who lost the coin ... I kind of know how she felt.  If you're passing and want a celebratory coffee do drop in!  I managed to avoid slipping into 'Our Lady of the Parking Place' type prayers before I found it, but I sure as anything said a big thank you one afterwards.

Tomorrow I have some folk  coming round for tea/dinner/evening meal, so I have been busy preparing food so that I can just heat it up when I get in tomorrow.  A definite sense of winter...

• homemade tomato and basil soup
• homemade bread
• veggie casserole
• what-they-call-in-Warrington Tater Pie (Lancashire hotpot type thing)
• still to do something with berries for dessert... not sure what exactly yet.

Just hope my guests enjoy it.

... as promised, a photo of the poppy collage the children made today, and the wreath with the adults memory poppies...

This morning we had the joy of a cellist and a trumpeter to augment our music.  The choir sang beautifully.  A number of visitors joined us.

The picture shows the response to remembering our own loved ones - poppies and tealights symbolising those we have loved and lost, or those whose stories have inspired us.

A teenage girl was inspired by a school history trip to Europe to come to the service and remembered a WWI soldier she had researched; others recalled parents, siblings, friends, partners, children.

We reflected on characteristics of authentically Christian grief and prayed for the world of which we are a small part.

Some wept their way through the service, finding the release cathartic.  Others simply valued a different form of worship to their usual.  Overall, I think it went well, and we benefited from sharing together.

The Sunday school made a gorgeous poppy collage - which I must get a photo of - and the little poppies the adults used were stuck onto the wreath to sit alongside it.

We remembered; may we never forget.