This morning, I was was up, dressed, coiffed (before the wind mussed it up) and out of the door by 06:30, setting off to try to catch the early light before the wind or the sounds of the city became too loud to record myself speaking.

This was my third attempt over a number of days... the riverside was too windy, the first park I tried too noisy, but this one, first thing, seems to have been just right!

I have always admired those who work in film and television, aware of early starts and much standing around in cold places - but perhaps now I understand it just a little bit better.

Had someone said to me a few weeks back that I'd be up for this, would even give up several hours to try to 'master' it, I'd have laughed out loud.  But actually it has been surprisingly fun, and I am glad I did it.

Can't share the footage though, it's under wraps a while yet! 

This week it is eleven years since I arrived in Glasgow.  The weather then was absoltuely glorious, and there followed a truly beautiful October.  Today it is dreich - grey, damp and cold, yet it is still beautiful in its way.

By dint of various quirks, that also means it is 32 years (eek!) since I moved to Warrington, where I also lived for eleven years, and 21 since my house there finally sold, after I moved to Manchester.

So, I have now reached the stage where Glasgow is the place-name I have lived longest, but The Gathering Place not yet the place I have worked/served longest, that has a few months to go.

Roughly, then, I have spent 20% of my life in Northamptonshire (two dsitinct places, totalling about 12 years), 20% in Warrington, 20% in Glasgow and 40% scattered between London, Buckinghamshire, Derby, Manchester and Leicestershire.

Time certainly flies by.  Today I am very grateful to be where I am, and to be doing what I am doing.

This morning I awoke, wide awake, very early.  So, having fed the kitties, I donned my walking shoes and headed off to greet the dawn.  And it did not disappoint! Street walking until it was light and then riverside home... and what stunning views over the city.

As the hymn puts it...

Today I awake and God is before me.

At night, as I dreamt, he summoned the day;

for God never sleeps but patterns the morning

with slithers of gold or glory in grey.

John Bell & Graham Maule (c) WGRG

Every Saturday evening, I transform my office into 'church' by hanging up various pieces of fabric, and then setting up a focus.  I enjoy doing this, it makes the space feel different and helps me get into the 'zone.' But it also causes me to chuckle - no bad thing.  You see, I always wonder if it looks like a throw back to 'Stars in Sunday' or even Ricky Fullton's 'Rev I M Jolley'.

Making me smile, and maybe making others smile, is a good thing.

Enabling me, and maybe others,  to have a greater sense of 'church', as in being more consciously aware of being in God's presence, is even better.

This morning I had my regular meeting (virtual of course) with my Pastoral Supervisor, as part of which we completed my annual CMD review as required by the BUS as well as some more general reflection.  One of the things I came away with was a desire to note down words (or phrases) that have emerged as important for me during lockdown.

So here's where I've got to!

• Authenticity - being real, not always easy, especially when you have a public role, and also doing my best to enable/empower other people to be real.
• Creativity - we have all had to be creative, adapting to new virtual platforms for services, and finding new ways to connect with each other.  Re-engaging with aspects of my own creativity.
• Intentionality - the need to not so much to be organised (though it helps) but to be meaningful in what I do.
• Positivity - there is so much that seems negative, destructive and death-dealing, so I have chosen to focus on positives.  For sure, sometimes I get fed up, annoyed even angry, but I try avoid being drawn into spirals of negativity and intentionally seek out positives, however small or trivial.
• Immediacy - being present in the moment, allowing myself to feel what I feel, not parking it for future, rational reflection! This helps avoid the positivity becoming forced or fake.
• Noticing - more than just being aware of what's around me, but spending time to savour it... I must have taken thousands of photos over the last six months, capturing beauty and humour, natural and humanly created.
• Slowing down - I can't find one word to encapsulate this, but it's very much tied up with immediacy, intentionality and noticing.  It's not so much that I race through life and so miss out on living, as about making more of the wonder, beauty and even 'being' of life.  Pausing to take photos, sitting and watching the world go by... And also not driving myself to achieve, which is, at times, a very real challenge.

I wonder what words or phrases, themes or ideas are emerging for others?