Now unless you happen to live in Scotland the above may not make a whole lot of sense but it reflects some thoughts I've been having recently and a bit of my more odd-ball humour.

I spent most of yesterday breaking the back of an exercise to turn my portfolio of submissions as part of a DPT (Doctorate in Practical Theology) programme into a single submission suitable for submission as an MPhil, ostensibly under the same regulations.  My cunning plan involves writing little linking theological reflections, based on a pastoral cycle, between the items to show how each emerged (honest guv) from the one before, or at least from something the one before made me think about.  Irrespective of what I think/thought about the programme, had I not been diagnosed with cancer I would have slogged on to the end and hopefully got a doctorate out of it.  As it is there is no way I could guarantee being fit to resume studies in a year's time, the requirement to intercalate, and to be brutally honest, such studies are no longer a priority.  Situations change - as I will note in my final reflective chapter - and with them my aspirations.  To be MPhil NED seems a better aspiration right now.

NED?  Non Educated Delinquent?  A term of mild abuse used in Scotland to describe the same kind of people who might be termed Chavs further south.  A term that is a stereotype for people whose response to lack of opportunity and education amuses those who have had both.  I aspire to be a NED?  Yes!  Because it also stands for "No Evidence of Disease" which is as good as it ever gets for someone who had been diagnosed with breast cancer.  There is no 'all clear', though if you make it to ten years NED then probably you are.  Yes, to be a NED sounds good right now.

Who knows, one day I might return to my research and get yet more letters to add to my collection (though if you want to become a Revd Dr/Rev Dr the cheapest and easiest I've found, accidentally, is to write Revd as your title on an English heritage application form!) but for now MPhil NED will do nicely... and the latter is a stronger aspiration than the former.

Yesterday evening we had a male voice choir singing at church as a fund-raiser towards the building re-devleopment fund.  It was an enjoyable evening and the choir offered a varied programme of light music.  It did have a few moments that were entertaining in ways perhaps not intended, but for me that added rather than detracted.

Here are a few of the more bizarre moments...

In introducing a soloist to sing 'On the Street Where You Live' the MD said that the musical was called My Fair Lady as an attempt by the writer to mimic a cockney saying Mayfair, except he said 'Mayfair' in such a scrambled way that no one could possibly have made the connection.  Probably best not to try to sound Cockney with a Glasgow accent...

For me, it was slightly surreal to hear a choir of Scots singing the Men of Harlech with gusto - especially when via the lyrics they were claiming to be Welsh!  Very weird.

The piece de resistance for me was the announcement of the last item 'a great Welsh hymn and our signature tune' - When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.  Sorry folks, Isaac Watts was English.  Granted the tune used may have been Welsh, but no Welshman would claim Watts as one one of their own.

There were some brave choices, notably a solo of 'The Music of the Night' from The Phantom of the Opera which is far from easy to sing, and some that took me in my mind to various crematoria, such as 'Unchained Melody' and 'Danny Boy' as well as one that I last sang when I was about 8, the 'Eriskay Love Lilt'.  All in all quite an enjoyable evening.

Next time I think we should have our own choir and some of our gifted musicians performing.  What d'you reckon?

It's that time of year when we fill shoeboxes for various charities - we are supporting Operation Christmas Child but there are others such as Blythswood and Rotary, and in the past I've been involved in filling shoeboxes for homeless adults in the UK.

In this week's Baptist Times there is a very moving letter from a young woman now working as an au pair in the UK who as a child received a shoebox.  She speaks of her delight in finding in the box a little teddy bear, and her father telling her that someone must love her to send such a gift; all these years later she still has her teddy bear...  It costs us so little to fill a box with little gifts that bring so much joy and hope to others.

Sometimes, if we're honest, we groan at yet another appeal for yet another charity, but this letter is a reminder of the difference even a small toy can make to a child who has very little.

I always find it fun going out and choosing things to put in the shoebox and daring to imagine someone opening it and finding something in there that proves a little bit special. Be it a teddy bear, be it a toy aeroplane, be it a hat, be it toothbrush... hope and love in a box.... bit like a baby in a manger really.

In the last week I've spotted a couple of recent publications that should make for entertaining reading.

This one is described as satire and evidently includes cartoons by people such as ASBO Jesus, Naked Pastor and others.  Sounds fun - I may well buy a copy to wile away the hours on my drug-induced lethargy days!

This one is the latest collection of Dave Walker cartoons, published in August.  If you like line drawing cartoons and like laughing at the antics of church life then it's worth contemplating.

Maybe you could buy your minister one or other for Christmas to brighten and lighten her/his world?!  It might go down better than yet another calf-skin gilt-edged chain-reference red-letter Bible... ;-)

One of the more justified criticisms of Baptists is that as people who have a tendency towards biblioatry, we don't actually read much of the Bible in public worship.  Along with many of my minister friends and colleagues, I try to overcome that by ensuring that we get at least two reasonable chunks of Bible in every service.  This week we have six readings in six languages and next week, drum roll, fanfare, no less than fifteen!  Granted most are short and being used to make points about reading out of context, but it will be "loadsa Bible Sunday" that's for sure.