One year ago today (to the day not the date) was my Induction at the Gathering Place.  It was a very special day, the culmination of around three months of waiting since the call was discerned, issued and accepted.  It was, as I recall, a gorgeous autumn day and the place was packed with our people, my friends, the church's friends and not a few curious onlookers wondering just what a female Baptist minister might look like.  As we shared our stories and made our promises there was a mix of anticpation and trepidation - we were so sure this was of God, but what if we fouled up?  What if I didn't measure up, I wondered, what if I was 'found out' for the inadequate and not very spiritual person I really am?

The sermon on the day urged as to be kind to each other, words we all took to heart and have sought to live out since.

And as I look back over the last year, it is with a sense of pleasure and not a little rejoicing at what we have achieved, with God's help, together.  We have begun some new things and let go of some that were tired.  We have got to know each other better and have shared highs and lows along the way.  I guess, without knowing it, we have been being prepared for what comes next in our story.

This time a year ago I was looking forward to a festal day, wearing my red suit and my red shoes (something that had become something of a trademark for high days and holy days in Leicestershire) and pleasantly nervous.  It has been a great year, and I have loved every moment of it, at least so far as church and setlting into Glasgow is concerned.  God has not merely been good; God has been great.

No way could I have imagined back then that a year on we'd be where we are now.  Today I am slobbing around in old clothes, picking up increasing numbers of stray hairs and feeling increasing empathy for the trees over the road as I wonder just how long this process will take.  No way a year ago, even a little more than a month ago, any of us would have anticipated that I (and therefore we) would be faced with months of treatment for a life-threatening illness.  Today I am surrounded by the love and support of my people, and hope they are aware of mine for them.  The ideas I had begun to formulate for the next year may or may not find expression, but either way, there is a real sense of togtherness as we step into it, and a quiet assurance that God travels with us

Be kind to one another - I think we are being, and hope that what we attempt to model might give others a glimpse of God's immeasurable kindness.  As the old hymn says:

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea,

There's a kindness in God's justice,

Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader

Than the limits of our mind

And the heart of the eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

Finally I've found someone with a good word to say for the India Commonwealth Games, and that challenges the attitudes of the wealthy nations.  read it here.  I think he's a little premature saying it is more uplifting than Manchester (not that I'm biased or anything) but thank goodness someone can see beyond the (lack of) Mr Sheen gleam to what I thought it was all meant to be about.

Still not clear if I'm meant to support Team Scotland or Team England this time, but I'm actually tempted to opt for Team India on a point of principle!

At various times I have sold bits and bobs on Ebay.  From assorted car spares to props from Holiday Clubs to, yesterday, a fridge freezer and a washing machine.  Anything I've advertised has sold, which is mystery enough, and shows that there is almost always someone looking for almost anything.

What mystified me, albeit very pleasantly, this time was how much people will pay for things, and how the last minute 'snipes' cause some crazy price rises.  With ten minutes to go I had very accpetable prices on both items.  In the last minute one rose by 25% the other by 50% and each is almost double what I would have put on an ad in a shop window.

I hope my buyers are pleased with their purchases when they collect them.

Of course the flip side is that already I have spent much of the money on soft furnishings for my living room, some of it on Ebay...

Every family has its legends and its tales of when it's members were small.

One of the tales in my family relates to when I was a toddler, or mabe just a little older.  In the autumn I had seen the road sweeper, a man called Mr Kitely (no idea how to spell that) sweep up the fallen leaves from the trees.  When spring arrived and I saw the new growth evidently I said "Oh look, Mr Kitely has put the leaves back on the trees."  How much this is true and how much just family lore I have no idea.  But I find comfort in the story on a day when I feel a bit like a deciduous tree, wondering just how many leaves will fall this day and how long it will take.

As I walked home from church, enjoying the feel of the wind in my hair, I pondered the uneviable task God is presumably asisgning to some minor angel to keep count of the hairs on my head... I think maybe they should be given a break and told to return next spring.

I have no desire to become a total bore (I suspect I'm already pretty boring) or to degenerate into some kind of evangelical zeal for one issue alone, but October is breast cancer awareness month, and it seemed pertinent to post on this theme.  Part of my logic is that, in amongst all the lovely emails and cards I received from friends and colleagues was one that ran along the lines "but you're too young, I mean you're not 50 yet, and anyway how will I know if I have it?"  Clearly awareness is not all it might be, and people's fears of the unknown are part of the problem.

In the UK each year around 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer, that's the equivalent to a town the size of Ayr, of whom around 300 are men, that's equivalent to the size of a very big Baptist church (though one with 300 blokes would be rare sight indeed!)  Currently there around half a million people living with breast cancer in Britain (that's like a city the size of Glasgow or Manchester), and most of us are fortunate enough to have a good prospect of living beyond five years.  Evidently breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Britain and the second biggest cancer killer (after lung cancer).  The fact is that we will all know someone for whom this is real, and that in your average church around 1/8 of your women will have it at some point.  You might have more, you might have less, such is the nature of statistics, but it's not unusual, even if every person who has it is unique and precious.

Astounded by the response of my friend as I was, it seems people are very ignorant on this topic.  So to the women out there - get checking (use breast cancer care link on the sidebar if you need help on how).  I would not claim to be a proficient or even especially frequent checker, but the truth is this has probably saved my life.  I saw my GP within two days (and 2 hours of phoning for an appointment), had a hospital appointment within 14 (standard for NHS rapid referral for possible breast cancer) and a formal diagnosis within a week of that. Whilst a week or so doesn't matter either way - so they tell me - it makes sense to act swiftly.

If you are 50+ get that mammogram done.  There is an irony that Cancer Research UK want to extend the 'window' down to 47 (my current age) by the time I hit 50 (the current age for screening) in 2012 ... Some people find it very painful, I didn't experience any pain, but a few seconds of pain to save your life... no contest.

The biggest risk age is 50-70, hence the screening programme, but one in five of us is under fifty and/or pre-menopausal.  Whilst it's nice to be classed as 'young' because of my age and stage, it does not mean it can't happen, and I'm not sure everyone, even very intelligent and educated people, 'gets' that.

There is actually no pleasure in queue jumping at hospital or getting instant appointments at the doctor's surgery because you have cancer, but with the NHS you can be sure you will get the care you need - just so long as you do your bit and get things checked out.

Of course it isn't just this variety of cancer... if screening is there then take advantage of it, it really could save your life.

Right, lecture over... it's a glorious day in Glasgow and I intend to enjoy every moment of it.