Sometimes at lunch time I take my sandwiches to the Botanic Gardens and watch the world go by.  It is a great place for people watching and all of life is there - children squealing with delight, the laboured footsteps of old age, students planning parties and occasionally canoodling couples (from which of course the ministerial gaze is averted).  There are also birds and animals.

Today I watched a little grey squirrel doing what squirrels do at this time of year.  It was searching for nuts to bury and scampering around the grass in the sunshine.  Then it ran up a tree before coming back to see if I had anything interesting for it to eat - my crisps were evidently not appealing and off it scuttled.  The significant thing was that little squirrel had lost most of its tail.  Whether by accident or mutation or disease I have no idea, but rather than a bushy balance aid it had a little stubby runt of a tail.  The way it had adapted - still able to run up the trees apace - was clearly evident.

I wondered how many people noticed the squirrel, and of those how many that it was different.  This part of Glasgow is teeming with 'different' in every sense of the word.  Sometimes it's good to be reminded of that.

Here in Glasgow we are finally enjoying some gorgeous weather, and as the first hints of autumn play around the leaves of the trees, I find myself delighting in the beauty of creation and calling to mind these words from Philippians 4:8

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

The Message paraphrase

How easy it is to slip into whinge and whine mode, focussing on things negative.  How easy to take for granted or not even notice all the natural beauty and goodness and loveliness that surrounds us because we are preoccupied by other things.  I like this injunction to look for the good rather than the bad, the lovely not the ugly, the hopefilled not the hatefilled and so on.  And it's a challenge, for sure.

So, it's a challenge I've decided to accept and make my own; that each day I will consciously look for a thing of beauty and loveliness.  It might be the toothless smile of an old man out fetching his paper, it might be the way the sunlight plays on the trees, it might be the feel of the breeze playing on my skin, or the indulgence of an extra latte, who knows.  But I am excited to accept the challenge and learn more of the wonder of God's creativity through it.

At last night's Songs of Praise we sang a lovely Welsh (funeral) hymn.  Alas, the English translation didn't scan (I'd failed to check) so we ended up with a trio by our three Weslsh speakers.  And it was a delight to hear Welsh voices singing as only Welsh voices can.  Here's the final verse...

  O fryniau Caersalem ceir gweled       

  Holl daith yr anialwch i gyd,       

  Pryd hyn y daw troeon yr yrfa       

  Yn felys i lanw ein bryd;       

  Cawn edrych ar stormydd ac ofnau       

  Ac angau dychrynllyd a'r bedd,       

  A ninnau'n ddihangol o'u cyrraedd  
     
  Yn nofio mewn cariad a hedd.     

       
   From the hills of Jerusalem can be seen       

   The entire journey all through the desert,       

   This time come turns of the course       

   Sweetly to fill our mind;       

   We can look at the storms and fears       

   And horrendous death and the grave,       

   And we have escaped from their reach       

   Swimming in love and peace.       

In the days when I was at university in London - a very long time ago now - the Fresher's event at my college was called the Freshers' Squash or more usually the Squashers' Fresh.  Today we had a brief after service meeting to talk about our student welcome event, to which I expected about half a dozen stalwarts to turn up.  In the end there were around 20 of us squashed in the church lounge, some on chairs, some on cushions, some standing... it was a proper studenty meeting.  And it was exciting, no, it was EXCITING.  Exciting because almost all our overseas students stayed to share and brought ideas of what they thought would be helpful and valuable.  Exciting because our home undergrads and post grads joined in.  Exciting because the oldest person involved was over ninety.  Exciting because it had energy and humour and drive

So...

On Saturday 18th September at the Gathering Place will be a drop in traditional British afternoon tea for any students who care to come along from University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University and Strathclyde University.  If you are reading this and know someone who ticks any of these boxes - fresher, returner, post-grad, under-grad - please tell them to get in touch with us cos we'd love to serve you our.... wait for it.....

Fairtrade, Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten free/Nut free*/meat-lovers/diabetic friendly/you-name-it-we'll-try-to-accommodate-it tea.

And it will be served on lovely three-tier cake stands to boot.  A free gift bag for students who turn up and maybe even a church mug...

*Freedom from nuts refers only the edible variety.... we'll be there after all.

This year it is seven years since my ordination - an anniversary I will be celebrating on 6th December.  I think the reason I've being recalling that is that most of my peers settled earlier than I did and had their ordinations between June and September; now most are beginning their sabbaticals.  For various valid reasons I will be deferring mine, not least because I will only have been in Glasgow just over a year when its earliest start date (1st January 2011) arrives.  Even so, as I pondered I found myself reminded of the pop song I used to frame my 'call story' in that service (see, I was a heretic even then!) and marvelling how parts of it have again and again proved to be pertinenet at times along the way.  I was a 'late settler' and the much loved little fellowship I served certainly had its struggles and dark days whilst I was with them, but, God (sometimes the 'me' and sometimes the 'you' as I read the song; such mixing of voice is OK it matches some of the psalms!!) was with us in it all.

Of course God speaks in Scripture, in whispers, in signs and in wonders... but for me its usually most clearly in 'things that make you go, hmmm' ...

When you're close to tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
One day we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close till the end
We'll remember it was me and you

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love

Don't you think it's time you started
Doing what we always wanted
One day we're gonna get so high
'Cause even the impossible
is easy when we got each other
One day 'we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love (x2)


High, high, high, high.(x2)

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love (x3)

Lyrics: Tucker, source: here

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young people stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:30-31a)