So this is my version of Stuart Blythe's version of Tony Campolo's parable of the ducks...

The duck students were excited, today was the long promised visit of Professor Aylesbury Mallard, distinguished scholar of duck anatomy, and she was going to give a lecture on the wing - not that is, that she was going to make it up as she went along, it was a lecture about the wing.

So, after waddling around the detritus of their student flat gathering pencils and paper, the students waddled down the road to University of the West of Duckland and into K block where the lecture was due to be held.  The room filled, and the ducks eagerly waited for the lecture to begin.  In waddled the professor, laden with with handouts that explained the minutest details of the anatomy of the wing.  Powerpoints showed the layout of bones and tendons, feathers were passed round to be examined and admired.  The ducks frantically scribbled or typed notes, amazed at all she had to say.

The lecture neared its end and the professor lowered her voice.  Our student ducks craned forward, eager to hear what she said, but could not quite catch it.  The ducks at the front leaned nearer and the professor spoke again, whispering something important.  Soon the mesage spread as, row by row, the students joined in the cry, 'fly, fly!'  Soon the air was filled with loud quacking as every duck joined the chorus.

Then the clock chimed the hour, the lecture ended, and the ducks waddled out the leacture room and back up the hill to their flat discussing what they had learned...

So, the 07:10 ex-Glasgow for Manchester.  Reserved seat, electric socket but no wi-fi on that rail network, still got my sermon finished.  By the time we reached Lancaster the train was packed, standing room only.  A young man got on and stood patiently in the aisle.  At Preston several people left and he got a seat.  Looking up he saw a woman about my age, 'are you going far?' he asked.  'Manchester' she replied.  'Then have my seat,' he said, and proceded to stand all the way to Manchester himself.  What annoyed me was that the woman didn't even say 'thank you.'  The youf of today?  Well this one can teach the rest of us a thing or three.

Now online at John Rylands Univeristy Library - free wi-fi for registered students - hardly recognised the place which has gone all trendy since my last visit: beanbags in the entrance area!!  Machines selling drinks and crisps and NOISE.  Ah well, off now to the relative quiet of Blue 3 (or whatever it might have been re-branded) and some theology books.  Hopefully the youfs up there will be reasonably quiet.

Great way to spend the day - two cities I love and sun shining in each.

Next week 2000 or so of us will arrive in Plymouth for the English Baptist Assembly (known hereabouts as the BUGB Assembly).  I am looking forward to it; in a perverse way I'm even looking forward to being irritated by certain parts of it, because that's what makes it the thing it is.  I will state up front that I am rather disappointed that the In Memoriam has been relegated to the Monday morning when we know a lot of people will have already left (but am glad it isn't Friday night when I won't have arrived).  I hope that people will make the effort to get involved in the Public Resolutions session - the issues being discussed are important - but again they are on Monday morning so many may opt out.

Good bits will include meeting friends and feeling connected to this crazy family.  Hoping for coffee with, among others, Ruth, Julie, Lucy and Diane; to cheer (or not) Andy, Simon, Kez, Vanessa and Theo; to say 'hi' to bloggers; to reunite with NB(L)C and EMBA/NWBA friends and a whole raft of RMs; to eat icecream on the Ho, Ho, Ho (as a former work colleague called it); and obviously to be inspired and refreshed for ministry in a northern outpost of this kind of Baptistness.

Lurkers, commenters, fellow-bloggers do say 'hi' if you see me there and I look forward to seeing you all.

On Monday I was at college as a student, learning about mentoring.

Last night I had a leadership team meeting where we talked, among other things, about ongoing ministerial support and development.

Today I am at college being a facilitator, teaching about leadership.

So that all fits togther quite nicely.

Tomorrow I am spending a lot of time on a train going to a university to talk about their teaching and my learning/researching... or the mutual lack thereof.

In between times I have a service on Church memebrship to complete, preparations for which are proving fun (in a good way not an ironic one).  A few people last Sunday said they'd learned a lot from my Baptism sermonettes, so I hope this week lives up to expectations.

So a busy week one way and another, but enjoyable.

Always interesting to see what raises debate on a blog (apart from my inability to type proper English or accurately to proof read that which I have typed).  Is 'tablet,' or is it not, 'approximately the same as fudge'?  I think the answer lies in your the definition of approximately.  A whole five minutes of online research of recipes reveals the following...

Ingredients for Tablet:

Milk

Condensed milk

Sugar

Butter

Ingredients for Fudge:

Milk

Condensed milk (usually)

Sugar (may be demerara)

Butter

In most recipes the quantities are identical, though for some forms of fudge the sugar content is half that of tablet (which is why the latter is that obviously preferred by dentists).  The only substantive difference seems to be that whilst fudge is cooked for 20 minutes, tablet is cooked for 45; clearly Scots are more patient.

Anyway, it's time this debate was laid to rest.  We don't want to have a further split in the church over confectionery heresies!