Next week I move to my gorgeous new manse - and go up in the world to the third floor where, from my kitchen window, I will be able to see for miles south-ish over the Clyde.  As my Dad used to say, on a clear day you can see Big Ben... if you have a photograph in your hand.  And for those who think that's the closest to heaven I'll get... bless you!

Once more I've been sorting, packing (how did I gain so much more stuff in 5 months?!) and labelling boxes.  This afternoon the colour coding will get done in the hope the removers can get the right box to the right room...  Time will tell.

Between being at college on Monday and moving over Tuesday and Wednesday I won't be around much next week (and have already written my sermon for the following Sunday!) and this bit of blogland will be quieter.

So, if you want a few little gems to read over the next week then how about this from the Beaker Folk?  In amongst all the clever satirical posts, here is one that is pure theology at its best.  It certainly made me pause as I gleefully anticipate my new home, lending an appropriate perspective to it all.

Or, if you want to see a new take on an old idea (I heard something similar more than 20 years ago...) this from ASBO Jesus reminds us that the majority of "youf of today" are as decent as they were when we were the subject of similar comments back in the 1970s/1980s (or whenever it was for you!).

And for anyone who likes random bits of proof of how small the world is... some of my folk know 'Scottish Rhiannon' alluded to in my previous post here and the sister of one of my C of S colleagues played the part of the registrar who married Bradley and Stacey in this week's East Enders... whether she has to make a return visit to record Bradley's death who knows?!  This was the first time in more than a decade I deliberately watched episode of East Enders - and saw two episodes in one week.  That should do me for another decade I think!

Back soon, but really must go and sort out 5 month's worth of cardboard to take to the recycling centre.

I opened an email from an Anglican friend wishing me a 'happy Ash Wednesday' which seemed an odd kind of greeting, if a pleasant one.

Yesterday was spent with some C of S colleagues in Dunblane being quiet on a retreat day.  It was a good day, with plenty to ponder and enough space to draw breath before heading into Lent proper.  There was a vague Ash Wednesday theme going on, but it was more the idea of "greening", the new life that comes with spring as the days lengthen (the word Lent has its origins in Lenct which means lengthen).  The day ended with an ashing ritual, which was quite meaningful, but, not being Anglicans or Catholics, we all carefully wiped off the ashes before setting off for the train back to Glasgow. I'm not a massive fan of 'ashing' and always find the traditional words 'from dust you came and to dust you will return' rather discomfiting - even if they are valid.

And so to my daily readings from Genesis, which focused on the Genesis 2 creation story in which God first fashions Adam from dust, then the animals (cf chapter 1!) before making Eve from Adam's rib.  Although the theme of the notes was about morality, it was the making from dust that resonated in my mind.  The very 'earthiness' of our physical origins and the very 'Godly' breath of life are intimately linked.  It seemed to give me a more upbeat 'Happy Ash Wednesday' sense after all.

Just as a total side, yesterday was a glorious sunny day, despite a heavy frost.  The room in which we met overlooked Dunblane Cathedral and as the morning passed the frost melted to reveal green grass - except in the shadow of the church.  I couldn't help wondering if maybe this was a symbol of the institution standing in the way of the greening!!

Only the C of E would see this as entertaining...

More fun would be if they had Rev Dr Rowan Williams (m) and Rev Rowan Williams (f) in the same church (and they do both exist).

This from ASBO Jesus worth a moment's thought...

Advance posting as I am away at an Ash Wednesday Quiet Day with our local C of S ministers in Dunblane - a welcome pause before the Lent events begin.

I am looking forward to Lent, Holy Week and Easter for all sorts of reasons.

I am intrigued to see how the Lent studies work, using material I've used before, but with people I am just beginning to get to know.  Might need a few bleeps when we show the film on which they are based (1980s Yorkshire miners at their expletive best!) but it should be good fun.

I am pleased that there are folk who enjoy leading various aspects of the Lenten offerings, and Holy Week especially promises to be excellent with a balance of giving and receiving rather than the all-out-rush of recent years.

Each lunch time of Holy Week we will offer a 15 minute 'pause point' on the road to Calvary and each evening our Cof S friends offer more formal services.

Maundy Thursday will be a Tennebrae organised by some of my folk (a relief cos I've never done one and wouldn't know where to begin!) to which I am looking forward as a time of reflection and stilling.

Good Friday will be a sort of labyrinth thing, using materials I have developed, made, copied, whatever over many years.  A multi-sensory 'drop in' Easter Encounter suited to all ages and hopefully appealing to folk who aren't (yet) part of the church.  Then a quick trot to the cathedral (piskies) for the Easter Vigil three hour service.  Two very different opportunities to enter more deeply into the story.

Easter Sunday will probably see us "communioned out" (with apologies to all the sacramentalists out there!) with early breakfast, Easter Celebration and evening Emmaus Walk each including some form of communion.  Of course with my low, memorialist (or super high sacramental-universe) theology every meal has eucharistic potential so thrice in one day is fine.

Exciting and inspiring, lively and leisurely, light and heavy, slow and fast, long and short, experiential and cerebral, ecumenical and denominational... I think we have most options covered one way or another.

Advance thanks to those who are making it happen in such a lovely diversity of ways.