Look closely at the photo at the top of this post, and you will realise that there is something unusual about it.  The regnal mark is for Edward VIII, the king who was never crowned, having abdicated his throne to marry the woman he loved.  Such pillar boxes are relatively rare.  Certainly until yesterday, I had never been consciously aware of passing one.

So a quick internet search surprised me when it revealed that across the UK there are something like 160-170 of them.  And also that two of them have been in places I have lived...

If you look closely - you might have to do some jiggery pokery with the images - you will discover that one is Hyndland, Glasgow, and the other in Hugglescote, Leicestershire.  Indeed, the latter I used, without ever noting the inscription, for almost six years when it was my local pillar box!

I like finding odd connections, and this one is pretty odd!  I also alerted me to the need to slow down and really look at things... it was just by chance that I spotted the E viii R mark yesterday, and just curiosity that led me to discover the connection.

Recently, I've begun to identify what I am loosely referring to as 'my lessons from lockdown'.  Slowing down and looking certainly is one (or two?) of them.

No comment needed!

Yesterday was due to have been a time-tabling clash, such that I would have been in Bournemouth for the English Baptist Assembly, at the same time as the final retreat day for the Ignatian Course I've been doing in Glasgow.

As things turned out, the Assembly was postponed/cancelled, the planned book launch was done in other ways, and I ended up taking part in a 'virtual retreat day'.

To make it feel like a retreat, I set up my kitchen table with a prayer zone, a craft zone and of course a Zoom zone.  And it worked really well.

When all was done I put everything away and turned my kitchen back into a kitchen.

This morning, I debated doing church from the kitchen rather than the office.  I didn't, because the boundaries are quite important, and the point yesterday was to be in a space that's not my office.

This week I have spent something like 30 hours on/at Zoom events of all shapes and sizes.  There is much that's good and exciting, and there's much that's restricting or frustrating.  It seems you can do virtually anything  virtually... which is probably as well, as to stay safe we need to stay home for a good while yet.

It's been a pretty full-on week so far.  I have lost count of the number of hours spent in digital gatherings and live-streams bit it's around twenty I reckon, and it's only Wednesday!

Today's webinar involved quite a lot of purpleness... in honour of Violet Hedger and Edith Gates, and indeed all the foremothers and foresisters in Baptist ministry who paved the way for those of us doing it now.

It was tiring but actually it looks OK.  I am so tired I can barely type words, never mind sentences, so I'll just link the recorded webinar in case anyone is interested... here

A friend signposted me to this sung version of the Aaronic blessing - worth a listen, even if it gets a bit loud towards the end!!