Whilst walking the West Highland Way we passed through a place called Tyndrum.  It is almost a bend in the road, though has a fairly new municipal cemetry with exactly one grave stone to date!  Significant is that it consists of three shops - a little general store, a place called The Green Welly Stop and another called the Real Food Cafe.  The last of these was where we ate one evening, and it intrigued me more than somewhat - essentially it is an ethical chip shop serving the usual range of deep fried fare but with a conscience.  All the hot drinks are fairly traded, the disposables from sustainable sources, the fish, potatoes, meat etc. locally and/or organically sourced.  They offer gluten free batter for those who need it.  Central to the cafe are two high, communal eating tables where diners sit together to enjoy their repast.  Fresh water is freely available in jugs filled at a nearby butler sink.

The story of The Real Food cafe us told in panels on the wall - how a failing Little Chef restaurant was bought up and redeveloped as the fulfilment of a dream of a couple; how the dream was captured by those they employed and how when one of the owners died suddenly the dream was sustained by those who shared it.  Maybe there's a parable in there somewhere?

I certainly enjoyed my pie and chips washed down with lashings of tea and followed with a chunk of  homemade flapjack.  Should I be up that way again I imagine I'll stop by because there's something intrinsically yet intangibly good about ethical fast food!

There is, so I discovered, a doggerel song sung by Kenneth McKellar, which extols the virtues of the West Highland Way.  The song may be far from great poetry, but the walk traverses some magnificent and diverse countryside as it winds it way from Milngavie (or Kelvingrove if you do the southern extension first) to Fort William.

Someone hearing I was about to attempt this walk wished me well on my 'Long Walk Through the Midges' and despite various assurances that May in Scotland is dry and midge free, I got wet and bitten in equal measure!  It was a great time out from routine: time to "not think", time to "not do."  It was good to walk with a friend I have seen little of for some time and who knows that part of Scotland reasonably well, having moved there a couple of years back to be nearer her parents.

Navigationally, it was the easiest walk I've ever done - wide paths and good way-marking throughout made it impossible to get lost and the diversity of walkers from many nations ensured some entertaining conversations and we enjoyed nicknaming the various walkers we met, overtook, were overtaken by, and then overtook once more.

I could spend a lot of time listing visual highlights - the acres of bluebells, Loch Lomond in the sunlight, Ben Nevis almost clear (just a whisper of cloud grazing the summit) meandering rivers or brooding clouds over Rannoch Moor - but to do so would need greater poetry than I possess.

Lots of great moments, lots of stunning scenery, way too much to eat - and now lots of socks to wash!  Overall a great week away and a much needed rest.

Because I'm on holiday next week I am trying to prepare the sermon for when I return.  I have now realised I misread the week number as per the lectionary (not that anyone will know) so have been working with 1 John 5:1 - 6 and John 15: 9-17 and intending to do some explorations about love, noting that in 1 John believers are children of God and in John 15 friends of Jesus.  After three abortive attempts I had lunch, and realised part of my struggle was that 1 John 4:7-20 kept sneaking into my mind.

So here's the conundrum.

1 John 4:7 - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

So far so good.

1 John 5:1 - Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who who loves the father loves his child as well.

So which is it?  Is it our love that makes us children of God?  Or is it our faith?  Or is it the wrong question? (undoubtedly!)

I think I'm going to add the 1 John 4 passage to our set of readings - though I'm not sure my task will be any less of a struggle - and maybe try to tease out some of the implications of the conundrum:

1 John 4: 20 - If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars.  For any of us who do not love a brother or sister whom we have seen, cannot love God, whom we have not seen

Faith is as faith does... which after all is my central Bible verse in paraphrase!

Last night I was at a school Governor's meeting where we were discussing information relating to the appointment of a new head teacher.  When we got to essential attributes, I observed that churches always seem to want the Archangel Gabriel for their new minister.  One of the staff governors commented that many of the teachers had responded to that by saying they wanted Johnny Depp.  Since I was taking the minutes, I recorded "Archangel Gabriel meets Johnny Depp" (now I may be a getting old but Johnny Depp isn't my hunk of choice!  How about Sean Connery, Martin Shaw, Trevor Eve... ).

I was intrigued by the assumption that a head teacher will be male, in much the same way that most churches assume ministers will be male.  How would people define their ideal female head teacher?  Virgin Mary meets ... (insert name)?  Or their ideal female minister?  Virgin Mary meets Geraldine Grainger perhaps?!  What d'you think?

Gustavo Guttirerez wrote a book on spirituality called We Drink From Our Own Wells and as I recall it is worth reading (that's about all I recall, I confess, but it is, trust me).  Someone writing in our church magazine this month said 'you never appreciate the water until the well runs dry' which, sadly, is also true.  Somewhere between the two of these is, I suspect something we all need to hear; it is good to discover new wells, new sources of life-giving, life-renewing water and here are two:

Dancing Scarecrow is a new website offering resources that emerge from a tiny, tenacious Baptist church in East Manchester.  Clare and Tim, the writers, are the ministers. For those who love Brian Howden style connections, Clare lived nextdoor to me when I was training in Manchester and Tim trained with the person who used to be my minister when I lived in Warrington! (Oh, and Brian was senior friend to that minister when he had as his church secretary someone who used to work for me when I was in industry...)  Theirs (Tim's & Clare's in case I've confused you by now) is a special ministry in a special place and their resources will inspire and challenge in equal measure (which is good in my view!)

Real Life Worship is a new BUGB worship groups led initiative featuring Craig Gardiner, Andy Goodliff and Simon Perry which is again about offering authentic, relevant worship resources.  Many enjoyed their session at Baptst Assembly (sorry guys I was elsewhere at the time) and some material they shared is on the site - so take a peek.

Meantime, I must update my sidebars accordingly!