So, a while ago, I received an e-mail to say that this blog had been voted onto this list for Scottish blogs…
I know nothing about the organisation. Nor who gets to vote. Nor how many blogs there are in Scotland.
But hey, it looks pretty.
A bit like winning third prize for carrots at the fruit and veg show. So I decided to pin it on…
Oh dear.
Tomorrow I return to work for a few days. It is that rather difficult period within social work between Christmas and New Year, and I will be the only manager covering all sorts of things beyond my usual mental health remit. It may be quiet. It may be manic.
Always a shock to system.
To this list (for rather too much of the time) add ‘Social work management’!
In order to cheer myself up, I went searching for other peoples feelings about work, and discovered this TED lecture…
Hmmm- at this point, I think castrating lambs with your teeth has it’s attraction…
But then again, what I do has value. I do my best to make a difference, and to be graceful and respectful to those who work with/for me (and sometimes I even manage to do this!)
And because I work, I have a house and other resources that enable me to serve the Kingdom, and to give my kids a start in life that I did not have.
So I will go in tomorrow, reluctantly perhaps, but with a smile.
I plan to give the office a good sort out.
Bare those teeth- and bite!
I usually find myself more or less in agreement with Rowan Williams these days. He has a way of saying important thing but, delivered in his dry academic oratory style, I wonder if enough people actually take the trouble to listen? Despite the fact that I have not been part of the CofE for about 25 years, in many ways, I still see him as a spiritual leader for whom I have the utmost respect.
My mate Simon pointed at this Christmas sermon, as the theme of relationship and community is likely to be a central one for me this coming year.
This year the Archbish started with a fairly standard Christmas theme-
God has always been communicating with humanity, in any number of ways; but what we need from God is more than just information. The climax of the story is the sending of a Son: when all has been said and done on the level of information what still needs to be made clear to us is that the point of it all is relationship.
He then goes on to speak about the dependent nature of this relationship-
So the important thing is not that everyone gets to stand on their own two feet and turns into a reliable ‘independent’ consumer and contributor to the GNP. What we expect from each other in a generous and grown-up society is much more to do with all of us learning how to ask from each other, how to receive from each other, how to depend on the generosity of those who love us and stand alongside us. And that again means a particular care for those who need us most, who need us to secure their place and guarantee that there is nourishment and stability for them. As we learn how to be gratefully dependent, we learn how to attend to and respond to the dependence of others. Perhaps by God’s grace we shall learn in this way how to create a society in which real dependence is celebrated and safeguarded, not regarded with embarrassment or abused by the powerful and greedy.
God has spoken through a Son. He has called us all to become children at the cradle of the Son, the Word made flesh, so that we may grow into a glory that even the angels wonder at. To all who accept him he gives power and authority to become children of God, learning and growing into endless life and joy.
Well said Rowan.
So, another Christmas season comes and goes. We have had a lovely time, I hope you have too. Those moments of delight on the kids faces…
We have had Michaela’s Mum and Step-Father here this Christmas, which has been great as Robert has not been well. They had an epic journey up from Derbyshire- a 5 hour train journey became a 10 hour one, with cancelled trains and all sorts of problems because of the snow.
I’m going to take a few days break from blogging. If I can. No-one reads blogs at Christmas anyway- we have far better things to do!
Like most of us, I have been busy- cleaning shovelling snow and grit, and wrapping.
We were out carol singing yesterday, and I really enjoyed it- it has become a Christmas tradition that is increasingly important to me- we take out trumpets and trombones and pianos that most of us only play once a year, and we visit some old folks homes and sing…
It is such a blessing to give- and so may you find much blessing…
And to all of you who read this blog, may this Christmas be wonderful.
And may you discover Emmanuel. God with us.
Above all the neon blaze
And electric flicker
May you still
Be blessed
By starlight
Amongst all the old recycled songs
And the fake sleighbells
May there be a moment
When peace
Falls like perfect
Snowflakes
But when we’ve overfed
And over drank
When all the gifts are given
Let us remember
That the child
Became a man
Before the rain washes away the snow, here are a few shots from a walk in the woods behind our house…
Lovely.
Rather spoiling the angelic impression (but still very funny) Emily decided to write ‘SPLAT’ in the snow- perhaps indicating a fallen snow angel!
So it snowed!
We have had the mandatory snow ball fight (I won) and discovered that our new driveway makes for a rather fast scary sledge ride.
I went down first, and the end was not dignified!
Ahhhhhhh- that’s me.
Off work for a week.
And boy was I ever ready. I had a day from hell yesterday, topped of with a migraine in the evening. I know myself well enough to understand when I need headspace on my own, and when I need to be amongst people.
But the fact is, to a various degree, we all need both. In particular, we all need to be with people who are willing to love and accept us as we are- in short, we all need mates. It is a physical, spiritual and emotional pull on the core of us.
I have enjoyed these adverts recently- and smiled ruefully- as a result of awareness of my own frequent failings, and the pain I have sometimes felt through a perception of others failing me…
And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.
2 Corinthians 13:10-12
Some photographs taken on my way back from Bute yesterday, driving over the middle of the Cowal peninsular from Colintraive.
this fragile tent 