into the glass

My church Fellowship Group have courageously chosen to pilot a project I've been working at on and off over the last 6 months ~ making some group material for Lent.

The project was triggered by the radiant photograph Looking through a glass brightly posted by Ochileer on his Flickr pages last summer; an image which I (along with about 900 other people around the world) found captivating.

For me it led to reflection on various aspects of Christian spirituality and faith. Questions about how you see the world; how you regard creation; where your horizons are; how you respond to faith symbols; how you respond to the idea of new life in the way that Christ offers; and how you live joyfully. Even though the photographer has explained that he doesn't share my faith, he has very graciously allowed me to work with his image. I'm so grateful.

So, after a long gestation period, I finally got to the point in January of drawing it all together in a pack which I've just completed. We start on Tuesday. I wonder how it will go over the weeks.

when one door closes, so does the new one

Thanks to Dave Hancock's workmanship, there's now a new door beautifully installed and the old 'holy' one is a thing of the past ...



Oh yes - and Emily phoned me this morning because it was raining and she thought it would be nice if I could go round for coffee. She lives next door with her parents and she's three (it was her dad who fixed the door when it was smashed). We had a happy coffee time.

biggest blogging country

I liked this post about Iran. I stumbled across the author because, as a Flickrite, he invited CMS (with whom I'm involved) to add our Flickr photos of the reception in our new office building to a Flickr group he's started.

But Iran is far more significant. Thanks for the post.

The Queen of Narnia didn't show

We gathered at St Julian's, Woking - a few church members, leaders, and CMS folk - to talk about how we change our own and others' mindset about our part in God's mission. We've been asking the question 'how do we play a meaningful part in the whole venture?' And 'how we do that without slipping into the trap of keeping control?'. The journey continues.

As promised, snow fell overnight. From the warmth and comfort of St Julian's it was lovely to look out on this ....

linguistic trick of huge importance

Really good reflection by Richard Black, Environment Correspondent, on the BBC website today.