Grace Under Pressure 2

Have you ever had something in your life that you love and hate at the same time? Well maybe hate is too strong a word, dislike might be better. For me its the 10km route that I occasionally run through Blidworth woods, and I say occasionally because this particular route is one I wouldn't be able to run on my own such is it's twisting and turning nature.  Thankfully four members of Stonehill Runners turned up last night and with Laura as our guide, Lorraine, Scott and Dave as my chat buddies, and Buddy and Angle our canine companiions, the only danger of getting lost was getting left behind. So what the love hate thing I hear you ask? Well I love it because its probably my favourite local route to run with such a variety of terrain, scenery and challenge. What I dislike is that it all seems to be a gradual uphill, even though I know it isn't. Then after spending most of the route literally running through the woods, there is a km of hard track road about 7.5km in which tu...

  Fed up with watching the entire 72 hour DVD of Pope Francis lying in state during which time even the most devoted Catholic had to admit the plot line became a little repetative. Then 'do not be afraid' as an angel once said to an unmarried teenage virgin who was about to be told that she was pregnant.  Coming soon to a screen near you, Conclave 2:the one with balls, available at just £20 on Papal TV. This release comes 2 1/2 years after ITV issued their blockbuster blueray 'Hollie and Phil jump the queue' in which ITV's former famous duo appear as if by divine intervension at the head of the queue.for innumerable important world events.  

Today was our first hot one down in Thieves Wood as the temperature rose steadily throughout the day to hit the mid 20's. So with gloves, hats, long sleeved tops and lycra leggings banished to the wardrobe for the next six months, we gathered in the car park just after six, six humans and two canine companions for what turned out to be a 4.5 mile gallop.  Due to the light nights and dry weather we were able to head off the main paths and bridle tracks and actually run on trails through the woods which felt gorgeous under my feet even if it did mean having to pay a bit more attention to the gnarly roots and low hangng foliage.  And as we ran and chatted, please note I am now able to multitask, I just happened to mention that at the end of the week TOM and I will be headiing off on another cruising adventure only to discover that one of my fellow running buddies will be on the 2nd week of the cruise that I am doing. What a coincidence! So I might have someone to run the 12 loops...

On a day when I am trying rather unsuccessfully to compartmentalise too many different things, it's been lovely to just put it all aside for a few moments and just enjoy some Iron and Wine, both aurally and orally...lol

  Rest in peace, good and faithful servant

  No I am not talking about the day I had an old Mother Hubbard experience and discovered that all my cupboards were bare but rather the day my energy / enthusiasm /empathy reserves went past the empty stage.  Life hasn't been helped by issues with both computers needing to be repaired, losing access to one of my e mail accounts that now appears irretrievable, a church AGM that needs to be done on Sunday, and a list of things to do before Thursday that seems to grow longer by the hour.  The annual 'dip' in reserves following on from Holy week and Easter has been exacerbated this year and I don't know what is flatter than a pancake but I am it. I just need to get through the services at the weekend and then a few odds and sods during the first part of next week knowing that this time next week I will starting my 'drink through the cocktail menu' challenge on Marella.

Yesterday I had a little jaunt up to Southwell Minster to see an exhibition called 'Threads through the bible', an astonishing display of 44 huge tapestries / embroidaries that are on show there, which if presented side by side, they would stretch more than 80 metres. Produced by the textile artist, Jaquie Parkinson, in a project that has taken 10 years to complete, through a breathtaking combination of spectacular designs, brilliant colours and extraordinary stitching (over 25 million of them) the exhibition took the viewer through a journey from the first pages to the last pages of the Bible.  Beginning with Threads through Creation, Threads through the Cross’ and finally ‘Threads through Revelation’ (which made me realise I really didn't know the story of Rvelation all that well) it was literally both eye opening and jaw dropping, astonishing in its scale and variety. What was lovely about it, apart from the sheer artistry, was that going at 4pm there was only a handf...

    Since coming back from TOM's earlier today I have been computer less and my life has felt like this song. Enough said. This is the wonderfully catchy 'End of the world' by Mylie Cyrus. Hopefully things will be back to normal in a few days time.  

  Not something that was on my calendar a few days ago but as several of the Stonehills runners revealed on Good  Friday that they were planning on running the event I thought I'd  pop along and join in unofficially. Well when I say pop along I was in fact already there, all ready in place to race the Peak rail steam train. It's not the first time I have done this race which is a run that anyone can navigate being a simple out and back from Rowsley train station to Matlock. So reluctant to splash the cash and run officially, I  just set off 10 mins before the start of the actual  race and ended up like a fatiguing fox being chased down by a pack of hectic hounds. On an overcast day that threatened to rain at any moment, I  managed to keep ahead of the 1st runner for a couple of miles and the steam train that everyone was racing against until the point where we had to cross over the tracks just before Matlock. I wasn't sure how well I was doing but being amo...

 

 

Having decided to take a break from either making America great again or offering any sensible solution to ending the Ukraine / Russian war,  Trump is said to be hopeful of adding to his victory in 2019. This off course providing he avoids any Chinese in the draw when he has threatened to double the number of balls they have to pot in retaliation for taking away the take away business from the USA.

Today for the first time since I became a  minister I did not lead a Good Friday service. And it all feels rather strange. There isn't usually a service at either of my churches in Hucknall as we join together for an ecumenical service with the other denominations. But as I have normally been required elsewhere, it's an occasion I have never been able to take part in. This year for some reason none of my other three churches hosted a Good Friday service and with all the other spots on the plan filled by my colleagues,  today I have been 'unemployed' on what is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.  Thankfully a 7.30am run through the woods with some of my running buddies from Stonehills Runners did go some way to make it a 'good' Friday. Especially as it concluded with a cup of steaming hot coffee, some hot cross buns and a pain au chocolate!!

  Maundy Thursday is without question  my favourite service to lead during the Church year. There  in just something about the event of that day which  sends me on an  emotional rollercoaster.  The idea of celebrating a Passover meal, one that brings the past into  the present  but which  also looks forward to the future.  The radical act of Jesus washing the disciples feet in John's gospel and then  commanding them to go and do the same. Or if you're reading the version in Matthew, Mark or Luke you  would find the institution of the eucharist or communions it is more  commonly known. Then of course things turn decidedly dark with betrayal by Judas, the arrest in the garden  of Gethsemane, and the hastily arranged 'illegal' trial by the religious authorities. This year I did something I haven't done for years, or indeed perhaps not at all during my time as a minister, and that is to sing during the  service. In f...

 Today marked the end of what has been a marathon sing song across my five churches.  Not a physical sing song that  might gain us a place in the Guinness book of world  records, but rather the conclusion of several  discussion groups that have met each week to look at the Lent based  circuit  booklet  entitled 'Singing out our soul'. For the 40 days of Lent, each day a member of the staff team has written about a favourite hymn or worship song that has been  important in their faith journey. Then on the Sundays there  has been a creative  challenge  for people  to get their teeth into.  This might have been linking hymn to the 12 Discipleship Pathways, writing a hymn of their  own, or creating a picture representing the words/theme of a particular song. Attending up to 5 different groups each week has had its challenges but also great rewards as people spoke movingly about how hymns, songs and music have been im...

 Apologies for the derth of recent posts but I am currently  computer less. Over the  weekend my desktop has failed  to switch on, due I hope to a faulty on/off button that appears stuck. And then less than 24 hours  later  my laptop  is giving me a message 'unable to  load user profile' which basically means that whilst it turns on I cannot  access anything on it! All of which means I feel as if my arms have been cut off, hence the lack of blog updates. Plus the fact that all my Easter services are not out of reach, meaning I have had to  make  an emergency  dash to TOM's to use his laptop and start from scratch. Let's  just  hope that  trouble  doesn't  come in 3s and this  little tablet which has been my lifeline to the 'outside' world isn't the next to pack in.

 I am still not sure who recorded the original version of  this song but this version  by Neil Diamond is just gorgeous.  It is a track that I came  across  quite  by accident as it  appeared on a  CD I had picked up because it contained a version the Gladys  Knight  song Midnight  train to Georgia, recorded by Neil Diamond that I first heard played by The Privateers whilst cruising.   This gem was a bonus and one I have had on repeat play since first hearing it. So today here is two for the price of one. First up is 'Feels like home', followed by an equally stunning version of Midnight train to Georgia.

  Our Easter Cross preperations in full swing this mornng

Okay lets cut straight to the end. It should have been a half marathon but turned out to be half of a half marathon. Eager to hear more? Today was the Thoresby Hall Wild Deer event with a variety of different jollies on offer depending on how far you fancied running and whether you wanted to run with a canine companion or not. And lots did.  So with options available from 3 miles to 13 miles (with or without dog) I plumped for the half marathon distance with vague recollections that several years ago I had managed the 10 mile Leaf Kicker event. To be honest there wasn't as many people there as I had hoped for and with so many options available, even though the 6 mile and 13 mile runs set off at the same time, it was obvious at the start line that the field would get stretched out pretty quickly.  It was also obvious within the first mile that I wasn't really there mentally or pgysically and despite the nature of the course being lovely, the fact that the half marathon consiste...