Grace Under Pressure 2

  John Stainer's The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer was composed in 1887 . It is a 20-movement Passiontide cantata for SATB choir, tenor and baritone soloists, and organ, designed for parish church choirs, which premiered on February 24th 1887 at Marylebone Parish Church.  And these dates are important because it helps to remind us that Stainer's Crucifixion was written before melody, tune and enjoyment were ever discovered in music. I kid you not. After the longest 80 minutes of my life I felt I knew what Jesus had been through on that cross or at least the aural equivalent. I would rather have listened to three and a half hours of the Scott Mills breakfast show, now only available on catch up. I had thought lets try something new, something different, something out of my comfort zone. The next time I had that idea dear readers, can someone please shake me vigerously and then restrain me until the thought goes away. What made it ...

I know what you re expecting. You are expecting me to be reporting on how I spent the extra hour of daylight after my 1st day of work post clocks going forward, gamboling through bluebell strewn woods with my fellow puffers and panters from Stonehill Runners. That was the plan but as we all know plans change. Change for a variety of reasons; the fact that I haven't run for 2 weeks, the fact that it's very blustery here, the fact that the proposed run was a minimum of 10km of undulating terrain and the fact that it wasn't really close geographically. All of which I have to admit are pretty negative excuses not to run. The other reason is positive and something very different for me. Tonight at one of the local churches there is a performance of Stainer's Crucifixion. And that's where my knowledge stops. I know it is a choral work, I know it lasts an hour and I know, and this the most important bit, that it is something completely different for me to do during what is...

       

With recent research suggesting too much screen time exposure might damage the development of babies and young children, many parents are now facing up to the prospect of actually having to parent their offspring rather than leave it to CBBE's and Tik Tok. Speaking in an exclusive to Grace Under Pressure's very own brain befuddled correspondent, stressed 1st time parent, Jus Gotta Sleep revealed, whilst never once looking up from dooomscrolling on her iPhone "I think it's just another example of the Nanny State telling me how to look after my children. Only last week they kept telling me that our eldest daughter, Samsung, who is studying 'the internet' in Canterbury, needed to get vacinated against Meningitus when its blindingly obvious from the name that it just affects men." "I've only just managed to my youngest, Tablet and his twin brother, Eyepad, down for their afternoon naps in front of the TV. I mean I'm not stupid enough to let them p...

  The decluttering continues a pace. With various pieces of furniture taken away by the British Heart Foundation a double bed that I never used finding a final resting place at the local recycling centre and a still fruitless search to find somewhere that can make use of 6 lovely large multicoloured cushions today it was time to clear some of the shelves in my study. At various stages in my training I have been obliged to buy books to complement the courses I was studying. This has been the case for Local preacher training, foundation training in Manchester,  pre ordination training in Atlanta and Cambridge, and even my as a probationary minister I vaguely remember having to boy various theological tomes. Then there have been the books I have actually bought out of a genuine desire to read them, although whethere I ever did is another matter entirely. But looking at the shelves in my study there were a good 30-40 that I can't remember buying or reading and which I am pretty su...

Who doesn't love a good old fashioned break up song. I know I do. But I hadn't heard this for ages until I stumbled across a second hand copy of 'It's all about chemistry' by Semisonic in my local pre loved emporium (charity shop to you) for 50p. And it, or at least this one track has been on repeat play since then. It's a song that highlight the moment when you come face to face with the realisation that a relationship might be about to disintigrate and you are desperatly searching for a way to do it gracefully. This is the achingly beautiful 'Act Naturally'.   Our little secret just might be the kind of thing that you can't hide It's growing like a tangled vine & rising like a river in the tide And everybody knew when you walked into the room I was just a fool for you, nothing I could do Everybody sees you taking control of me Well I'm not begging for release I'm just begging darling please, please Act Naturally Don't let our t...

   President Donald Trump continues biggliest negotiations with himself to open straights of Hormuz

I don't know why I don't do it more often but last night I had a trip to the Arc cinema here in Hucknall. It was 'cheap as chips' Tuesday and so a bargain for only £6 even with the munch, russle and slurp brigade present in numbers.  I went to see Project Hail Mary, a Ryan Gosling film based on the book of the same name by Andy Wier. And it was fabulous. a real heartwarming, tear inducing, laugh out loud beautifully constructed film that really didn't seem as if it ran for almost 180 minutes.  The special efects are special, the characters relatable, the science, well probably the less said about the science the better, but who cares about facts when you are engaging on an out of this world adventure. Plus in 'Rocky' it featuring the most lovable alien since ET. Based on the prmise of a middle school biology teacher ,albeit it one with a PhD in astrophysics, unwillingly brought onto and finding himself alone on a one way mission onboard an international spac...

My favourite Youtube channel is one called 'Days We Spend'. It is a channel filmed by Shawn and Lainey, an American couple who have uprooted to go and live in Galicia, Northen Spain and who produce beautiful and informative videos about walking the various Caminos, many of which culminate in Santiago. Started in 2019 with a simple goal to share some of their favourite ways to spend a few days, they are a really joyful couple who simply glow with the delight of walking because in the words of Poet Annie Dillard...'how we spend our days is how we spend our lives'. Accompanying each of their vidoes, usually as part of their introduction and accompanied by throwing a few subtle shapes is a piece of music. A piece of music that I have struggled to track down. Until Now. So that is 'Watch it' by trackTribe            

So we have had meteorological spring (whatever that is)and also the spring equinox (however that is different to meteorological spring) but the real biggie is yet to come. A week today I will celebrate my favourite day of the day. The first working day of the week after the clocks have been put forward an hour.  That glorious first evening when after work, there is enough light to get out and do something. And the one thing that won't be is week 7 of the current study group at church. I have run out of steam, physically, mentally and spiritually after 4 sessions a week for 6 weeks, and so next Monday I will be, irrespective of climatic conditions,  out in the woods, huffing and puffing during that gorgeous extra 60 mins of daylight.

For someone who doesn't like attending his own synod, you might well ask why on earth did I volunteer one of my churches to host the regional synod from another denomination. Because midway through the day I am asking myself that very question. Today we have been hosting the regional synod for the United Reform Church here in Hucknall. And I have been on meet and greet, organising from a distance and generally just being on hand to sort out any problems that were straight forward and easy to solve.Oh yes and taking all the credit for things that went well. It's been a long day being on site from 9am to 5pm but it was good to engage in what Father Jack would call 'an ecumenical matter'. And when / if they decide they would like us to host them again well I will no longer be part of the 'us' having departed to become one of 'them'.

  As a minister death is something that I deal with quite often. Most of them are outside of the church and come with requests to take funerals. Other are as to be expected people (and their immeadiate families) who have been part of the congregations I minister too. Mst of the time I manage to deal with those events  okay. Today was not one of those times. Receiving news just after 8.30am that one of my congregation had died at home overnight came as a real boy blow. Having been suddenly diagnosed wth a serious illness back late last year, the response to treatment appeared to be going well. Out of hospital after a period of isolation due to a reduced immune system, and now back home, I had only been to visit 10 days ago, when 'they' were, despite having lost some weight, in good spirits. We enjoyed a good chat for an hour over a cup of coffee and I left thinking things were looking positive. The phone call earlier today proved that I was wrong and really knocked the stuffing...

  This is a gem of a song.  Released as part of the upcoming Shane MacGowan tribute album '20th Century Paddy', some three years after the singers death, this gorgeous cover of 'Aainy night in Soho' by Brue Springsteen is just beautiful in its simplicity. Enjoy

  Last night I had a rare treat; dinner with a couple of people where I wasn't 'the minister in the room'. For that very reason I am usually reluctant to accept invitations for meals out, mainly because I am never quite sure who it is I am going as; friend or minister. And so it is often easier to avoid the invitation in the first place or if asked to find a pastorally sensitive way to decline. Last night the invite was from a former colleague, who has been a retired minister in this psrt of the world since I arrived in Nottingham, and his wife and so all the role play was removed from the conversation. And is was a really nice evening full of chat, food, wine and just being able to be ' off duty' in other people company. Yes of course our respective vocations cropped up, in fact he was formerly a minister in the circuit where I am going, and indeed they lived in the manse where I will be living. Albeit the fact that it has been extended and remodelled since their d...

So with alomst exactly 4 months to go until I finish here, the first part of the larger decluttering has begun in earnest. Having moved 4 times now I have come to realise that a large selection of my furniture has simple followed me around the country but has never actually found any great use within the various properties I have lived. Rather it was just filled in space. This morning 8 different pieces that were in far too good a condition to simply take to the recycling tip were picked up by the British Heart Foundation store in nearby Bulwell from where I hope that find suitable homes where they are both loved and used. Now for the rest of the crap that is still cluttering up the manse 

  This week we reached the half way point in a couple of things I have been coordinating. Across the circuit we have been encouraging people to engage with the latest book of reflections that we put together looking at hymns / worship songs that highight various aspects of Jesus life and effect post resurrection.  And whilst it has been fun, running 4 groups a week for 6 weeks has started to take its toll especially if the reflections all tend to get a bit too similar.  The second has been a series of films I entitled 'Faces of Jesus', which in a change from my usual routine of chosing secular films to explore faith, this time I have picked ones that depict Jesus' life.  So far we have see one about the temptaions in the wilderness, the arean tour version of Jesus Christ Superstar and a resettign of the story in a South African township. On Sunday we watched Pier Paulo Pasellin's black and white interpretation of the Gospel according to St Matthew.  We have...

On the night when Jessie Buckley won best actress award at the Oscars for her role as William Shakespear's wife in the film Hamnet, she also chose this as her 'if you can only chose one' Desert Island disc. This is The Gloaming and the mesmeric 'Samhradh Samhradh.' I had the privilige, not a word I use very often, to see them live in concert at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester over a decade ago. They were fabulous on the night and rehearing this for the first time in ages brought the memories flooding back. The song  whose title means  'bringing the summer in'  is  an ancient Gaelic Beltane song, sung in that language and thus  one that makes no sense to the majority of listeners. Even so the musicianship of the band shines through and cuts across and linguistic barriers. Sit back and enjoy.    Mayday doll, maiden of Summer  Up every hill and down every glen,  Beautiful girls, radiant and shining,  We have brought the Summer in.  S...

  A week ago today I had a really enjoyable run at the Wingerworth Wobble, one in which I surprised myself at how well I ran, finishing ahead of two people I would have expected to be beaten by.  I even enjoyed a mid week dalliance with the Hucknall Harriers and a 4 miles jolly around the means streets of Hucknall on Wednesday night. Seven days on from wobbling my way round Wingerworth, I have once again surprised myself but this time by how poorly I ran and how much I didn't enjoy completing the Chicken run. The 25 mile drive over to Chinley was lovely, the weather was 'Goldilocks', not too cold and certainly not too hot. I even had 5 members of Stonehill Runners there for company. I just wasn't there, physically, mentally or emotionally. So much so that I abandoned the longer 14.5km route in favour of the shorter 10km jolly and then managed to run that distance almost 10 mins slower than I did last year. Well I say ran if you use that term to mean power walk up anythi...

  Yesterday was the presbyteral session of synod for the Nottingham and Derby district which is not as many of you will know my favourite thing to attend. And yet I have to admit that yesterdays event was to quote a common phrase of  'TOM's ' reasonable.  I wonder if it was because after 8 years in the district when I have never been asked to do anything as part of synod, suddenly now that I am leaving my current post ( but simply shuffling 8 miles north and actually remaining in the district) I was asked to help with two things. And its so much easier to pay attention when you know that your name is going to crop up in the agenda for the day.Twice. I think the other reason was that I got a lift back home with my three ministerial colleages from my new circuit where I shall be heading in August, and just the general chit chat and sense of feeling comfortable in each others company, confirmed what I already thought in that it is from the point of view of staff team at leas...

  Knowledge is knowing that technically a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

I t used to be that the only way to be really crap at your job, get sacked and then receive a mahoosive payout for being so shit was to be a football manager. Now it appears politicians have joined the club with news that Peter 'Valdemort' Mandelson was awarded £75,000 for allegedly lying and possibly breaking the law. Speaking in an exclusive to Grace Under Pressure, Asda shelf stacker, Itsa Bargin, pondered, "I wonder if the same rules would apply to me. What would happen if I said I didn't really know Gary who works for rival firm Tesco and certainly hadn't passed on any details of our BOGOF offers. Or claimed that I was working in the warehouse when really I was snogging the face off Dawn from the Deli section in the staff toilets. And then it was found out I'd been tellign porky pies." "Do you think I'd get a huge wad of cash to fuck off and then find a job at Lidl the very nexy day. I don't think so mate."

The sound of stiffled giggles could be heard from many petrol stations earlier this morning as forcourt managers flicked the switch to further increase the price of petrol by another couple of pence per litre.  Speaking in an exclusive to Grace Undre Pressure's very own almost fossilised correspondent, Pump Superintendent, Diesel Forever, revealed, "Sometimes I wait until they have started to put the petrol in their car before I raise the price. It hilarious to see the look on their face. Some of my customers have been in tears when they realise they will need to take out a bank loan to fill up their Chelsea Tractors to drive Jacintha and Cressida the 350 yards to middle school each day."  "I don't care cause it doesn't affect me as I drive an illegal e scooter, mainly on the pavemnets and almost always above the legal speed limit. Plus I have shares in various oil companies."   "I don't know who the Straights of Hormuz are, and don't really...

When this was first played on the radio my reaction was...mmmmh. It didn't really grab me and I thought if it had been released by anyone else that everyone else's reaction would also have been....mmmmh. But the world and it's dog seemed to go crazy over it. This morning, only 9 days after the event, I finally saw the live performance of the song at the recently held Brits and wow does it give it a completely different perspective. Perhaps its because this time round I was able to concentrate on the actual song which is not always easy to do when driving. Plus the choreography felt fresh and exciting with faint hints of both Christine and the Queens regarding the actual moves and Future Islands with respect to the sound. Anyway just imagine what it might sound like withoutall the screaming pubescent girls almost drowning out every word. This is Harry Styles and Aperture   

Having spent so much time travelling, working and living on the Indian sub-continent I just thought this was beautiful and it brought a tear to my eye.

  Okay so plan A has gone out of the window. I know I said that 'this time' I might try to be a bit more flexible with regards walking distances and booking ahead. But at the end of the day, and literally at the end of each day, at 62 years of age I just don't want the hassle of arriving somewhere after a long days walking to then have to phaff about trying to find somewhere to stay. I want a bed for the night tied down.  I can daudle and take all day to get from A to B or I can walk at a 'brisk speed' and get there by early afternoon and then just chill without the worry of accomodation. With my flight arriving in Portugal just after 8pm, it's just common sense to have something booked for that first night, which happenes to eb Central Hostel where I stayed at the end of my last Camino.  And then because the next day, and 1st day of the actual walk, I can only set off after 9am because I have to go to the Porto Cathedral to collect my Pilgrims Passport, I reall...

 

In what many within the Labour party are seeing as a policy triumph, perhaps the only one they have had since coming to power, Sir Keir Starmer has revealed that he has single handedly 'stopped the boats' Unfortunatly for Sir Keir these particular boats are ones belonging to the British Navy which have been prevented from going anywhere near the Gulf to help support our allies in the region. Meanwhile across the pond, the man who continues to claim that he is the biggliest peacemaker ever, is still wondering and wringing his teeny tiny hands together over  why currently attacking Iran, bombing Venezuela to capture its president, suggesting using the military against his own citizens and demanding he is given Greenland, he has not yet been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  

 

The trouble with feeling a bit bored is that you end up doing spare of the moment stuff. Like starting declutter by getting rid of furiture and pack things away in boxes a full 5 months before you are actually due to move.  So now instead of having a house full of stuff I have a house full of cardboard boxes full of stuff. Hopefully I can engage the assistance of one of my flock and their pick up truck so that I can actually take some stuff down to the local recycling centre in the next few weeks. Either that or Facebook Marketplace here I come but I'm not sure I can put up with all the hassle of doing that. Far easier just to bin it. Part of this is simply because I have too much stuff but also driven in part by the realisation that the stuff I have isn't a particularly good fit for where I will be moving in September due to the irregular / unusual layout of the rooms. 

In an exclusive Grace Under Pressure can reveal that there has been a 3000% increase in the downloading of the latest Photoshop app in recent days as disgruntled holiday makers and disgraced tax dodgers in Dubai desperately try to ensure that they are still able to upload all their photographs to Instagram. As the tit for tat relatiatory strkes between the USA, Isreal and Iran reach new levels, Bargain Brits abroad are summoning up the Dunkrk spirit and refusing to let a sky full of drones put a dampner on events. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Grace Under Pressure, retired footballer and long time tax dodger, Itsall Mine, revealed his trauma. "I accepted that my reservation for dinner at the Al Burg Kalif was cancelled mainly because the dining room had a bloody great hole in the wall but when I realised I was unable to get the deposit back on my proposed jet ski trip well it was enough to make me want to punch the down filled pillows in my 6 star hotel suite on the Palm...

    So what better way to give myself a pat on the back (just in case no one else does it) for completing my stint here in Nottingham North East than to treat myself to 16 days of walking in Portugal and Spain.  What was a mere thought a couple of days ago is now a reality, well as much s the flights and first night accomodation in Porto is concerned. The rest of the details can be worked out later especially as I have a choice of three different, contrasting but inter connecting routes up to Santiago.  Last summer I tended to book everything well in avance. This time I might try a more laid back approach and be a bit more flexible in my planning. Although knowing me, once I get my wiggle on, it will be anything but laid back.