Into the New

I worked in the Salisbury office again today - fortunate as I had a number of people to see. It rained on the way in and the temperature got steadily hotter and hotter as the day progressed. Sara and I had mid-morning coffee and lunch together today and I slipped out at lunchtime to get an appropriate card for Cynthia's "priesting" on Saturday. The card I chose depicted a dove with the words "Into the New". I also bought a holding cross made from olive wood grown in the Holy Land. This afternoon it was more meetings but I left promptly at 5 p.m. to attend Jane D's farewell function at the New Inn - these are becoming an increasingly common event. I hadn't realised that the New Inn had such an extensive garden at the rear with fine views of the Salisbury spire. It was good to see some of the old compliance and technical staff and it was staggering to recall just how many people had left the company in the last 12 months. Without exception they recalled that they were enjoying their new lives and gald to have made the change. I called in at Staples to buy some more cartridges for the home printer as Sara had telephoned to say that the printer had stopped working just as she was trying to print off the pages for the July Parish Magazine to take to the printers tomorrow morning. When I got home I found that it worked okay on my laptop and Sara was able to print off the remaining pages without needing a new cartridge. Tonight we had the House Group and discussed the concept of "Belonging" using the Steve Chalke DVD and also listening to Jeff Lucas in an extract from his and Ruth Dearnley's morning talks at Spring Harvest. I chose the piece about the old and the new bin in a church where change was definitely not on the agenda. Those who had not been to Spring Harvest, and indeed those of us who had heard the original, found the piece very amusing yet true. We had a really good discussion tonight and it made one member of our group, Maxime, think carefully about where God wants her to be - Winterslow or Salisbury. I think the need to feel and to know where you "belong" is most important. Sara and I have no doubt that we have been placed here in Winterslow for a reason. It may be simply to grow our faith or there may be other things. Sara is definitely committed to helping Morning Star, the homeless charity in Winterslow and I intend to continue to support Stop the Traffik. I have another meeting with them in London a week tomorrow. It's "Into the New" for many of us. Phew! It remains so hot here tonight though and I expect that we will have a thunderstorm before too long. Have just learned that Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack today.