So the snow came at last...the weather forecasters have been promising it all week, so they had to be right sometime! Not that it met all the expectations of my children, who were very disappointed that there was only enough snow in the garden for the tiniest of snowmen.
And what else of the news this week? Well the education minister has thrown the baby out with the bath water in regards to the selection process for primary school children heading to secondary school. Whilst her idea of removing academic selection is honourable, the chaos that ensues will be to the disadvantage of many children, ending up with either a multitude of tests set up independently by the Grammar schools, or it becoming a case of those people who can afford to live in areas where the "good" schools are, turning it from academic selection to "selection by mortgage". So the spiral continues in a downward fashion.
As I write this, I really should be preparing a sermon for Sunday evening, havng realised just last week, that the 8th February was much closer than it seemed in the middle of January, when some Sunday night in February was ages away...but as the saying goes..."anyone can do any amount of work, provided it's not the work they're supposed to be doing at that particular time!"
I was hoping to get some ideas from Gap's meditiation on this week's verse, but with a shortage of leaders on Tuesday that didn't happen...Oh well back to the drawing board.
Church, despite my blank mind when it came to choosing songs, was absolutely great on Sunday evening. The songs that had come to mind fitted perfectly with the whole service, and it even led me to sing "When my heart runs dry" on my own...the words rang round my head when I couldn't think of other songs...
"When my heart runs dry, and there's no song to sing...I'll remember you, I will turn back and do the things I used to do."
So maybe that will feature in the sermon...along with "I know the plans I have for you says the Lord" and a but of "I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full" We'll se how it comes out on Sunday night.
One think that has been striking us in church recently is that songs of celebration are in absolute abundance, but when we don't feel like celebrating, there's a very small number of songs to turn to, that allow us to express our feelings of sadness, doubt, despair, and the rest, to God. As we get closer to Lent, we'd like to introduce a song of lament to the congregation...just looking forward to Easter when we can cast off the cold, and the sadness and fed-up-ness, and Easter Sunday morning will ROCK! In the meantime, I'm working on a lament, so we'll get it up here when it's done (hopefully it'll come easier than the sermon that this isn't!)
And on the Obama front...well done that man for being human! I think this is the first time I've seen a world leader admit, without coaxing, or a need to do it, that they've made a mistake..."Change" has indeed come...not just to the Whitehouse, but to world politics...excellent!
