Seeker

Have you heard the story of the the young man preaching his 1st sermon? He mounted the pulpit, carefully placing the notes he'd spent so long preparing. Immediately a gust of wind blew his notes out of the open window. He laughed nervously and announced to the congregation, "I'm sorry. I've lost my notes. I suppose I'll just have to trust God." "I'll just have to trust God" is the thought that came to mind yesterday, when in the vestry just before a mid-week Holy Communion service, I discovered I'd left my carefully crafted 'homily' on the printer tray at home. Grabbing a post-it note I jotted down 1 or 2 words. The resulting reflection was appreciated by at least some of its hearers. The Holy Spirit can use our mistakes, including our forgetfulness. Some people can give a speech or sermon without notes. I'm not one of them. (Well I can, but I'd rather not - too frightening.) Some preachers prefer mainly to speak sponta...

Am I Little Miss Chatterbox? Probably not. I rather like silence. On the other hand I do like to be heard. Stuck with preparing a sermon on a challenging theme, I took a coffee break and browsed some blogs I follow. A post this morning by Richard Littledale grabbed my attention, Mr Preacher (Which one are you?) Richard writes how "There are occasions when we preach where we feel gifted and equipped for the job. On others, however, we feel acutely aware of our own shortcomings and wonder whether we are up to the task." He then refers to the Mr Men books by Richard Hargreaves and how on different occasions as a preacher he identifies with various Mr Men characters, including Mr Small, "feeling overwhelmed with the task in hand and hoping to hide behind the pulpit, the Bible or something." Richard Littledale asks, "which one are you?" Here's my first thoughts answer. I don't identify with any Mr Men (I'm a woman), but could have...