Saturday, July 22, 2006

Happy Anniversay RevGals!

It's the first anniversary of the RevGalBlogPals webring, so in honour of the occassion here are my thoughts for the 'Friday Five':

1) What is your first memory of the RevGalBlogPals?
I have been trying to remember how I first came across the ring... but am still a bit fuzzy-memoried on that! I only discovered the whole phenomenon of blogging and its related communities in March of this year and at that time I seemed to be stumbling upon a whole load of new people and sites... Who first provided the link to the first RevGal blog I read, I don't know! I do remember though wondering whether to take the plunge and identify myself (my blog) as a RevGal by joining - which I obviously did and haven't regretted it for a moment! (I was only just dipping my toe into the waters of blogs and was nervously guarded on the net to begin with).

2) Have you met any of the other ring members in real life?
Unfortunately no (not that I'm aware of!)... though Maggi did come and speak (most inspiringly) while I was at Ridley Hall in Cambridge a couple of years ago - though I was just a part of the sea of faces in the lecture hall!

3) Of those you haven't met, name a few you would love to know in person.
Well, being such a newbie, I haven't managed to read many of the blogs yet - and I feel like I've still got a long way to go in 'getting to know' people through their blogs, or to start commenting back and forth. It's been interesting reading the other answers to these questions and seeing the friendships that have been formed. I have really enjoyed reading (and occassionally commenting on) Kathryn's blog, have found her insights and observations inspiring, and have just enjoyed 'sharing' some of the experiences of another curate in the CofE, so I'd say that meeting Kathryn would be great one day - and many more as I get to know you!

4) What has Ring Membership added to your life?
The bringing closer of a whole bunch of people who I otherwise wouldn't stand a chance of meeting, talking to and getting to know; and a place to share common experiences, ideas and concerns.

5) Describe a hope for the future of the WebRing.
I hope at this point it's alright for me to leave the bigger vision and hopes to others and just say that I hope to get to know others and to offer something to the community. Better go and get reading then eh!

(By the way - sorry about the colours today... I fiddled around and can't remember the number for my default greeny colour... if I find it, normal service will be resumed!)

Well how about that... stop messing around with it and the green appears...!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Nothing Much Really!

Hello, I thought I'd post something just because I don't want to abandon my dear little Teapot for any longer, though I don't really have very much to say (and I suspect my mental/creative energy has been too low for 'extras' like blogging)!
Perhaps this blogging lark should be left up to the political commentators, the witty and humorous, the meaningfully observant or the plain interesting folk in blogland? Don't get me wrong - I have views and opinions and observations - but somehow their ordinariness can feel like a ridiculous offering! Time has also been a factor over the last couple of weeks... I don't tend to blog about the specifics of my days, of my work, so when that has been the primary focus of my time there sometimes seems little else to provide the inspiration.

Still, the purpose of the Teapot (I seem to remember from its first days) was just to share some teabreak thoughts and observations with any who wander through. Perhaps a few months down the line I've come across many more profound and informed blogs, that sitting with a cup of tea seems a bit lame...

...but then isn't life also about those times to pause and rest and share a nice cuppa tea together? I'll go and put the kettle on...

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Oh look... It's Thursday Again!

My day off has come round again in its most welcome fashion! Unfortunately the list of things to do is pretty similar to that of last week... except perhaps for all that filing which I did manage to get done. Anyway, this week I will be accompanied in my tasks by Doctor Who, having bought a couple of the DVDs yesterday! I didn't think I'd ever allow another to bump Tom Baker off the 'Top Doctor' spot... but David Tennant has done it! Most of us give away our age by stating an allegiance to one Doctor Who or another - usually declaring favourite the one we grew up with, and for me it was Tom Baker's daleks and other assorted foe who sent me behind the settee with a cushion over my face!
Anything that gets the jobs done faster with minimized boredom is welcome in my book, and perhaps then I can do the kinds of things that I'd love to spend my day off doing. I mentioned a few last week and today I'll add 'reading' to that list - reading for inspiration that is. I love to read anything that increases my vision and prods me again to strive towards being and doing the best that I can be. I love to read the life stories of other Christian ministers who have gone before me - honest accounts that allow their imperfections to remain, but that recall faithful journeys with God - John Wesley, Charles Simeon, Trevor Huddleston, Robert Runcie - have all been on my book list recently. And it's not only the ordained who inspire (far from it!)... on Tuesday I had the privilege of being on a Diocesan study day and heard David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge speaking - no dry academia there, but animated and studied insights into how we can speak about God in our day, in our society and in friendship with those with whom we may disagree (I believe that the content is to be posted on the diocesan website, so if and when it appears, I'll post a link). There have been many others too, who having heard or read them, leave you wanting to make a difference too - not in today's big, loud, famous ways... but in ways according to your own particular gifts - in speaking, in serving, in loving, in standing alongside - in sharing with others what God has shared with us.
Hmm, that's what I'd like to be doing on my day off... sitting in a delightfully clean and tidy house reading and reflecting on lives that inspire me so that I get on with tomorrow slightly re-envisioned. Unfortunately 'delightfully clean and tidy' doesn't happen of its own accord (oh to be Mary Poppins and just click my fingers!) so I'd better go and put Doctor Who back on in the kitchen and get on with it!

PS... However a day is filled, I always try and end it by stopping to read - even if it's just a few pages in bed before the book falls with a crash to the floor... and all the pages are mangled!!