Temple Cloud

Since I last updated this blog with two Lenten resolutions, the coronavirus crisis has escalated.  On the one hand, this has made it much easier to stay off caffeine, as most of the gatherings that I would go to which would normally require caffeine to keep me as alert as possible have now been put on hold.  A friend I would usually have lunch with needs to minimise social contact while looking after his sick uncle.  The bookshop where I work   is closed for the duration.  Quiz nights, drama rehearsals, and even the small group of us who meet for Dungeons & Dragons, have all had to agree to stop meeting, as more and more people need to self-isolate. By the same token, however, this has meant that I’ve been walking much less, simply because most of the things I would normally walk to are no longer happening.   During this Lent, our church had been planning to run several mid-week prayer meetings, as well as coffee mornings and soup lunches to giv...

Are you giving something up for Lent, or taking something up?   I’m on my third day of trying to curb my dependence on endless mugs of tea (made easier by the fact that we had run out of teabags). I’m trying to rely on herbal ‘teas’ as a substitute.   My caffeine-deprivation may be why I spent Wednesday afternoon asleep – or maybe the camomile tea was just more potent than I realised. However, I suspect it’s more to do with having decided to take something up as well: specifically, walking wherever possible.   Over the last couple of months, I’ve been getting lazy, and I want to get out more.   After all, it’s a horrible waste of being both healthy and in Somerset not to get out of doors whenever possible, and maybe even climb some trees. And at this time of year, when winter is starting to turn into spring, it’s even more of a waste not to go out and see the trees budding… Or in blossom… And the snowdrops giving way to daffodils… An...

Life is a journey.   Some think that whichever path you choose is right for you.   Others will say, ‘Not all roads lead to God.’ Of course, they’re right.   Suppose lots of people all want to climb a mountain.   From any given spot at the foot of the mountain, most paths will lead away from it, rather than towards the summit. But for all that, there is no one set of instructions that is helpful for everyone.   A list of directions that begins, ‘Walk half a mile west along the road, take the footpath on your left leading south, and continue south-west to the summit,’ isn’t going to help you if you’re standing to the south of the mountain to start with.   You need to start by understanding where you are, in order to know which direction you want to move in. Then, you need to consider your level of fitness.   Are you a good enough climber to take the steep path going straight up, or do you need to take the longer, zig-zagging route?  ...