I found the man I was looking for and he looks well... safe in the local hospice.
Hospices are an interesting places, proper partnerships between church, charity and government. I wonder why we can't do the same in other parts of our national life? Maybe we can learn from the hospices or is it that care for the dying is seen as such an obvious good for us all to agree on.

for the want of a space the business was lost.

So today was "break the back of the christmas shopping day" in our valley which meant that although the weather was lousy everybody was out in their cars. This in turn meant that although we went to Hebden Bridge to begin shopping and "shop local" we were unable to find a parking space and so went to Halifax. I guess we might have spent a few hundred pounds in Hebden so for the want of a car parking space...
Parking is such an emotive issue, if we provided enoguh parking for peak weekends like this no doubt ruin the town.
And yet...
Plenty of parking in Halifax though because we stayed 13 minutes over four hours it cost not £3.50 but £10.00.
Next time we may be tempted to shop on line.

hide and seek

A frustrating day trying to find a man in hospital. Two days ago I wait to the hospice because they said he was there. He wasn't so I went to Calder Royal hospital, he wasn't there, they said he was at Huddersfleld Royal so today I went there, of course I rang first. He wasn't there.
I discovered he is at the hospice!
Perhaps tomorrow I'll Find him!

a Light Burden

It’s been a day or two without blogging as work has been a bit unreportable. Not so much secret or confidential but that area of my work which is comes under the cloak of my vocation.
Needless to say it has also been a bit knackering but as is often the way God with a smile threw a gospel reading in the lectionary today: “Come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my burden on you for it easy…” or words to that effect.
Too right was my response, it doesn’t feel like it is light.
The reason what I carry isn’t light is probably that it has little to do with what Jesus wants me to carry I guess.
I am not sure what it is yet… this light burden I am meant to carry, but I have been looking for it all my life!

Prayer works when e-mail fails!

She just e-mailed me!

Technology

I’m getting a bit nervous about e-mails. Tonight I got a very grumpy e-mail which asked why I hadn’t replied to an e-mail I hadn’t got. Even talking about this is complicated; I don’t think that last sentence makes sense!
The problem is that we have come to rely on this technology and when it doesn’t work, or stuff gets lost we are prone to blame the sender and not the machine… which I suppose most often is the most sensible thing to do. However when you know that you are in the right it’s frustrating.
Anyhow I have sent an apology, but now I am worried they won’t get that either!
I would ring the person up but I don't have a number.
Perhaps we could arrange to meet... but I don't know here she lives!
I might try praying...

Building community

Santa came today and along with him lots of children who sat on his knee and duly were impressed as he gave them a present. Also there today was our Careforce worker Emily, dressed as a fairy.
We have been having a gap year worker here now for a number of years and I am always amazed at these young people who are willing to give up a year of their lives to work in a northern community like ours, learning how to build community, learning how to be a fairy!
My hope is that having learnt to do this here they will continue to do this throughout their lives.

The News at Eleven

The Carol Service is finished and I'm a bit tired too.
Catherine has lost her voice and is getting my attention by snapping her fingers.
Ben nearly slipped under a bus in Leeds today.
Rebecca's phone is broken.
Joseph has been given "C" grade targets again at school despite his record breaking exam results.
It still hasn't snowed here.
Thus ends the 11 0'clock news here at the vicarage.

Tatoos

A hard day as I try to organise the Carol Service, which is difficult because it seems so far away. The snow on the hills is an inspiration making the whole place look like a Christmas Card.
Tonight the reality of council and back to reality as I find myself in a weak distracted moment voting for a tatoo parlour! It is in Hebden so I suppose it's all right.
I can see the headline in the Bridge Times: "vicar votes for tatoo parlour - shock horror."

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Today it snowed!
But because this is Mytholmroyd it disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.
So no sledging, only sludging and the children and my wife had to go to school.
Somebody said to me rather disheartedly as we walked like penguins along the road:
“We don’t do snow here, really do we?”
In all senses of her words she was correct…
more’s the pity.

I'm not sure which season Yorkshire does do, probably Autumn.

When it comes to the crunch

So it's now monday and as usual I have just been into Calder High to do Crunch.
Crunch like many things I do is a bit eccentric. Begun ten years ago when the then Head of the High School was concerned about the christian children at the school asked us to set up a group to support them. Every Monday lunchtime we went into Calder High to meet Christian School kids and their friends. It didn't take long until the Christian children stopped coming but their friends didn't stop coming.
Today a dozen or so children gather to talk about life, the universe and everything and every monday have lunch with the vicar and his friends!
Things never quite turn out how we plan...
Sometimes they're better!