I ran my two yesterday and today.Yesterday I then rushed to St Nicolas’s to observe the 8:00 service (that I’ll be celebrating next week), hurried home to have breakfast before arriving early for the 10:30 (I walked along but didn’t do anything importantly liturgical, but had time to watch the blocking for the service; again, I’ll be leading the main service at St Helen’s next week), then home for lunch, walked the dogs down by the Ock now that the water’s low enough, back to church for the Epiphany Lessons and Carols, Blessing of Families, and Epiphany Tea. This is a grand parish occasion, with a vast bring-and-share (the preponderance of which were baked sweet goods); everyone welcomed me, and a good number asked when my licensing service would be. Fr Charles has been announcing it frequently, but you know how words can just drift past your ears if you’re thinking about anything else.
Today, after my run, I had my coffee, cleaned up and went to church for Morning Prayer, picked up some grapes and crumpets for breakfast, talked biblical ethics with Margaret for a few minutes before she left for morning tea with a friend, and I settled in upstairs with the ladies. Today’s tasks are working on Sunday’s sermon and continuing my work on a chantry list for St Helen’s. I’m starting with visible memorials in the church, then will branch out to the churchyard, and when these are relatively complete will open it up for people from the contemporary congregation.
So, keeping occupied. Have to spend some time reading, too; I’d like to have read a book a week this year. That goal is complicated by reading academic articles (some are such a slog that their twenty or so pages should count as a book, but I still would rather read, you know, a book for it to count).