L4/23-27 Soldiering on through Lent

23 Recycle More
This is definitely Lucy’s department. As South Bucks Recycling Queen, she’s now got us down to a carrier bag every fortnight for 7 of us plus the office. What we need to do more of this year is digging for victory — potatoes this year!

24 Go a whole day without gossiping
For this I relied upon the kindness of strangers. I was working up in Edinburgh and thus didn’t know anyone they knew to gossip about. Bit of a cheat, really. A few years ago I got right up one lady’s nose. She said “Rector, I shouldn't be telling you this,” so I said “well don’t, then” and she complained to the Bishop! Happy days.

25 Cheer someone up
No names, no pack drill. But I think most people I meet feel pretty battered by work, bureaucracy, targets or even, perish the thought, Church. I'm trying to focus more on people’s strengths than their weaknesses, because however weak our weaknesses are, it’s our God-given strengths that enable us to be able to do anything about them.

26 Make and share cakes
Bit of a cheat — Nick decorated some shop ones, because there just wasn't time to warm up the oven and do it properly on the right day. The boys all made made up for this by producing Lucy’s Mothering Sunday Cake. It’s a kind of susbstitutionary theory of cake making. OK right, it’s a bit of a cheat.

27 Have lunch with someone you don’t know well
Back in Sandhurst for the funeral of Stanley Douglas-Cook, friend and companion to many in the town. A kind, decent gentleman who had not had an easy life in various ways, but walked through it all by faith and had time for anyone — including me. Rabbit Rabbit is definitely better than Grabbit Grabbit. I treasure the complete Studdert Kennedy poems Stanley once got me after a long conversation about suffering. It was good to meet Stan’s family, whom I didn’t know, along with many old friends I did.