Ash Wednesday

Another damp overcast morning with occasional showers. Not surprisingly, the scaffolders didn't come to dismantle and finish their job. I went to St Catherine's to celebrate the Ash Wednesday Eucharist with eleven others. I'd slept well and didn't feel tired, but strangely it felt like an effort to lead the liturgy with  penitential add-ons, quite nicely devised, in a previous year. After coffee, I collected the veggie bag from Chapter on my way home. 

Clare had made an early start on lunch, which included a pork chop for me. Not quite the penitential fare recommended, but worthy of thanksgiving anyway. I gave up drinking wine after Christmas, and will continue now until Easter. The change of habit, change of awareness is worthwhile, I think. I can only eat dark chocolate, no more than a couple of squares a day, and a couple of chocolate digestives, unless I forget. I'll do without that too, but I can't think of anything more drastic to do. 

Lately I have been writing a lot more, as part of instructing Basma for baptism. That will continue for a good while to come. The creative exercise is already doing me good. Hopefully her too. Perhaps I should give up binge watching telly for Lent, although it's quite likely I'll watch a lot less telly when I get to Nerja, apart from the news to improve my Spanish.

While Clare was out shopping at Beanfreaks after lunch, I recorded and edited next Thursday's Morning Prayer, then went to the Coop for the other half of the weekly groceries, followed by a walk around the park. Thankfully the rain stopped when it was time for me to go out. I was a relief not to return home with wet shoes and wet coat.

Thanks to an exchange of messages with people in the Ministry Area churches, I was able to assemble a sheet of information for Fr Andrew about Holy Week service times in all of them, already arranged, or tentatively suggested. Informing the decisions he'll have to take about deployment of clergy seemed to me a worthwhile task, which will make it easier to add into the weekly Sway nearer the time.

After supper, no telly tonight. more writing to do, with a Sunday sermon to prepare and a poster to modify for Sway. Then early bed after another productive day.