It’s been a mixed day. Last night, on returning from a governors meeting at school, I managed to weirdly ‘tweek’ my back as I got out of the car. I was not twisting weirdly, nor was I carrying anything. The result today has been a mixture of pain which has caused me to cancel my drive to Cambridge tomorrow – as getting into the car is ok, but out takes a little while!

The pain has enabled an interesting creative streak. I have been planning parts of our senior workers retreat which we are holding in a couple of weeks – the inability to sit in one position for too long has meant I have had to move around – and the moving seems to have aided my thinking.

I have planned session on contemplation and what that is all about as well as a contemplative walk for one of the afternoons where I plan to use places on the walk as stations to pray, worship and think on God.

I am also wanting to plan a session on looking at when things go wrong in ministry. I have some ideas, such as they go wrong when we allow the ministry to meet our needs (the need to be needed etc), or when our relationships are under pressure, or when we blow it and can’t say sorry. I wonder if any readers have any ideas for this session – would be helpful!