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Most Saturdays I make a list of things I want to get done on the weekend. Chores, places to go, people to call. The usual sort of things. Rarely does everything get crossed off, and this weekend was no exception, but that’s OK. The two major items were done, so I’m happy about that. One was sending an edited manuscript back to the author for comment. The other was catching up on the leadership course I’m doing through work. (Only 4 modules behind!) The course is meant to wrap up in June, and I am determined to get back on track. Need a break and I’m really over studying. (On related news, I found out that because I only did a certificate course at uni, there is no graduation ceremony for me. Just a note in the mail. Oh well.)

The rest of the weekend has been good. Because work is so stressy at the moment, Friday nights are spent at home crying into my pillow. Not quite. Almost. No, chilling with a dvd is the current coping strategy. Watched Finding Nemo this time and loved it. Hadn’t seen it before and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Saturday mornings are spent with the trainer (another coping strategy). Still a bit sore, but that’s the price we pay for buffness. Didn’t do much for the rest of the day. Had intended to knock over at least two course modules but procrastinated instead. Pathetic. Still, I did get to watch Cool Hand Luke which I haven’t seen since I was a kid and missed all the Christ-figure references. Good story, great quotes - “What we have here is failure to communicate.” - plus it has Paul Blue Eyes Newman. And Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, and Wayne Rogers (a.k.a Trapper from M*A*S*H). And I learned where the National 9 News theme comes from - the music from the Tar Sequence. True! Still thinking about the allegorical themes - and boy, there are a lot! Some blatant, some subtle. Wouldn’t mind watching it again with a group. Anyone interested?

Have been thinking about David and B’s recent posts about church - what is it? what does it look like? what is it meant to look like? - on and off the past few weeks. We’re starting a series on the importance of public worship at St Matty’s. The first sermon was this morning and it’s given me more to mull over. (Listen for yourself.) At the moment I’m thinking that I need to commit not so much to the church as I do to the relationship with the church. What does that mean? Good question. I’ve been thinking about it in the context of a marriage relationship, or any other interpersonal relationship really. In particular, I’ve been exploring a concept I’ve read which suggests that we need to commit not to the person (who will inevitably disappoint us), but to the relationship. In real terms, that means we commit to strengthening the relationship, protecting it, and changing the bits about ourselves that don’t help the relationship (because we can’t change the other person). There’s more to it than those glib phrases, but that’s my starting point. It’s less about me and what I get out of it, and more about the relationship and what I can bring to it. Servanthood I guess. Still turning it over …