The Times they are a changing - a work in progress

Transition is always the hardest part of labour.
When the Dufflepud was born at home, I remember a point in the proceedings when I announced to the assembled company - GP, midwife, good friend who was doing midwifery training, husband, daughter, the lot - that they might as well go and get on with their lives because I had decided quite definitely that I did not want to have a baby today...so there was no point in staying around.
GP and midwife exchanged glances, rolled their eyes and agreed
"She's in transition". They knew something I wasn't prepared to admit - that you reach a stage when the only possible route through is to head onwards...and that a destination would inevitably be reached eventually, even if it was hard to determine quite how, or what it would look like.

Well, here we are again. Transition time.
I'm absolutely certainly in my last year at St M's...
Sometimes this is fine...but at others, as when we're discussing dates and format of services I'm almost bound not to be around for, it feels very odd indeed.


Meanwhile, in the church building a similar state of disintegration en route to a new reality is being experienced. In a bid to increase the flexibility of a beautiful but difficult building, the PCC voted in favour of a moderate re-ordering programme, which involved removing 2 rows of pews at the back and front of the church. The resulting space will be very exciting - already, the youth group are planning how to make their birthday service even more creative and visual next time around...but in the interim, anyone entering the church this week would see sights like this.

I think I'm at the "muffled in plastic sheeting" stage personally...but I love this image of the high altar viewed from the far side of the sheeting. The cross is not artificially illuminated in any way - the apparent glow is just the effect of the light through lots of plastic sheet. Reminds me rather of the last verse of "Abide with me" and, in all seriousness it's good to have such a strong image to focus on and remind me what it's actually all about.