Away W'hey

In France til Friday. Next post then.

Word and words

Been reading again. Lots of stuff about major theological movements plus a bit of Pritchard's book. I came to the conclusion that I was 'evangelical' but then had trouble working out why someone who followed Jesus would be anything else. In it's simplest form it's believing that God's words 'will not return to him empty' and that people really need to be saved. Any other way seems to be living without purpose and without power. I guess it's survival but hardly life in all its fulness. Of course at Cuddesdon we'll be 'allsorts', and I'm not at all sure how to deal with that.

Just the Same

I have found myself pondering success and failure this week as I produce my yearly analysis of exam results. Colleagues kept asking how I got on, and I felt the pedantic need to point out that I had not taken any exams. I also publicly reflected that after 20 odd years of watching results go up and down, it was pleasant not to have to account for poor results to some higher authority and I was glad that students had done well, but beyond that I felt there was little to say. I wanted to be able to 'treat success and failure just the same'. I am reminded of Simon Ponsonby's illustration of what it means to be dead to sin, where a monk is told to insult and praise a dead companion. Praise or criticism have no effect at all. I am not sure I've quite reached that point, but responding to exam results is at least good practice.