Is BlogJet becoming indispensable?

Maybe. Somewhere to write down my lowest thoughts - an end-of-day diary, but not in comfort, with a mug of cocoa, and bed inviting, but about to drive home, then cope with two lively youngsters (though one isn't feeling well to-day).

Thanks.

What does this say?

About me ...

I should be on my way home

To-day was another of those days where I seem to have ended up with more to do than when I started. Wouldn't I have been better to stay at home?

Look at the steam rising from the fence! 

Despair

What is the point of having a blog if, when your feelings are black, you can't express them. So, here we are - a Tuesday afternoon, and already I'm worn out. How am I going to get through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, let alone Saturday and Sunday?

Life is hard. Is anybody having fun?

Blogging from a tablet

Microsoft have updated the handwriting recognition on the tablet, which should make it easier to blog.

In theory. The practice is not quite so simple. Difficult to get any real fluency, however.

Back to work

Monday morning - never welcome.

Shouldn't you be in church? Why? Well, we presented ourselves at the church door, and two ladies tried to persuade Matthew to go to creche. Sadly, (and I don't think that this is true only of our church) the structure of the institution matters more than individuals. So the fact that last week, Matthew happily attended Sunday School along with his sister, which was acceptable as long as I was there to look after Matthew (who is too young for Sunday School), means nothing.

I've managed to pull a few weeds, and in a few minutes we can return to the church to collect Lesley and Hannah, so maybe this is what we have to do this year.

Abbess Hild (having travelled forward in time) 

Whitby Abbey 

Trialling

I've used w.bloggar, and I'm happily using mo:Blog from my PDA, so do I need to try BlogJet? I like the fact that BlogJet lets me assign a title to each blog entry (as does mo:Blog). In w.bloggar, I can make the initial phrase bold, but I prefer having a consistent 'way of doing things'.

But the icons on the toolbar of BlogJet are too pretty.

Testing BlogJet

I have installed an interesting application - BlogJet. It's a cool Windows client for my blog tool (as well as for other tools). Get your copy here: http://blogjet.com

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." -- Pablo Picasso

Silence
Fear. People's disapproval. Why do I so earnestly desire approval?

Magic
I learnt a new word to-day. Brennan Manning describes Jesus' turning of water into wine at Cana as thaumaturgic. Is it fair to suggest that a simpler word to use would have been magic? Possibly too simple. A website which I have found (but not explored) says that there are two kinds of magic - thaumaturgic and theurgic. I guess that the former relates to the personal power of the magician, while the latter taps into the latent power of the universe? And maybe Brennan Manning was trying to emphasise that Jesus did the miracle himself, not by any other means.

Which brings me to the point. I am reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. A recent visit to Whitby was the trigger - in particular a clever stunt pulled by English Heritage whereby they had actors wandering about Whitby Abbey pretending to be famous characters from the past. 'Bram Stoker' gave a creditable account of how he came to write Dracula, and included some of the story itself, so, of course, here am I trying to find out more. And a scary story it is. Very, very frightening. But do we not need to be reminded, in our modern, sceptical era, of an extra dimension, which we may call magic, or the supernatural?

So Jesus practised good magic. Is it heretical to put it like that? He did miracles. We do not need to be afraid of bad magic because God's magic is good, and more powerful. CS Lewis talks of magic. Not easy.

In limbo
Just over an hour to go until we leave. Until then, there is a sense of being nowhere - we have, in our hearts, already left Moorlands - we are not yet on the road - and we are still a long way from home. I have just moved from the dark vestibule to a bench from which I can see the sea. The procession of boats taking people out to sea has begun. The speedboat, the mini Endeavour, the Esk Belle, the old lifeboat, and a green and white craft whose name I have forgotten. There is a haze softening the edges. It is still cool - even enough of a breeze to allow the seagulls to ride along the cliff top.

The crowning of the Rose Queen
A village fète - quintessential rural England.

Putting to sea
In a scale model of the Endeavour ... but to-day, tired.

Mixed feelings
When I saw the piano in the Ocean Room, I sat down and tried some scales. I knew I was taking a risk - on Christian Guild there is always a requirement for somebody to provide musical accompaniment at morning and evening prayers.

One way trip
Whitby to Sandsend - along the beach - the tide being out. Searching for treasure - pebbles smoothed by the sea, shells, seaweed. Heavy going for the youngest member of the party.

How do we know God? Telling a young person that we should speak to Jesus, but where is he?