Visitors in Church

Another week over - or should that be, another week about to start? Well, it was a good one, as they go. On Monday I was offered a full time post with enough additional incentives to convince me that moving to another institution would be a silly idea. There are all sorts of reasons why I turned down the chance of a *very* well paid position that would have been less demanding in favour of this one. The main reason, though, is that I like the buzz of working at the cutting edge of academic theology in a maverick kind of way, and I could never have done that in the other college.

One Thursday I drove down to Oxford for the NoATE consultation the following day, and to have a meeting with colleagues there about some contract work. I had a delightful evening chez Alison, with takeaway pizza and wine in front of a roaring fire. The consultation was very good indeed - my paper was pitched just about right and fitted in with the day well, though much of that is down to excellent planning by the organisers. I learnt a huge amount, and made some useful contacts in the field of e-learning. Home via a monstrous traffic jam on the A43 at Towcester and patchy snow, so didn't get in till rather later than planned.

Meanwhile, it's taken me all week to shake off the worst of the cold, and I still have a nagging cough which will be a nuisance when I'm lecturing tomorrow and Tuesday. I think the strain of the last month or so is beginning to take its toll, and I may well take a week off after the end of term to catch up with myself. The next couple of weeks are busy, with meetings in York and London as well as the weekly round of lectures and tutorials, but then it settles down a bit. I could use a bit of time to deal with a tendency to self-pity that has crept up of late!

Oh, yes, the visitors. Silas had broken the eyepiece of his radio-controlled dalek, and Robert very kindly repaired it and brought it to church with him this morning. His son insisted on bringing theirs, so we had two daleks wandering up the aisle before the service. We did wonder what kind of response they'd get, but we need not have worried: they evinced a smile or a chuckle from everbody, from the very small children to the elderly. Robert's comment is notable: "...did you notice how everyone of whatever age hailed the Daleks' presence in Church this morning? Doctor Who is as trans-generational as the Church itself, and there aren't many other things you can say that about". He's right, too.