Match Sunday

Quite a full day today, with three home communions to do in the afternoon, and a church council meeting in the evening. There was a rugby match in the stadium, so road closures and the ending of the game at five thirty meant that the streets were filled with tens of thousands of people walking away from the centre as I was making my way into church to say Evensong. It was quite difficult, handling a bicycle, impossible to ride against the tidal flow of people absorbed in their own thoughts and feelings. They were well behaved however, as rugby crowds generally are, and the atmosphere was comfortable, even though Cardiff just lost the game in unique circumstances.

Just half a dozen of us managed to make it through the crowds to pray together. The crowds had cleared by the time we came out, so I was able to ride home quickly to get ready for the meeting. A Sunday evening church council could be hard work at the end of a long day, but I find I am blessed by a group that works together well with 'light touch' guidance. I never have to be referee. 'One in heart and mind' would be a suitably paschal way to describe our deliberations. So often over forty years I have found such church meetings hard going, but not so here and now thankfully. Maybe it's taken me most of that time to learn how to let others do together what they excel at when given the chance.