Dear Everybody,

A good friend and colleague of mine, Deirdre, has hit on a good topic to speak about when she's asked to give talks to local groups – the theme is “Minister-y Mishaps”.

And there are heaps of examples... like the colleague who, new to wearing a cassock, climbed the pulpit steps in a very serious-minded church... and realised almost at the top that he'd forgotten to lift the front of the cassock, so he'd effectively 'walked up' inside it, and was stuck on the top step, the only way out being to climb back down to the bottom; to the bafflement of the church officer and the disapproval of the congregation.

Or the colleague who was well-used to a pulpit door that was a bit temperamental. One week, the sermon over and in the middle of the next hymn, the thing stuck completely. He decided the good folk of the congregation were all looking down at their hymnbooks, so he could easily climb over the door, no problem. He was half-way over, sitting astride it, when 'click!' it swung open, leaving him too high above the pulpit steps to jump down. End of hymn – instant hilarity!

But we all make mistakes – some more public than others, some funny, some serious, some that hurt other people's feelings. It's all part of being human – and, on the positive side, it's how we learn, and keep on learning, our whole lives long.

Jesus understood our characters – in fact, the twelve 'characters' he chose to be his disciples seemed to have a particular flair for goofs!

Jesus knew – and he knows – that we are far from perfect and we're all, as it were, a 'work-in-progress'.

As the church session begins once again and things get busy, of course we'll be making mistakes, individually and collectively. But here's a thought (or two): God forgives us, for free, for the asking. And He's so amazing that He can even bring good things out of our mistakes: now there's a comforting thought.

God bless,
Catriona

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