Advent word - play

Not much chance of "play" for me today as I was back in work after six days off, but that got me thinking. I love my job even though it's jolly hard work- and you need a sense of humour to work in healthcare! As a team we have to pull together to support each other and there is often a playfulness in how we interact; this was very much the case yesterday. We laugh, we joke and we take the piss out of each other. Knowing we have each other's backs is really important, as is getting a smile out of a colleague and friend on a tough day.

Our Society's rule states that “as our faith matures we come to recognize Christ’s hidden presence everywhere.” That’s because a maturing faith is paradoxically childlike. It is marked by openness to new ideas, points of view, and experiences, all of which enable us to see again our God, who knows neither time, nor place, nor limitation.

-Br. John Braugh

Act 3 - Roots

It's day 3 and I'm wondering if I'll ever make it past a green act! It's a work day today - I work 12 hour shifts - so even more challenging.
I do most of my shopping in Aldi, who seem to be pretty good at customer service training. The guys on the till always ask me how I am, so I fire it back at them- how are they? We can be so busy in our tasks each day (and I'm particularly time and task focused) that we forget to actually connect with the folk we're interacting with.
Whilst we shop at Aldi we also support local shops. It's the small, independent shops and cafes that give our town it's character; the corner shop, the tea room, the second hand vinyl store, the craft cafe, the book shop. As popping to any of these before or after my shift wasn't doable we supported our local Indian takeaway instead! Sid has had a shop around the corner from us for over 20 years, since I was a teenager, and over the years he's become a friend.
As a quick aside, at work I park behind the new magnificent research building on Wilmslow Road. This morning the Barbakan delivery van was outside the building delivering something magnificent. Barbakan is a splendid deli and bakery in Chorlton- fantastic to see my employers using local businesses too!

"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

(1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT)