Learning to Walk

the panel

Well.

I enjoyed my time at the panel tonight.  The meal presented a great opportunity to chat with both interviewers and candidates and - as has been the case throughout most of the process - the 2 half hour interviews were good fun.  The second half hour in particular was quite thought provoking and I am expecting the feedback to pick up on some of my weaknesses which were - I feel - evident, although one of the panel said that he felt I was participating well.

Overall a good night, and I look forward to whatever comes next.

criteria

Vocation; Ministry within the Scottish Episcopal Church; Spirituality; Personality and Character; Relationships; Leadership and Collaboration; Faith; Mission and Evangelism; Quality of Mind.

These are the 9 areas that I may expect questions on at tomorrow evening's Provincial Advisory Panel.  I am looking forward to the evening; it will be an opportunity to meet with other people putting themselves through the discernment process and I hope that it will also give me the chance to 'get to know' the SEC more - something that is very important to us if we are to (potentially) give our lives to serving God within this denomination.

application lottery

I picked YKW up from work yesterday and we drove to an area on the outskirts of the city where she was putting in applications for another 3 jobs.  I think that takes the number of positions she's applied for to 19.  But there is a problem, namely that there is incredibly high demand for a not incredibly high number of jobs.  She asked how many had applied for yesterday's 3 jobs and was told that last year it was in excess of 300!

This is really tough as it means that some very good teachers - and, apparently, (and without any hint of bias) she is a very good teacher - are not going to get jobs.  It might even be said that it becomes something of a lottery because with so many applications to sort through (at the same time as running schools) there is a high chance that even if you are the best candidate you might find yourself overlooked.

At this time of year it would be good if those of us who pray could remember to lift teachers before the Lord, asking that amidst the confusion and uncertainty they would be able to continue serving the young people entrusted to their care.

fossil fools day

This week I have been trying to keep my head down and get on with work, both for college and church.  The problem is that (as I have probably said before) I am not a fan of spending the whole day in the flat on my own, especially when I should be studying.  With that in mind I spend a good while studying in a coffee shop yesterday before moving to the library.  Today, with a staff meeting at lunch, I'll spend the first few hours of the day in another local cafe.

Yesterday, whilst in the coffee shop, a group of people burst in shouting "Happy fossil fools day!" and then made their way around the whole shop (before they were thrown out) 'flyering' everyone in there and generally encouraging us to use more fossil fuels.  I found this report detailing their day out.

It does, of course, raise interesting questions for all who follow Christ; In Genesis 1 God gives the responsibility for looking after the earth and all that is in it to humankind.  I wonder if it's time we joined with the Fossil Fools and started to take that a bit more seriously.