Well, this morning

we went to a service saying 'goodbye' to Heather, the local Anglican vicar.

Going to a formal Anglican church has again reminded me that there may yet be a cost to count in terms of having to live with 'other religious traditions' (I believe that is the phrase) and things that run contrary to many deeply held beliefs. Can I retain integrity in such a situation? Will compromise actually make such involvement untenable? I don't know, but I'm quite unhappy with things at this point in time, and it's definitely making me wonder how the group we've come to know somewhat can function under an anglican umbrella. This also left me feeling down and unsettled - I can't shake the feeling of 'wrongness' that I get from this kind of thing.

In a previous blogpost I described this kind of religious practice as quite bizarre, and I stand by that still, although it's marginally less alien when the building is more brightly lit and near capacity instead of cold, dark and 90% empty.

Heather is lovely, and we wish her and her family a happy and fruitful ministry in Pangbourne.

I wonder who from the village reads this, and whether I've offended them? Offense isn't the plan - this is just a place I write where you've been enabled to read some of my less publicly offered thoughts.