Spring comes to Texas

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March 4 Week 7 Spring is finally coming to Texas! Signs have been appearing gradually and a change is becoming noticeable. Recent rains have turned the brown grass green, and trees and shrubs are showing off their fresh leaves. Buds are appearing and starting to open. Week by week we see more tiny coloured flowers, while, slowly, the days lengthen. Finally, next weekend we adjust our clocks and so spring officially starts. However, this is only in Texas and the south-west. Further north there is still snow, while on the east coast storms rage. In the past week we finished our input on Christology and Ministry and on Friday had a fascinating session on icons and icon writing from Clyde Rausch OMI. He admitted that he had developed this talent over 29 years, while ministering in Sweden. (Previously his artistic activity was confined to occasionally painting his parents’ barn in Dakota!) Each icon is a prayer and the art is underpinned by deep theology. All much more complex than one would think and for him, especially, it has become a very effective tool for evangelisation.On Saturday I accepted an invitation to a conference for African-American Women on Empowerment. This was culturally enriching and a source of learning and inspiration. It demonstrated once again that wonderful resilience is often born in intense suffering.

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