advent comes around again, a season of waiting, longing for hope, for newness to come into a world that is fragile and broken. i rather like this photo of an old sign of faded empire in glasgow. christ came into a world under occupation of empire when all hope seemed lost, god absent or at least silent. our world seems more like that world than it has for a while – may advent be a time to rekindle hope for you, to remember the old story of a child coming into the world, god become flesh, a sign that the old order is passing and a new world is coming.

proost are running a blog if you like something to reflect on – day 1 is up.

i never followed up on the last blog post. i have added some photos from the assembly in glasgow which was a wonderful occasion. it’s a great city. we had a guided tour which was showing some of the sites of glasgow’s imperial past – livingtone statue, the extraordinary fountain with queen victoria literally over the colonies.

the social hub which was the venue we were in is in several cities. it is a business with a strong vision, mission, values. i took some photos of the kinds of things on the walls. there was also a book sharing the story of the company in each room. i loved the closeness between the pages and the values of pioneers. it seemed a great fit for us – see the album for a few examples like this one – dreamers and rule breakers. sound familiar? i found that hopeful…