This week seems to have flown by! And I am pleased to say that I do feel really detached from what is going on over the road at St Paul's.

The main event has been the sudden appearance of tree surgeons who have taken taken down two trees in the vicarage garden. The first was a sycamore which was in the way - they are not nice trees. The main problem was the great big ash tree that hung huge boughs over the gennel and was in the habit of shedding branches in storms. We have been worried about it for years, and as part our inspection this year the Diocese took the view that it was best to remove it. It turned out to be rotten inside, so this was clearly the right decision.

Our lovely beach tree remains in pride of place, and looks better, if anything, now that it is not crowded in by the other trees.

We were pleased to have the work done, but it is good to have the garden to ourselves again, and not filled with branches lying ready to be taken away. Mind you, a lot of the grass is still covered with sawdust they did not manage to scrape up, so it will be a while before it is looking as it should.

On Thursday I went over to see my spiritual director and had a chat with him about how churches have been influenced by the spirituality movement. At his church there is reflective worship each week, on a weekday evening. Sunday worship has also been influenced, with more time for silence - even if they are only very short silences in Family Worship say.

The main effect, we reflected, was freeing leaders from the curse of doing things because they 'aught to be done' . This effects different people in different ways. For some it is following the rules of the church to the letter, for others it is following the code of their particular tradition within the church.

The result of being freed is a great trust in God. Trusting God to provide for the things which need to be done, and leaving the things which are just not possible for the time being - however desirable they might be in theory. Trust is at the very heart of the Christian faith, but it is a very heard thing to achieve - worry comes so much more naturally to us!!

At the heart of the spirituality movement is a deep conviction that we are loved by God, and that this love transcends all else. Most branches of the church talk about God's love, but I am not sure that many allow it to so deeply effect them.

It is so good to have time to think, and to read up on things - I am still reading up on St John of the Cross and his dark night of the soul. It is about finding God in those difficult times in our lives - and why God allows us to go through them. Yes even finding God's loving purpose in these hard times. But more of that anon!