Dean’s Blog – Return to Normality: 18th October -23rd October 2015

Return to Normality: 18^th October -23^rd October 2015

It has been with some relief that I have come to this week: a return to some normality, whatever normal is in Bahrain:  no trips to the airport (last week I to’d and fro’d six times); no visitors, as much as I like the stimulus and fresh insights that visitors bring; no overseas travel as much as I enjoy occasionally getting off this small island to see and experience the wider world… So what has this normal week opened up?

• The follow-up of the meeting last Friday with Archdeacon John to plan when our Exploring Faith group will meet: Saturday afternoon, letting those who have expressed interest know and ordering the textbooks.
• A wedding on Monday afternoon, organized at rather short notice, but for good pastoral reasons.
• Preparing for Remembrance Sunday and the Act of Remembrance on Remembrance Day, writing to Ambassadors and having a meeting at the British Embassy with the Assistant Defence Attache. The Royal Navy Chaplain here, Dr Mark Davidson, has agreed to preach and to lead a Living Room Dialogue next year.
• Leading a Memorial Service for Jason Bresler, David Giles and Mohammed Shafiq, all working with DHL, murdered by a colleague in Afghanistan seven years ago. This is the sixth service I have led and it was good to have Jon to preach this year.
• Writing up a brief two page “history” and providing photos of the Cathedral for the Isa Cultural Centre, which is working on a project entitled Bahrain’s Tolerance to all religions.
• Visiting one of our new families in their home and, following that, preparing a Christian Foundations group flier to begin on a Monday evening.
• And on Tuesday Tricia and I enjoyed our day-off, going to see the movie The Martian: how, after a manned-flight (the commander was a woman!) to Mars, one of the crew was abandoned presumed dead, and his response to his circumstances and how a rescue mission is launched by the returning crew. The spectacular Martian scenery is Wadi Rum in Jordan, where we were earlier in the year.

In general life in the Cathedral is encouraging and there seems a purposeful buzz about the community at the moment. Long may it remain!