The Assumption in France

Went to France once, and arrived early in the morning of the Feast of the Assumption.

First day tried to get together some basic things - you know, food, wine, loo roll. To discover that the entire country was closed. No shops open, no petrol, no nothing. In desperation I ended up spending the GDP of a small country to buy some stale croissants and a bottle of vin ordinaire from a campsite shop during the 20-minute window when it was open.

The interesting thing is that, apart from the Muslim populations in the cities, France is as secular a society as you could hope to find. Even the relatively-devout Bretons are as doubtful as Cardiff during a crisis of faith. And yet the French took the holiday seriously. I suspect that's because the French always take having some time off very seriously - leisure-time is almost the national religion.

Maybe we've something to learn there, as we take our Smartphones on holiday and leave out-of-office messages that make it quite clear we're almost permanently available even when in deepest Provence. Having a break is good, and improves your national cooking.

Switching off

The Sabbath idea is so important. The idea that, once in a while, we should be able to lay down our cares and burdens and have a total rest.

And so I'm off for a week in Dorset. I've not been there since 1858, at least on my timeline, so I'll be interested to see if it's changed much.

When you're in a position of responsibility it's good to know you've got a good team to leave in charge. Or, I suppose, it must be. Personally I've had to leave Daphne in charge of worship, and Burton responsible for financial matters. Which is why I've been rounding up every penny in the place and every spare quid in the Community accounts, and shoving them into the accounts of Beaker Virgin Isles. Charlii, of course, is running the Children's work. And Drayton has been asked to pop in with the occasional Evening Thought. Or, as he put it, "preach the Gospel to your neo-pagans, liberals and heretics".

Hnaef is left in overall charge. I've total confidence in him. Which is why I'm just bringing my Blackberry, Android, netbook PC and satellite phone with me. Although I am only going to be checking my emails on an hourly basis. Hnaef has been told only to contact me in extreme circumstances - such as having to make any decisions at all.

So I'm hoping to relax, sit back, do a bit of sight-seeing. Plan the next three sermon series (I've never the time when I'm in Husborne Crawley). Check the budget forecast. Develop the next Beaker Course and the Autumn Programme. Oh, and re-write the Big Book of Rules to include the ban on tweeting from the Moot House and attendance at New Media conferences.

You know, this might finally be the holiday when I get to read Barth's Church Dogmatics. If I can only find the time to learn German.