Beachcombing through January

January is a good month to start a new year, mainly due to its location in the calendar, but also because here in the UK it's in deepest midwinter; a time for battening down the hatches, a time for quiet contemplation in the long dark evenings after huge bowlfuls of hearty soups. It is also the time when new growth begins; imperceptibly, underground.

January 2011 is particularly exciting for me for a number of reasons; we're just starting to get settled into our new house, which we will soon be blessing and opening up as a "House of Prayer"; on January 2nd I will be beginning a new ministry as a worship leader with a brand new service to administer, and I am starting up a Continuous Prayer Community "Celtic Crossroads". Please join us, it's multi-faith.

Plenty to be getting on with then.

I've had complete and utter writer's block for the past 10 years or so.

I sense a thaw in the ice.

I've joined up to this initiative because I love writing and want to get back to where I once was - and I know that practice is the only way.

Writing a "small stone" every day seems a natural extension of my now prayerful life.