While I don't wish to turn this blog into posts all about "a nice story about going to the supermarket then relating it back to a Christian theme", I've been away quite a bit this week, so there is quite a bit of news to tell you!

I spent Friday recording my first CD! We only sing unaccompanied psalms in my denomination, so a few years ago, the psalms were retranslated into more modern English than the 1650 Scottish Psalter. To help our precentors (who lead the singing) and the congregation learn to sing these, we are making a CD of these psalms. It was so exciting to hear the recording - it sounds like it was done in a proper studio when it was really done in a friend's living room with duvets hanging around me to muffle background noise! I'll let you know when it comes out...

On Saturday, my little sister got engaged to her boyfriend. They were always planning on getting married from before she became pregnant, but it is good that he's making an honest women of her! We used to fight so much, so it has been great to have become such great friends as adults. It was so touching when she asked me to be her bridesmaid.

I've been away the last few days for my first job interview down in Cambridge. My interview was first thing in the morning, so I had the evening before and the rest of the day to wander around admiring the university colleges. (I noticed that one of the churches held a Goth Eucharist every fortnight advertising that it included "candles, incense and contemporary music for goths"!) I went to Evensong at King's College and heard the world famous choir. The interview itself was fine - once they had found my application form!

Finally (and I hope that Sherrin will forgive me stealing her photo from the blog for this), congratulations to Dave and Sherrin on their engagement! It has been lovely to get to her and to see their relationship blossom.

My post on my Global Footprint provoked a wee bit of debate, so I spent a lot of my (very quiet) weekend on call reading around the issues of global warming and how we as Christians should be responding to it.

Most scientists seem to agree that global warming is taking place at a faster rate than ever before. The polar ice-caps are melting and are unlikely to exist at the end of 21st century. Apparently the earth has warmed up by 0.6 degrees over the last century, the most rapid warming of the planet for 10,000 years, and CO2 in the atmosphere has risen to its highest level in 400,000 years. I am not sure how this squares with beliefs in Creation and a Young Earth, but it certainly appears that something going on.

Whatever that something is, since God gave his commands to Adam in the Garden of Eden, we have been called to have stewardship over the earth. We have been given dominion over this planet to subdue it, to tend to it and to nurture it (Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 2:15, Psalm 8).

Some have suggested that environmentalism has itself turned into a new religion. Ray Evans of the Lavoisier Group said:

To put it in its bluntest terms, when you don't believe in God you don't believe in nothing. You believe in whatever is the fashion of the day, and environmentalism has scooped the pool.

This, of course, is different to many of the values held by some in the environmentalist movement where human life is seen to have no more intrinsic value that the life of an ant or a tree. Patrick Moore was a founding member of Greenpeace before he felt compelled to leave as the initial "broad-based vision [was] challenged by a new philosophy of radical environmentalism."

In the name of "deep ecology" many environmentalists have taken a sharp turn to the ultra-left, ushering in a mood of extremism and intolerance...It is anti-human. The human species is characterized as a 'cancer' on the face of the earth. The extremists perpetuate the belief that all human activity is negative whereas the rest of nature is good...This aspect of environmental extremism leads to disdain and disrespect for fellow humans and the belief that it would be 'good' if a disease such as AIDS were to wipe out most of the population

Environmental stewardship to me is more taking responsbility for God's creation which itself acts as a testimony to his goodness and as a means of common grace. Earth and heaven will be cast away and replaced by a new heaven and a new earth just as our own bodies are, but we equally look after our bodies until that time. In the same way as it would be wrong for me to refuse to treat your diabetes on the grounds that illness came with the Fall and is part of God's curse, it is irresponsible to ignore the damage that we might be causing to the earth. Our stewardship involves responsibly developing and nurturing the earth for our benefit and for God's glory, preserving it well for future generations.

As a native of the "Oil Capital of Europe" and from a family dependent on the oil industry for work, I've grown up knowing that oil reserves are eventually going to run out. It reminds to be responsible for the energy that I do use, as much as I have to consider what happens to the rubbish I throw away and how I use the earth's resources. I therefore want to limit what I consume and use and to be careful about what I am using. For me, this will mean buying more local-grown food, reducing and recycling packaging, and trying to remember to turn the heating off when I go out to work. It will perhaps be only a tiny contribution to a much greater problem but a small step in the right direction.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Psalm 24:1-2

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile...her look...her way
Of speaking gently,...for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of ease on such a day' -
For these things in themselves, Belovèd, may
Be changed, or change for thee, - and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheek dry,
Since one might well forget to weep who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby.
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (1806-1891)

On Sundays, I worshipped at the local presbyterian evangelical church. It is very different to my home church, but I really enjoyed going there and learned a lot. At 8am, there were discussion groups on such diverse topics as the Person of Christ and Cloning. Then at 9am, there would be all-age Sunday school, which signalled the start of that day's broadcasts on local radio and television from the church. The actual service would start at 10am with an hour or singing followed by an hour-long sermon. Even after all this, church might still not be finished. On one of my last Sundays, there were twenty-two baptisms, mainly new adult believers, then the Lord's Supper!

Another Sunday night, we had the Matrimonio Masivo - 12 weddings altogether to allow people who otherwise could not afford it to get married. One couple had lived together as man and wife for fifty years, but it was only once they had become Christians that they realised their need to be properly married in the eyes of God.

Even throughout the week, the congregation continued to be very faithful, meeting twice a week for house groups, with one meeting set aside for prayer and the other for Bible study. (They were going through the Shorter Catechism while I was there.) As over here, we also went to help at the Teens Group and attended the Young Adults group.

After my first week, I helped with a Sunday school for street children in one of the poorest areas of Moyobamba. (The perils of smiling and nodding when you don't really understand led me to agree to teach Sunday school during my time there!) It was great fun - lots of games, stories and songs - but most of all, it was amazing to see how eager these children were to learn about the Lord and to see that many of them have become Christians themselves.

Overall, this was an amazing experience and hopefully a life-changing one. I cannot describe the poverty that some of these families were living in. I have returned realising that, whatever the faults of the National Health Service, we are immensely fortunate to have such healthcare and social security systems.

It has taught me so much more than that though. I was so stressed and so worried before going over to Peru. After all, as I sobbed on my flatmate's shoulder the morning before I left, I was going on my own, I didn't really speak the language, and, worst of all, they have huge spiders in the jungle! It taught me to be completely reliant on the Lord. He knows already what will happen to all of us and, as we follow his will, he will give us that grace and strength to deal with anything as we confess our weakness to him.

1. Inside the church at a communion service
2. The Matrimonio Masivo!
3. This monkey was a pet of a neighbour and enjoyed drinking coffee
4. Sunday school on my last day
5. Fighting a parrot for my camera case!
6. The fountain in the main square of Moyobamba

As there is no real version of the National Health Service in Peru, patients can visit a vast array of clinics for medical attention, paying for each consultation and for every investigation. Examples for this include 35 nuevo soles (about £6) to see the doctor, then 10 nuevo soles (about £1.70) for every single blood test. My favourite part of the price list was in Obstetrics section - "Delivery - 1000 nuevo soles" (about £171), followed by "Delivery without pain - 1500 nuevo soles"!

Given the average monthly wage in Peru is 345 nuevo soles, equivalent to £59 a month or £708 annually, and the expense involved in visiting the doctor, even at the comparatively low prices of the clinic, many people visit their doctor only when things have got very serious. It also means that a lot of our normal health promotion strategies are abandoned - most people could never afford to buy the tablets to control their high blood pressure. Another difficulty here is that most of the older people are illiterate.

The doctors here also do operations. I assisted with one at 6am because it was the only time the anaesthetist could come to the clinic. The tiny operating theatre was baking, even at that time in the morning. Understanding the muffled orders of surgeons is difficult enough in English - never mind in Spanish!

With regard to the language, I had learnt to speak Spanish solely for this trip. I was staying with a Peruvian family and all my friends and colleagues were Peruvian, so I was constantly speaking in Spanish. It was all incredibly tiring combined with the unrelenting heat. Sometimes I would just retreat up to my room to read a book or letters to escape back into an English-speaking world just for a rest! It was lovely to get things to be translated too, even if I needed to correct some misconceptions. One of the letters included the phrase, "In the city of Wales, England!" I also had to try to explain that Scotland was a country in its own right and not just part of England or, worse, part of the United States!

Another day, I went to visit a couple of the villages to see the work of Buena Comida, the Good Food programme, where they are teaching school children how to grow vegetables to encourage better nutrition. The main diet consists of rice, potatoes and yuca, a starchy root vegatable, with the occasional beans, chicken or cuy - guinea pig! It is surprisingly tasty, if a little hard to get all the meat off their wee bones!

The Clínica San Lucas at that time employed two doctors (a gynaecologist and a physician specialising in general (internal) medicine), two nurses, one pharmacist and two laboratory technicians. The work of the clinic is rather like that of a General Practitioner here. There is not such thing as a prescription though. You can just wander into your local corner shop and pick any of the vast array of medicines you would like!

Another main work is the annual week of free surgery for patients, mainly children, with cleft lip and palate, involving maxillofacial surgeons from Lima and the United States, psychologists, and speech and language therapists. The rest of the year is spent identifying these children and visiting them in their homes, which could be five hours walk from the nearest road.

I went with the co-ordinator of this programme to visit some of these children and to offer some basic medical help to the villages. These children are often ostracised by their school friends and family (especially by their fathers who see it as a slight on their masculinity to have a 'deformed' child). Some of the older ones no longer go to school because their teachers have sent them home, saying they can't speak properly, no one can understand them, and they are too difficult to teach.

All the families I met were living in incredible poverty - I can really see how much I take for granted. They had no running water, no electricity, no toilets, no beds, with the nearest medical help several hours walk away. There was no doctor free to go and visit these children so I was sent to do the medical part of the job! It was scary having to make diagnoses on the spot, having not graduated and not havcing the usual equipment and investigations of medicine back home. Everyone (including me!) had parasites, so I just went ahead and treated them, but I diagnosed many an ear infection on the basis of pulling the kid's ear and asking if it hurt!

1. Children tending their school garden, learning how to grow vegetables
2. Guinea pigs on the kitchen floor, all ready for the next meal!
3. Keziah with a baby with cleft and palate. He was six months old but couldn't suckle properly and only weighed 6 pounds
4. Visiting the villages to see children with cleft lip and palate
5. Look at the drainage system for the village - there is no running water or sanitation there

Asociación San Lucas is a Christian organisation working to improve both the physical and spiritual health of the people of Moyobamba and its surrounding area. Most of the staff working at the clinic are Christians, trying to show their love of Jesus Christ through practical service. Each day at the clinic, all the staff meet for a time of worship, with singing, prayer and a short Bible study led by a member of staff or a local pastor. I even had to take one of the devotions, speaking on idolatry and had to do it all obviously in Spanish! It was a scary experience, given that I had not even been able to speak Spanish a few months before.

Asociación San Lucas is involved in improving water sanitation, community health (including sexual health, preventing and treating HIV/AIDS, paediatrics and obstetric care, through the training of community health advisers from the villages), and agriculture and farming for some of the poorest villages of the Department of Moyobamba. Even though I was there as a medical student, I was able to get involved in everything.

I was given the opportunity to visit a couple of villages where San Lucas is working to provide a clean water supply, rather than the dirty river which families are currently using as washing, cooking and drinking water. For one of these villages, Neuvo Milagro (New Miracle), a new water supply had been found on the land of the local shaman. Locals told us that he goes down into this cave to consult the Devil, but, praise to God, he was willing to allow San Lucas to use this supply if it turned out to be uncontaminated.

The Amazon Rainforest is not called the rainforest for nothing - it had been raining, pouring all day so we had to tramp through a foot of mud and muddy water to get to the cave! When we did get there, the five men (I wasn't allowed to go down because I was a girl!) disappeared into a cave about 20 feet below the ground. Being abandoned in a rainforest wasn't much fun, but it got worse when a little stream above the cave burst its banks! I have never been so scared in my life! I was praying desperately for them, debating whether to attempt to make it back to the shaman's house on my own. I knew that he had a mobile phone there (having one of the few mobiles in the area), although I don't really know who I could have called! Eventually, after 45 minutes of fervent prayer, the men suddenly struggled through what was now a raging waterfall and scrambled up the side of the cave!

1. Clínica San Lucas
2. The evangelical church in Guillermo, another village where San Lucas worked
3. Children playing in the water of the Río Mayo, a tributary of the Amazon
4. The men climb down into the cave. That's the shaman in the fake Brazil top and blue plastic sheeting - not quite how I imagined a witch doctor to look!

I was met in Lima by friends and stayed with them a few days to recover from the jet lag and to see some of Lima (very hot, very noisy, very dusty). After swimming in the Atlantic Ocean the week before while working in the Western Isles, I just had to paddling in the Pacific (not surprisingly a wee bit warmer!) I was then sent on my way with reminders not to drink the water and to wary of amorous Peruvians!

After Ashley shared some of her stories as a missionary kid in Peru, it's made me reminisce about working in a medical mission there. If you ever get on to the subject of my all too short time there, you are in for a long chat, probably peppered by LOTS of photos. So I figured that this way if you don't want to know, you can go and potter somewhere else, but I thought that some of you might like to hear about the work there. (These articles was originally published in my denomination's mission magazine.)

"How on earth did I end up here?" was a recurring thought as I was driven from the airport to Moyobamba, hidden away at the Peruvian border of the Amazon jungle. My taxi-driver was turning on all the charm - he was looking for a Scottish wife apparently - but it was really the scenery that blew me away. There were so many trees and plants - all more green that I could ever have imagined - sprinkled generously with bright dashes of orange, yellow and red flowers, with no hint of tarantulas that I was dreading.

I had arrived in the selva, or rainforest region, of Peru, after an eighteen hour flight to Lima, broken by a lovely hour-long stop in the Caribbean, then another one-hour flight over the Andes. However, why was I here of all places?

Since becoming a Christian at the age of 18, I have had a strong interest in the field of medical mission work. So many people in the world live without the basic necessities that we, here in Scotland, take for granted. However, I appreciate that it is an incredibly demanding job to work in such places and wanted to use my medical elective, when all final year medical students get the opportunity to study and work anywhere in the world anywhere in the world in a healthcare setting, to get a small taste of what life as a medical missionary could be like.

Originally I was going to go to India but had to think again after India and Pakistan threatened nuclear warfare and my university told me I couldn't go. Just a few days later, a missionary working in Brazil came to speak to our church prayer meeting. As soon as she discovered I was a medical student, she demanded to know if I had sorted my medical elective. I explained the problems of going to India, but she answered by telling me to write to Latin Link, a mission organisation working with churches in Latin America. My protests that I did not speak Spanish went unheeded by her and again later at my interview. I was sent to see the work of and hopefully be of some help at a medical mission clinic in Moyobamba...

1. Plants in the garden of my new home
2. A boat on the Rio Mayo

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous works among all the peoples!
Psalm 96:3

Most of us struggle at times with time management, stress, pressure, and the feeling of being totally overwhelmed. Perhaps I looked a little like I was heading in this direction, or it was that just God knew that I might be, when a Christian friend and colleague sent me this article, Death by Ministry from Mark Driscoll's blog at The Resurgence.

The article is aimed as pastors and their wives, discussing burnout in ministry leaders, the signs of burnout and some helpful suggestions to avoid it. It makes for some uncomfortable reading:

It reminds me of the importance of praying for my pastor and his wife and family and of fulfilling my promise to do that more purposefully for a month. It also reminds me of the pressures they are under and to try not to over-burden them. It has reminded me to offer to look after their daughter for an evening to allow them to have some time together and has inspired me to be brave enough to invite them all round for dinner for a relaxing evening.

I offer Mr Driscoll's advice to you all believing that his suggestions from his own life in how to prevent burnout will be helpful to anyone who has ever felt stressed, burdened and overwhelmed. I have already seen where his solutions might be helpful in my own life.

1. Fill your plate In a conversation with Pastor Wayne Cordeiro of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Hawaii, he gave some very sagely advice. He said that each person's plate is a different size; each person needs to first find the size of their plate and then fill it only with those things that are of highest priority. And, before adding any additional things to our full plate, we must take something else off to leave space for the new duty...

4.Sabbath This includes taking five minutes off every hour to catch your breath, go for a walk, stand up at your desk, etc. It includes taking thirty to sixty minutes off a day to nap, go for a walk, read, garden, or whatever else releases your pressure and helps you to relax. This also means taking one day off a week to Sabbath, including a date night if you are in a serious relationship or married. This also includes a day or two off a month for silence and solitude and a few weeks a year for an actual vacation that does not leave you more tired than before it began.

9.Work from conviction, not guilt Conviction comes from God and guilt comes from people. The key to being both fruitful and healthy is to do what God wants and not always say yes to or let yourself be pushed around by people who are demanding and have perfected the art of making you feel guilty if you do not do what they demand.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:29

Until a few weeks ago, 'Aunt' was just an honorary title. However, on my travels, I have appear to have collected a few adopted neices and nephews so I enjoyed Carolyn McCulley's recent articles on Tradition and Tea Parties and Creating Aunt Traditions. A fellow Christian single, she said:

One of the aspects of parenthood that I've most envied are the "memory-making" events--the little traditions that create a special family intimacy. Last year, I decided to test the water with my oldest niece to see if she would respond to an aunt-bonding activity.

As you can see in the photo, my oldest honorary neice is only little, but I also seem to have adopted honorary little sisters along the way. Sometimes they are girls I've met and become friends with through the youth group. Sometimes they are girls who don't have a big sister and want someone a bit older to speak to who is not a relative and who perhaps is a bit more neutral. (It is sometimes easier to 'take advice' from a friend than it is to be told what to do by a parent, even when they are saying exactly the same thing!)

(As an aside, I've found that MSN Messenger has been so important for teen ministry. They all spend time chatting to each other on the internet and want to be able to chat with their leaders. Because they can't see you, they then will really start pouring their hearts out and bearing their souls on all sorts of issues.)

I see it as part of the Titus 2 relationship except, this time, we are the older women doing the teaching. We can use these special times to invest in these young lives, supporting them through difficult teenager years with all the changes and trials that brings, guiding them in their faith and life decisions. It is such a privilege to be in their confidence so it is important to be able to consistently spend time and energy with them and praying for them, so that they know their importance in our lives.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them".
Ecclesiastes 12:1

What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

For my spiritual growth, I have decided to buy the Bible on CD to allow me listen to God's word while driving to and from work. A friend has bought Max Maclean's reading of the English Standard Version and really recommended it as a way to know the Bible better.

On a more frivolous note, I have finally invested in a digital camera, especially after being reprimanded by Jonny and Amanda for not owning one! I owned my first camera when I was about 5. It was a blue Fisher Price camera that took 110 film and had a hole at the top where real flash bulbs (which could only be used once) fitted. You'll see in the photo that it even had rubber-covered ends to stop it breaking when dropped. Sadly, I don't know what happened to mine, but I don't think I was a particularly gifted photographer as a child.

I bought my next and last camera the same year I started university. It uses film and has served me well. (My mother likes to tell me, "Your camera always takes good pictures!") However, after three years of saying I wanted to get a digital SLR, I have finally (literally, in the last few days) got round to it! To celebrate, I taken a photo of where my Wise Men have travelled after friends visited a few days ago! I'll be taking a lot more photos in the days to come and, as they are much easier to transfer on to the computer than film photos, I look forward to sharing them.

She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
Proverbs 31:16

Lindsey at her Christmas blog, Advent for Evangelicals, has asked us to share the story of our nativity scene and to share some of our Christmas traditions.

My nativity scene stays up all year round. It's from Peru so has a special place in my heart after working there but I also like to have it up all year to remind myself and others who visit that celebrating Jesus is not confined to December!

I have adopted a tradition from one of my American friends that I hope to introduce to my future family. The nativity is complete all year until Advent. At the beginning of Advent, the Baby Jesus is hidden away until Christmas morning as we wait for his birth.

The Wise Men also leave the nativity and go on a journey throughout the house until they arrive on Twelfth Night. (You can see them hiding travelling through one of my bookcases on the right.) My friend and her roommates would hide the Wise Men in turn. Whoever found them next would hide them for another person to find, until the 6th of January when whoever found them would return them to the nativity. Admittedly, this doesn't work quite as well when you live on your own! That said, my friends enjoy hiding them for me whenever they visit.

(Apologies for the terrible quality of the photos! I don't have a digital camera and didn't have time to get proper photos developed, then I couldn't work out how to get camera phone photos from the camera to my computer, so I am afraid I was stuck with using my webcam!)

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
Jeremiah 33:14-16

Today is St Andrew's Day in Scotland. As well as being patron saint of fishmongers, fishermen, singers, and rope-makers, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland about a thousand years ago after, in the eighth century, his relics supposedly landed on a beach on the East coast of Scotland, now known as St Andrews.

Another legend tells of the Pictish king Angus fighting against the English in the eighth or nineth century. It is said that he looked up into the sky and saw a Saltire in the clouds. As tradition tells us that Andrew was martyred on a diagonal cross, King Angus saw this as a sign that Andrew was protecting them and then resolved to make him Scotland's patron saint if the battle was won.

Andrew's position as patron saint was confirmed in 1320 in the Declaration of Arbroath, the declaration of Scottish independence after the Scots were lead to victory over the English by Robert the Bruce:

What do we really know of Andrew though? John tells us that Andrew was originally a disciple of John the Baptist and listened when he pointed out Jesus, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" He spent time with Jesus that day before returning home to share the news with his brother that ""We have found the Messiah". Andrew and Simon then became the first disciples to be called by Jesus, and they immediately followed him (Matthew 4:18-20).

Other than a few sentences, there is little else said about Andrew throughout the Bible. Tradition teaches that after the resurrection, he went to Greece and Asia Minor to share the Gospel. Perhaps then it is in the little that is recorded that we see his most important action.

Andrew, after only a little time with Jesus, recognised him for who he was and went home to share this truth with his brother so that he could also know Jesus. Andrew must have been listening to the teaching of John the Baptist, eagerly expecting the Messiah to come, and was ready to recognise Jesus when he began his ministry. His example is a reminder to us to share our faith and knowledge of God freely with others. In Andrew's case, he brought Simon Peter to Christ, with Peter becoming one of Jesus' closest disciples and the main disciple to the Jewish people. Andrew's initial influence should not be forgotten as we praise God for all that Peter did.

Window depicting St Andrew, Monimail Parish Church, Fife.
(Crown Copyright: RCAHMS, www.rcahms.gov.uk)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20

I'm not one for posting my own photo on the Internet where just anyone can see it, but I did have fun making up this picture of myself! Does it look like me? I think it is actually quite a scary resemblance!

In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

I am busy ALL the time. At work, I am permanently rushing around seeing patients, arranging and reviewing tests, writing letters, doing paperwork. Even in the quiet moments, I am poised ready to run at the first sound of my bleeper going off. At home, I work, study, read, do housework, write all the time to the background of music or a radio programme. Although I live on my own, I am permanently surrounded by noise, busyness and thoughts. I am never still. Even now, as I write this, I'm on a train on my daily communte, keen not to waste time.

So I am intrigued about the spiritual disciplines of quietness, solitude and silence. Would I manage to be still for an hour, never mind a whole day?

With the help of the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, I am going to take time over the next year to try the tasks it suggests. I have days off next month, so I might even try to go away for a night to give it a go without all the distractions of normal life. Sallie has allowed me to host the Carnival of Beauty in December on the Beauty of Solitude, so I'll hopefully be able to share some of what I have learnt then.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10