Not often is it that I can say I feel like Hugh Grant. In fact, I think never before is probably more accurate, and in fact, not at all would be honest as it was a character he portrayed whose behaviour reminded me of mine own this very Sunday past.

The immortal line from ‘Notting hill’ which was one of those that escapes the lips before the brain has any chance to engage and scrape some dignity back into the situation. Made worse of course by the delightful if not slightly taken aback response from the intended recipient who was at least courteous and hastily asked be if I was with the baptism party. (Warning, Generalisation alert!!) (So out of touch with the church was the comment that I had to have been with the baptism party!)

The line from Notting Hill was ‘Surreal, but nice’ cringe…

Put yourself in the shoes of a vicar. You are at the door greeting parishioners and someone drops one of those lines, lovely sermon vicar, or delightful words today, without a shadow of reference to the text or to what had been said. Well – D’oh – not sure what came over me, or exactly the words that came out, but surely enough they were in that category. No sooner were the words out of my mouth was I floundering to qualify such praise for a sermon, which in fact I had listened to and had paid full attention.

You see the dear Priest was saying, ‘it’s OK not to go to church – if that’s your thing’ ‘meet god in your own way as long as you do it with all sincerity’ And I totally understood what she was saying, because to be honest, there are times when the last place on earth I want to be is in church!!

So sorry, in absentia, I think is all there is to say about that !!!