The Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games has now taken place in Vancouver - but as one set of athletes and support staff begin their journey home, another set will be preparing to arrive for the Paralympics which begin on 12 March. Although many people's eyes will now turn away from Vancouver, it is important to remember this fresh body of athletes and their final preparations. People in and around Vancouver will also be experiencing changes as Olympic 'decorations' come down to be replaced by Paralympic ones.
My final preparations are also under way, although there seems to be a lot of work to do here still before I leave, in connection both with my work in the parish and at Loughborough University. I must admit to it feeling slightly strange at St Michael's West Andover yesterday when I was finishing leading the service, to think that the next time I do something similar will be in a very different context and with an international group of people - a glimpse perhaps of the reality of belonging to a worldwide church.....
As part of my preparations, it's been good to watch some of the TV coverage of the Olympics to begin to familiarise myself with locations and venues, as well as to become more acquainted with various winter sports disciplines - although, of course, Paralympians do not participate in all the Olympic disciplines. It was also good to spend a week's holiday in February cross-country skiing in Finland - where it was colder and we had more snow than there was at the Olympic venues.
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