I was surprised when the Rector asked me whether I'd ever thought about becoming a Reader. We'd had "Readers" in our parish church community and I had some idea what they do, but the thought of becoming one hadn't entered my head. I stalled for time and asked whether there was something I could read about it. Then I remembered that months before, in an aside from a Christian online discussion forum, where I'd be enjoying a ding-dong argument about something, someone else had made a similar suggestion - "You should think about studying to be a Reader, Horace." I told Diana (my wife) and asked what she thought about it. "You'd be good, but have you got the time?". I went to a meeting with Michael Kenning, who runs Reader training for our part of the Diocese. I thought. I prayed. I found that I'd already started to change some of my behaviours. So I bit the bullet and applied . . . .