General Chat

Many a wise word there Cynthia.

I hope the funeral of your family member goes as well as possible in these difficult times kandj. I will be thinking of you tomorrow as you watch online.

This time of year I often feel quite down. The anniversary of my mum’s death was yesterday, the anniversary of my dad’s death is on Saturday, a favourite aunt died in February and this year, of course, we have had my brother’s funeral. However this year I have had a real boost. Today is my birthday and I have had so many cards, presents, flowers and phone calls that I have felt really blessed and a bit overwhelmed. Aren’t people kind?

i am so thankful for my family and friends and my thoughts tonight are with anyone who is feeling lonely and in need of love and support.

Vera ................... Happy Birthday, late in the day I know xxxx

I am so glad that you had many cards, presents. etc.


I find March a strange month for me It used to be a month of birthdays ........... my dad, mum's brother, sister-in-law, daughter all had birthdays between the 24th and 30th.

Then daughter's birthday became bitter-sweet for me when a cousin sent a photograph of Mum and Dad's grave in 1992. It reminded me that Mum had died on the 24th March 1961 ............

I realised at that moment that I forget the date that my close relations died, always remember the year and the month. but obviously my way of coping right from my grandmother dying in 1954 is .......... forget the date.

But now I'm reminded every year that Mum died on 24 March 1961 and daughter was born 24th March 1974.

Grandson was born on March 9 2010 ....... so a happy date.

Good morning :-)

A very happy belated birthday Vera and how lovely to be surrounded by so much love. <3

I'm pretty good at remembering anniversary dates but I don't think about them too often if that makes sense. I remember those whom I loved but who have died most days, in one way or another. There are lots of things which trigger happy memories for me.

For today :


A hymn which we would be singing in church - if we were allowed to these days!!


1 Forty days and forty nights
You were fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.

2 Shall not we Your sorrow share
And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Strong with You to suffer pain?

3 Then, if Satan on us press,
Flesh or spirit to assail,
Victor in the wilderness,
Grant we may not faint nor fail!

4 So shall we have peace divine;
Holier gladness ours shall be.
'Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as served You faithfully.

5 Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,
Ever constant by Your side,
That with You we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.


Cx :-)

Hello all

Belated Happy Birthday wishes Vera and thank you for your kind words. Very much appreciated.

I joined the live-stream funeral service earlier today. Not ideal at all but it's necessary now given the Covid lock down restrictions we're all forced into.

Sending virtual gentle hugs to all in need today.

Good morning :-)

I too, watched a live streamed funeral yesterday - a young woman in her forties. At least they managed to get the service in a church - following the allowed protocol of course. I do hope live streaming doesn't become the 'norm' :-(



During Lent, we hear much of giving to those in need……..

Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist, wandered into a church, received communion, and found herself transformed — embracing a faith she’d once scorned.

Before long, she turned the bread she ate at communion into tons of groceries, piled on the church’s altar to be given away.

In her appeal to the members of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in the Mission District of San Francisco to support The Food Pantry, Miles wrote:

"The first time I came to the table at St. Gregory's, I was a hungry stranger. Each week since then, I've shown up — undeserving and needy — and each week, someone's hands have broken bread and brought me into communion. Because of how I've been welcomed and fed in the Eucharist, I see starting a food pantry at the church not as an act of ‘outreach’ but one of gratitude.

To feed others means acknowledging the amazing abundance we're fed with by God. At St. Gregory's, we do it now on Sundays, standing in a circle with the saints dancing bright above us. I believe we can do it one more time each week — gathered around the Table under those same icons, handing plastic bags full of macaroni and peanut butter to strangers, in remembrance of him.”


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Please, Lord, guide my mind
with your truth.
Strengthen my life by the humble
obedient example of Jesus.
He fulfilled your will by becoming
human and suffering with us.
He died so that I would no longer
be separated from you.
Help me to feel how close you are
and to live in union with you.
Amen.



Cx :-)

Hello all

A cold and frosty start to this morning so far.

Amen to your morning prayer Cynthia.

Thoughts and prayers for Captain Sir Tom Moore's family as this close family attend his funeral service.

A real inspiration to us all during the anxious times of the global pandemic. RIP Captain Tom.

Good morning :-)


The Collect (special prayer) for today :

Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth,
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ's religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)



Today is St. David’s Day – a very special day for our Welsh friends. Daffodils are the national flower of Wales and they are often worn on this day. These beautiful yellow flowers are a reminder of Spring and we are now beginning to see that Spring is on its way…….thank you Lord!



After the Winter, God Sends the Spring
by Helen Steiner Rice

Springtime is a season
Of hope and joy and cheer.
There’s beauty all around us
To see and touch and hear.
So, no matter how downhearted
And discouraged we may be,
New hope is born when we behold
Leaves on a budding tree,
Or when we see a timid flower
Push through the frozen sod
And open wide in glad surprise
Its petaled eyes to God,
For this is just God saying,
“Lift up your eyes to Me,
And the bleakness of your spirit,
Like the budding Springtime tree,
Will lose its wintry darkness
And your heavy heart will sing” –
For God never sends the Winter
Without the joy of Spring.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Happy St David's Day wishes to all Welsh friends.

I have 3 vases filled with beautiful daffodils here and plan to have home-made leek and potato soup for lunch to keep warm as it's cold and frosty today.

Keep warm and stay safe everyone.

Happy St David's Day,

I too have daffodils in my home and daughter made Welsh Cakes at the weekend.

Spring is certainly just around the corner here.
My daughter and I are not long back from a walk in a local country park. The snowdrops were growing in great swathes under the trees and a few daffodils were just starting to bloom
Long catkins were moving gently in the trees near the little stream and the sun was shining brightly.
A beautiful day.

Good morning :-)

I love daffodils.....they are on my shopping list for today! :-D



O Christ, Son of God,
for our sake you fasted forty days and allowed
yourself to be tempted.
Protect us so that we may not be led astray
by any temptation.
Since man does not live by bread alone,
nourish our souls with the heavenly food of your Word;
through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed
and live and govern all things, now and forever. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Bought some narcissi yesterday and they are so pretty. Went to M and S and spent far too much.....tuts. :-D


This is an interesting thought for Lent.


If we were knives, Lent would be a time to sharpen out cutting edges. If we were cars, Lent would be a time for an oil change and a tune-up. If we were gardens, Lent would be a time to fertilize our soil and dig out our weeds. If we were carpets, Lent would be a time to get power-cleaned. If we were computers, Lent would be a time to overhaul our disk drive. If we were seeds, Lent would be a time to germinate and reach for the sun.

But we are none of these things: We are people who some times do wrong things; we have to atone for them. We are people who sometimes get spiritually lazy; we need to get back into shape.

We are people who sometimes become selfish; we need to stretch out of our narrowness and begin giving again. And because we are also people who sometimes tend to put those things off, we need a special sort of official time to concentrate on doing them.

So we have Lent. The Easter chocolate will taste sweeter, the Easter flowers will bloom more brightly, the Easter Sunday sun will shine more warmly if we are a better people – and all because of how we spent these forty days.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


A Lenten Prayer

Lord I know how much you love me,
it’s hard for me to feel it sometimes
but I know your love is always with me.
Help me to use your love as a way
to persevere in my Lenten intentions
I am weak, but I know with your help
I can use these small sacrifices in my
life to draw closer to you. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

One of the things many of us are missing during these times is being able to sing familiar hymns together. Hymns that refresh and revive us and hymns that calm and reassure us.

A hymn which is often sung during Lent……..it speaks to those who are tired and weary, and gives us hope.


I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me, and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
The living water: thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of life I’ll walk
Till trav’lling days are done.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Our steps are slow,
Our breathing ragged.
Our burdens heavy.
This walk to the cross
It is not easy,
Yet Christ walked it for us.

For the joy
That was set before him
He despised the shame,
He bore our blame,
And shared our pain.
Now let us build on the rock
That is Christ.

Let us walk the way of the cross
Together,
Moving forward without fear,
Into God’s eternal purposes.
For Christ himself is with us,
Every step of the way.

Let us trust in God alone,
And find the joy that Christ did,
Obedience to our loving God.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Thank you for your postings during Lent Cynthia.

Remembering in pray all the NHS workers, the care workers and also the teachers and children too, as all schools reopen on Monday.

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Good morning :-)


The Collect (special prayer) for today

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 2 13-22
This week’s gospel is the story of how Jesus cleansed the temple.

Cx :-)

Thank you Cynthia and other contributors for the week's posts. I do read the thread every day even when I have nothing much to add, so thank you <3

Good morning :-)


Don't worry Vera, just as long as the words help someone, that's fine by me. It's nice to have a little chat now and then though :-D



Lent is a tree without blossom, without leaf,
Barer than blackthorn in its winter sleep,
All unadorned. Unlike Christmas which decrees
The setting-up, the dressing-up of trees,
Lent is a taking down, a stripping bare,
A starkness after all has been withdrawn
Of surplus and superfluous,
Leaving no hiding-place, only an emptiness
Between black branches, a most precious space
Before the leaf, before the time of flowers;
Lest we should see only the leaf, the flower,
Lest we should miss the stars.


Cx :-)