General Chat

Good morning everyone and I hope you are all well. :-)


At church, we are still suffering from the occasional traumas of 'too many chiefs and not enough Indians' syndrome as people, as folk still struggle to come to terms with the loss of our Incumbent. No doubt it will settle shortly.

Tonight we are taking down the Christmas decorations which have festooned our church for the last few weeks. It will look a bit bare without them but we soon get used to it.


Today is the Feast of the Epiphany so I thought I would use the following poem:

The Epiphany Poem

Take, O Child,
The gift that I bring,
Rich and rare as befits a King:
Gold that glints as the star looks down -
Gold to gleam in a great king’s crown.
When the kingdom comes, when the flags unfold,
Remember me, and my gift of gold.

Take, O Child,
The gift that I bring,
Rich and rare as befits a King:
I kneel as a king, to a King divine,
Receive my praise, and this gift of mine
Which is frankincense for the altar fire
To burn in worship to the World’s Desire.

Take, O Child,
The gift that I bring,
Rich and rare as befits a King:
Costliest myrrh from the East afar
For the tomb foretold by the travelling star.
When they bear you slow to your kingly grave
You shall lie at last with the gift I gave.


Strange are the gifts that the Wise Men bring
To so small a Child, to so strange a King.
Sovereign gold, but his brow was torn
When they hailed him King, with a crown of thorn;
Frankincense, that they might provide
Perpetual praise to a God who died;
But none so strange as the myrrh they gave
To anoint the clothes of a three-day grave.


~ Timothy Dudley-Smith



The following may be of interest to Vera :-)

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=7070



Cx :-)

Thinking of the Lectionary reading today which is John i 10-18 as Cynthia has said made me think of:
"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not"

Tomorrow is Epiphany (also my late father's birthday and my mil also - both born on same day in 1918*), and one of the readings for The Epiphany is from Baruch (in the Apocrypha, the middle bit that used to be in our Bibles). Baruch iv 36-37:

"O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God.
Lo, thy sons come whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God."

* Dad died 1978, aged 60. Mil still going strong. Will resist any mil jokes as she is positively the best mil in the world. :-)

Sylvia, my thoughts are with your sil and your family. I am sure her faith will sustain her and bring her peace.

Some long time ago I posted my all-time favourite poem on a poetry thread. I was introduced to it by my English teacher at school when I was about 14, I think. I'm not sure I fully understood it but for the first time I saw something beyond the "fluffy" nativity story I had been taught as a child. It's a bit long for this thread but as it is appropriate for the period of Epiphany, I thought perhaps it would be OK to post it. It's by T S Eliot

The Journey Of The Magi


'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Good morning everyone and I echo kandj's thoughts. Receiving the Holy Sacrament will mean a great deal to your sister-in-law Sylvia, as she prepares to face the Lord whom she has served so devotedly for so long. She must have ministered to many others in a similar situation and now, it is her turn to receive. I too pray that her passing may be peaceful. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. <3


The Collect for today :

Almighty God, in the birth of you Son you have poured on us the new light of your incarnate Word , and shown us the fullness of your love: help us to walk in his light and dwell in his love that we may know the fullness of his joy; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


The gospel reading for today is taken from John 1:10-18 and begins with those wonderful, wonderful words which we usually hear at midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.....................'

A beautiful, beautiful reading.


Enjoy your day.......Cx :-)

Sylvia, you will be supported greatly by many on this Christian thread as you wait for news of your sister in law.
What a blessing it will be for her to receive the Holy Communion. It seems in Canada that the situation is similar to in England where the retired clergymen are on hand to help and support where needed.
I hope that the bad weather in Canada will not hinder your OH or others with traveling or in other practical ways. Our thoughts and prayers are ongoing for you all.

Hi everyone

thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.

As you know, I'm not a churchgoer although I was raised in the church and went to an Anglican church school from 4 to 11 ........................, but the prayers you offer mean a lot to me, as well as to OH and his sister.

A retired vicar from a neighbouring town is coming in every day to give Holy Communion to sis-i-l and anyone else in the house who wishes to participate.

She is peaceful, sleeps a lot, but also is pretty lucid when awake.

I'm just hoping for a peaceful, quick end for her.

Hi kandj :-)

I find that I can relate to being a 'fairweather' Christian up until I was in my late 30's. Oh yes, I went along to church every Sunday, but when I got home, I used to hang up my faith along with my coat - not really using it until I needed it.

All that changed through attending some bible study groups and doing more reading on the subject...........yep...those scales just fell away!! ;-)

An interesting post as always Cynthia, thank you.

I don't ever remember being a Fair Weather Christian but I have met many who turn away from God when things go wrong in their lives.

I can't think I have ever been the second type of Christian. Being brought up in a Christian household then God was and still is a natural part of my day.

I was nodding my head at the third section and so I guess that this one applies to me BUT I am ever in training!!

Good morning everyone...... :-)


I was looking around for something interesting to post and came across the following. It certainly rang some bells for me so I thought I would share it.



"Feeling a little desperate, I was wondering why God let me endure so much when this thought crossed my mind: “Am I a fair weather Christian?” If I’m a fair weather Christian, perhaps I seem to believe and even honestly think I believe when all is well and then blame God and turn against Him when stormy or bad weather comes into my life. I don’t think that’s true of me in spite of my desperate moment.

There are, of course, Christians of the opposite kind—those that cling to a buoy in stormy weather but float carefree along in calm waters, caring not about their saviour when all is well. You have probably heard about Christians like this. They say there are no atheists in foxholes. Sadly, for many years I was this type of Christian; but I think I have grown in Christianity over the years.

The third type of Christian is the kind I want to be and hope to be most of the time. This type is thankful for blessings and turns to God with thanks for all the good things in life. When things sour, they turn to God for direction and when God says, “No” they try to understand; and through all times and all disturbances, no matter what happens, they have the peace of the presence of the Lord in their lives.

Which kind of Christian are you?"

~ B. Killebrew



Enjoy your day Cx :-)

Hear, hear Cynthia. That is also how I perceive my church family over the years.

John I hope we would be Christian minded enough to welcome such people into our worship service and our church family. Perhaps they could just be angels in disguise?

Ongoing thoughts and prayers for Sylvia and her sister in law and family today.

Very uplifting stories. And that old Bishop Ken has some wise words for us.

We had revival down here in South Wales in 1903 - probably the last major revival in Britain. And the bedrock was the church family. And the flame was the Holy Spirit.

But the faggots that allowed teh fire to burn so brightly were the rough coliers who had had nothing whatsover to say about religion up until then. They were the pobl y tafarn (people who went to the pub) and had no idea why their wives and mothers trooped off to an old chapel every week.

Then one by one they realised spirit was better than beer. But they came into chapels at first very distrustful, very cynical and - in many cases - they disrupted the services by swearing and shouting, often drunk.

I often muse on how we would deal with those sort of people today. Typical working men and their foul-mouthed wives, dirty and noisy children........

Thoughts very much with you, Sylvia (nothing to do with previous paragraph)

Good morning :-)


It was so uplifting to read your words Elizabeth, thank you so much. I have always found that, being part of a church family, is much like being part of an ordinary human family.

You have those who have been a part of the church for many years and who maybe older, wiser and are certainly more experienced about things in general. They are rather like loved and respected 'grandparents'.


There are those who have been welcomed into the family relatively recently and who may be uncertain about how this church family functions. They remind me of those who have recently 'married in' to a family or who have been befriended and encouraged by helpful neighbours.


Our youngsters are typical young people going through all the trials and tribulations of the school and teenage years and we wave some of them off to university or college. We send them off with a prayer that God will keep them in His care and bring them back when the time is right.


We have new additions to the family each time we have a baptism and we encourage these new parents and their little ones to visit us regularly so that we can get to know them better.


There are times when we have to say goodbye to much loved family members, but we do so in a spirit of hope and expectation of life eternal.


And yes, we do have the odd fall out, upset and commotion - for we are all humans who are on a journey. Sometimes that journey gets a bit much for some folk and tempers flare - as within most human families. Hopefully, wise words and kind actions calm the situation down and we move onwards again.


This prayer, b Bishop Thomas Ken has come into my mind:

O God make the door of this house wide enough
to receive all who need human love and fellowship,
and a heavenly Father’s care, and narrow enough to shut out all envy,
pride and hate.

Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling-block to children,
nor to straying feet, but rugged enough to turn back the tempter’s power:
make it a gateway to thine eternal kingdom.

Amen.


Enjoy your day.... Cx :-)

Elizabeth, that is so good to hear and thank you so much for sharing that with us.

In my village church we also have been blessed with a new lady Rector just a few weeks ago but already her genuine warmth and kindness plus her strong spirituality means it is a joy and privilege to share time together in praise and worship.

Already we have former church family members who are returning and this is such a blessing for us faithful few golden oldies who have struggled for many years with uncertainty and a lack of Christian love within God's house. God is indeed good.

Dear All

Hello

On New Years Day, I attended a full church service.

For various reasons, I had not been to the local church in my area for some time.

On this occasion, it was different experience.

Older and wiser, yes, but the basics of faith and belief still exist for me.

The church was beautifully decorated; such loving work must have been put into creating the nativity scene.

There is a new priest/vicar too.

He appears to have humility and gentle humour.

I saw some of my friends there again and was met with warmth.

Will I go back?

Yes, I believe I shall.


Take gentle care
Best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

Thanks for sharing such special thoughts with us Sylvia. Sending good vibes and prayers for you and your family right now as you face a sad time ahead. xx

In a village nearby there is an ancient redundant Anglican church that is opened for viewing three times a year but a Carol service is held each year inside this tiny church on the Sunday before Christmas Day.
It is always very well attended although as there is no heating we know to get well wrapped up. No electricity means we rely on torches and candlelight to see and read from the service sheet. This makes it a very special time for everyone.
You couldn't help but think of all the many others who had been to worship here since the church was built in the Norman 11-12th century.

Many thanks, Cynthia. It is a nice moring here, and just off to perambulate. I shall think of the dew being "wet with diamonds" :-)

That little church is so special to you all, Sylvia. And now to us. Buildings do not make a church, but they provide us with so many memories of past saints and past glory. :-)

"Blessed are those who dwell in your house: they will always be praising you.
Blessed is the one whose strength is in you: in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Who going through the valley of dryness
Finds there a spring from which to drink:
Till the autumn rain shall clothe it with blessings."
(Psalm 84)

Good morning and thank you for sharing the memories of that special place with us Sylvia. It must have been so moving, both for the congregation and for your sister-in-law, to worship there on Christmas Eve. May God bless her and the whole family in the days which lie ahead. xx <3


So, we are now into the New Year and a new day....


A new Morning!

Another chance to give thanks that we woke up this morning!

A new day!

Another chance to ask Jesus to guide us on our way!

A New Year!

Another spectacular chance to ask Jesus to help us make this our
best year for witnessing to many, praising God always
and just being grateful for all that HE has given us!

A New Day

The morning's here, another day,
The sun is shining through,
I left my worries all behind;
Today, I start anew.

An orchestra of tuneful birds
Gives messages of cheer,
The dark of night has vanished
And the morning sun is here.

The dew is wet with diamonds
And the world has come alive,
The little stems I planted,
All limp; will now survive.

The morning's come, the air is sweet,
The sun is shining through,
Yesterday has ceased to be
Today, I start anew.

~ Mildred H. Bell



Love to you all... Cx :-)

I thought you might be interested in knowing a little bit more about the church in my avatar.

It is called St John the Divine, but another local name for it is St Johns in the Fields.

There is one Sunday afternoon service a month held there.

Plus the 6 pm Christmas Eve service.

There was once a thriving village down the hill near the river, hence the church. As you can see, it now stands in open fields and woods, there are no houses or farms in close proximity.

It is still left open on most days of the day for private prayer and quiet reflection.

It was originally built in 1914 a couple of miles away, then moved some time about 1928 to its present site.

There are no services to the site ............. heating is by a wood stove, lighting by oil lamps and candles, and water has to be taken in if needed (ie, no toilet faciltiies).

The church has 5 rows of pews, and seats about 40 people comfortably. Over 100 usually crowd into the church, the small porch, and stand outside for the Christmas Eve service.

It is quite magical to go there on Christmas Eve.


My sister-in-law was priest-in-charge of this church until last October ........... and she was able to attend the church with all her children and grandchildren this past Christmas Eve.

Cynthia, I found the New Year's Eve words interesting as for years I have a battered old card with me that only has the first verse written and had no idea there were others.

For years the Anglican, Catholic met up for a New Year's Eve midnight service in our village Methodist chapel and this was always so special and exciting as we all came together in faith, hope and expectation. Sadly it was decided as the Methodist congregation became so few in numbers and elderly that our village chapel would be closed and the faithful few driven to a nearby Methodist chapel for regular services.
A huge loss to a great many of us as we had shared Ecumenical services together in all three places of worship for as many years as I can remember. I did miss this gathering last night but have many lovely memories of happier fellowship shared.

Profound and interesting words from John, as always. Thank you.

Sylvia, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time.

It was good to see other postings and I thank you all for sharing thoughts and prayers as we continue to share our journey in faith and trust in the Lord's grace.

I wish all who share this Christian thread Good Health and much Happiness to you all

Good morning everyone.........I hope everyone is well :-)




Yours was a day of mixed emotions indeed Sylvia and we send our love to you and your family as you face the next few weeks. <3


For today - New Year's Day


Whatever the New Year has in store,
Remember there's always a good reason for
Everything that comes into our life.
For even in times of struggle and strife,
If we but lift our eyes above
We see "our cross" as a "gift of love."

For things that cause the heart to ache
Until we feel that it must break,
Become the strength by which we climb
To higher heights that are sublime.

So welcome every stumbling block
And every thorn and jagged rock;
For each one is a stepping-stone
To a fuller life than we've ever known;
And in the radiance of God's smiles
We learn to soar above life's trials.

So let us accept what the New Year brings,
Seeing the hand of God in all things,
And as we grow in strength and grace
The clearer we can see God's face.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~


Enjoy your day - however you are spending it. Cx <3