General Chat

Good morning :-)

Happiness

O Father, please help me to find rest within your happiness. Make my smile linger upon my lips as I think back to an amazing memory of a sunlit place. Help me to awaken each morning with hope for everything that the world has to offer. Guide me so that I can discover life in all of its infinite varieties. Help me to discover the joy in each day and the beauty of your creation. As I go through each day, help me to touch each soul I encounter and be thankful for every person in my life. Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


A prayer for happiness and joy

Lord, take my heart on a journey into your goodness and grace where I walk on grass soft with forgiveness and wait by the everlasting lake.

Lord, take my mind to a new place filled with the promise of life where I rest with great dreams of your kingdom and wake with a new joy inside.

Lord, take my soul to adventure - may I find greater freedom in you where I run with great vision and insight and trust that my dreams are from you.

Lord, take me into your promise where eternity awaits at the door and I find I’m renewed, redeemed and restored – thank you. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)



Happiness.......

Dear Lord,

Thank you for all your blessings,
For my family, friends and neighbours.
Thank you for all the beauty
In the skies, the lakes and the mountains.
Thank you for all the excitement of celebration,
Birthdays, weddings and christenings.
Thank you for all the variety of animals, birds and insects.
Thank you for all the enrichment of music, art and literature.
Thank you for the amazing jigsaw of life!
What a beautiful picture is made when I place all these pieces together!
Thank you for the promise of eternity,
For the sacrifices you made so that I can be free,
Free to make my life into a glorious patchwork of thanksgiving
That carries me onwards to the promises of new heavenly pieces to add to all that I already hold.

Thank you.

Amen.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Another good subject this week Cynthia. Thanks.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful.
Proverbs 15 v 13.

The sun shining today has made me happy and it's a good tonic too. Stay well and keep safe all.

Good morning :-)

Happiness


Father,

Please help me to rest in your happiness,
To allow a smile to linger on my lips,
To dwell within a wonderful memory,
To walk back through sunlit places.

Please help me to awake with hope,
To engage with life in all its variety,
To take in the beauty of others joys,
To touch the souls of those I meet with thankfulness.

Please help me to sing with faith,
To carry the truth close in my heart always,
To rejoice at new life and
To have peace as I age.

Please help me to indulge in love
To breathe in the sweetness of intimacy,
To taste the kindness of friendship,
To feel the warmth of embrace.

Please help me not to miss
A single drop of heaven,
To catch each moment
And drink in the great joy of life.

Amen.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

The Collect (special prayer) for today
Almighty God,
who sent your Holy Spirit
to be the life and light of your Church:
open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
in love and joy 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


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Olympic re-boot....

For 1,500 years, there were no Olympic Games — until another Christian rebooted them, complete with religious underpinnings.

Pierre de Coubertin, a French aristocrat educated by Jesuits, was raised in 19th-century France, which was torn by war. He was inspired by the history of the ancient Greeks and the Olympiad. In 1889, as a means of promoting peace between nations de Coubertin got the idea to revive the games.

On a trip to England, he encountered the work of Thomas Arnold, a Church of England deacon and a promoter of “muscular Christianity” — the idea that the pairing of physical strength with religious piety creates well-rounded, moral and ethical men.

That belief undergirds the International Olympic Committee, which de Coubertin founded in 1894. The first modern international games were held two years later, in Athens, and included many of the religious trappings of the ancient games, including olive-leaf crowns and sacred fire in the form of the Olympic flame.

Civic religion is primarily on display in the opening ceremonies and their rituals audiences have come to expect — the ceremonial raising of the Olympic flag, the playing of the Olympic anthem (originally titled “The Olympic Hymn”) and the reverential lighting of the Olympic torch.

Lord, we give you thanks for such people as de Coubertin and Arnold and for their inspiration and dedication to encouraging people in the Christian faith. Amen

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Vera, it sounds as though you had a wonderful time and I am so pleased for you. You are truly blessed with a lovely family. Doesn't it make you feel old when you see how much the young ones have grown though? :-D Very, very, pleased for you <3


Olympics - Roots of the past

The original Olympics began in the fifth century B.C. and were, of course, Greek. And like most things the ancient Greeks did, they were connected to their worship of the gods.

For the ancient Greeks, the sport of the Olympic Games was quite literally a religious exercise — a display of religious devotion and worship. Athletes paraded into the stadium past a line of religious officials and often dedicated their performances to a patron god. Even the prizes were religious — crowns of olive leaves made from trees in a sacred grove dedicated to Zeus.
Winners, were revered in a religious way, as “having been touched by divinity, as being raised above the station of a mere mortal.” When they were crowned, a procession headed to the temple of Zeus, where so many animals were sacrificed their ashes, blood and fat formed the altar.

The ancient Olympics carried on until the fourth century A.D. Even its disappearance had religious roots. In 393, the Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, cancelled the games when he banned all pagan rituals. Then there was a ‘Religious reboot’.

Cx :-)

Another good theme this week Cynthia. Thank you.

We had a wonderful blessed weekend. Son and dil collected us on Friday morning and it was an awful drive up, taking 6 hours, but dil drove well and we arrived safely. It was so good to see the girls, now 15, 19 and 21. The two older ones haven't changed much but the youngest was only 13 last time we saw her and has matured a lot. They were all so lovely to us, we weren't allowed to lift a finger and there was lots of chatting and laughing. When it was time to come home son drove us back, a more normal 4 hour journey, and then he drove on for another 3 hours to Southampton where he had to be on business for the next couple of days. Kandj might remember Buster from threads a few years ago. He is our son's English Bull Mastiff and is 9.5 stone of solid muscle but is made of marshmallow. He's a real gentle giant and everyone just loves him so it was good to see him and make a fuss of him again. He is now 7 and a half which is quite elderly as they are not a long lived breed. I am missing them all already.

So I have a lot to be grateful for this week - safe journeys both ways and a very happy time with a loving family. I pray that everyone who isn't as fortunate as me finds someone to give them a hug and make them smile.

Good morning :-)

Yes kandj, I wonder how Vera got on at the weekend bless her.

We are looking after our son's two dogs during the day as he is having work done at home. They never flinched at the thunder and lightning - I was surprised. I love a good storm I have to say. It cleans the pavements too...... :-D

Olympics and faith.

Tokyo’s Olympic Village has a multi-faith centre to offer athletes appropriate amenities for spiritual comfort and prayers. Tokyo 2020 is liaising with the native religion and non secular teams for planning and resourcing the multi-faith centre.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes Olympics embody, religion, hope, and love. There is a small handful of accredited chaplains, who will solely enter the Olympic village for an emergency as a result of COVID restrictions. All chaplaincy this year is digital — by means of Zoom one-on-one appointments when requested. Zoom worship companies, and prerecorded devotional messages in a number of languages and traditions are available to the athletes.

Outreach through the Tokyo Olympics additionally will look totally different for Christian ministries accustomed to evangelizing amongst Olympic spectators and athletes.

We pray for the chaplain who minister to the athletes during this stressful time.

Cx :-)

Hello all

Two thunder and lightening storms so far today.
Good for the lawns but not good for the flowers.

I hope Vera and hubby are home safely after spending the weekend with their son and family.

Team GB are doing well in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Their dedication and commitment are finally coming to fruition after a one year delay.

Good morning :-)


Olympics – Christianity in Japan

Christianity arrived in Japan in 1542 when Europeans came from Portugal with gunpower. Among them were some missionaries. These missionaries were successful in converting considerable number of people to the faith and it could be practiced openly. However, in 1587 missionaries were banned from the country and 26 Christians were executed as a warning. In the late 1630s, there was a full ban on Christianity with only small pockets known as ‘Hidden Christians’ practicing their religion in secret.

In 1868 freedom of religion was given and the number of Christians has been slowly increasing again. Today, there are between 1-2 million Japanese Christians (about 1% of the population).

A few Christian customs have become popular among the non-Christian population in modern Japan – wedding ceremonies where the brides wear white wedding dress and the couple exchange vows at wedding chapels.

Pray for those Christians in Japan.
The local church in Japan is dedicated to Christ. It is no easy thing to be a Christian in Japan, but those who become believers understand that Christ is worth giving up their social comforts. Please pray that the churches in Tokyo would be encouraged and see the Olympics as an opportunity to reach out to their neighbours in a new way.



Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Staying with the Olympic theme, it’s interesting to note that their motto now reads: “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together”.

What a great motto for a church too….

In his remarks before the unanimously vote, IOC President Bach explained the link between the change and the original motto: “Solidarity fuels our mission to make the world a better place through sport. We can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger by standing together — in solidarity

This is something we can aspire to within our church life…..we can go faster by taking part in church life as much as we can and advancing the Kingdom. We can aim higher maybe by increasing our knowledge of the faith and, of course, we can become stronger by working together in harmony.

We move forward when we move together.

Almighty Father we thank you for this new day.
We thank you for the wisdom you have given us to overcome challenges.
We continuously pray that you give us the strength to move forward.
May we see opportunities where there are challenges and develop a positive approach to life situations.

May we always have the determination to succeed and never to give up and may we always be blessed. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


It’s time for the Olympics again but it’s been a 5 year wait rather than a 4 year one. Their theme this year is Planting a Seed of Hope………and reads…..

“In the Opening Ceremony, we will aspire to reaffirm the role of sport and the value of the Olympic Games, to express our gratitude and admiration for the efforts we all made together over the past year, and also to bring a sense of hope for the future. We hope it will be an experience that conveys how we all have the ability to celebrate differences, to empathise, and to live side by side with compassion for one another.”

This is a thought we could all live by – athlete or not.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

The Collect (special prayer) for today :

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,
we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern
both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws
and the works of your commandments;
that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The gospel reading set for today tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and also Jesus walking on the water.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

Sorry. Forgot to put this link on earlier!!


https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/75db51cd7b4db6382bc86570bfd5bbb140d06efc.jpg






The life of Christ in art…………The Resurrection and again, a picture unlike the traditional.

This painting shows Christ rising again on the third day after his death. The event of the Resurrection is one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith.

The artist, Piero della Francesca, has pictured Christ stepping out of his Roman-style sarcophagus. Piero followed the artistic tradition of showing Jesus with one foot on the upper ledge, as if he is literally climbing out of his tomb. He would remain on earth for forty days until the Ascension — the Christian belief of Jesus’s bodily ascent into heaven.

In the painting, Christ stands upright watching us with a compelling gaze. In one hand he holds a flag — a banner with a red cross, symbolising the victory of the Resurrection over death — whilst the other hand rests confidently on his knee. His body has real weight and substance; the way his robe hangs from his shoulder recalls a Greek god or a Roman emperor.

Despite having followed artistic traditions, Piero has created a remarkable image of the Resurrection, not least because of Christ’s triumphant posture. The guards sent to watch over his tomb have all fallen asleep. Christ has resurrected and stands before us, boldly proclaiming his return. It is likely that there is no other depiction of Christ that is so imperial, so directly ardent.


Cx :-)

Hello all

Much better temperature this morning. I can breathe and feel more comfortable.

Vera, you and OH are sure to have a happy reunion with your family after such a long time.... exciting!! Have a great weekend, tissues might be needed.

Cynthia, I wasn't expecting to see that..... there's certainly plenty to see and reflect upon with this unusual but special painting. Thank you.

Happy Friday wishes everyone who pops in.

Good morning :-)

I think things are supposed to cool down at the weekend aren't they? Vera - so very pleased for you to be able to meet up with your family once more. I hope and pray you have a wonderful, wonderful weekend. <3

Here's an interesting picture for you to google kandj.......


The life of Christ in art…………The crucifixion

And now for something different……………

Menora by Roger Wagner


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/59/39/3a/59393a3d7df3b9fee3db372035c26615.jpg


Roger Wagner is unusual among contemporary Christian painters in tackling biblical stories head-on and transposes them into modern-day settings.

The painting does not dwell on the sufferings of Christ. Instead it invites us to reflect on the meaning and purpose of the crucifixion.

In the foreground forlorn individuals and small groups seem aimlessly stranded in the sodden fields. Some huddle together; others are isolated in apparent despair. They remind us of the images of concentration camp survivors at the end of the Second World War, too weakened to fend for themselves. However, the artist has drawn these specific figures from a related, but different photographic source – figures in the Crimea in 1942 searching for loved ones among bodies strewn across the ground. Thus the painting bravely conflates Jewish and Gentile suffering.

In the background the power station stands in for the Menorah, the seven-branched lamp of the Old Testament, which symbolised the presence of God.

In the foreground the misery of broken humanity, suffering beyond belief or reason. In the background the power of God, awe-inspiring and yet apparently impassive and uninvolved.

The artist does not preach, but he offers us the answer that Scripture gives: between the Menorah and the misery of the human condition stands the cross of Jesus.

We often struggle to articulate quite how the cross ‘works’, but we understand full well that God is anything but impassive and uninvolved. He has sacrificed his own Son to do for us what we were powerless to do: to roll back the frontiers of Satan’s kingdom, to overcome evil, to liberate captives and ultimately, to make all things new again. Despite the darkness of the sky and the foreground figures, a powerful clear light from the right brings hope to the scene.

In Menorah it also reminds us that God is present with us: Jesus reflects God’s glory in the midst of our broken and suffering world and gives us hope.


Cx :-)

I too am enjoying this week's paintings theme. Thank you Cynthia.

You are absolutely right about the blessing of clean water kandj. In fact I am looking at a leaflet from Water Aid at the moment which is telling me that 800 children a day die from having to drink dirty water. Isn't that horrendous?

I am feeling very excited at the moment as tomorrow I will be seeing my son and his family for the first time in 21 months so I am looking forward to a very happy weekend. I hope your weekend is also happy and peaceful.

Hello all

Goodness this heat is really getting to me!

Thank you for another interesting theme Cynthia, I'm Googling and enjoying looking at all paintings.

I'm counting many extra blessings during this mini heatwave and being thankful for clean water to drink and shower to help me to cool down.

Happy Thursday wishes to all who are looking in X