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A Skinny Fairtrade Latte in the Food Court of Life - Page 524

  • Odd...

    I had a lovely weekend away, and am now looking forward to a short retreat in Pitlochry tomorrow and Wednesday.

    This weekend I stayed in the Travelodge In Northampton town centre, as I have many times before.  I decided to flick through the TV/radio channels to see what was there and discovered it has BBC1 (London) and, even more bizarrely BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal (the Gaelic language station)... Via the latter I did listen to an English language BBC Radio Scotland programme... but all very odd, not least as none of radio 1, 2 or 4 was working.

    Just as curious, in its way, was the fact that for the first time EVER someone in Northampton queried my Bank of Scotland note (to be fair, her colleague looked non-plussed thst she had not recognised it for what it was, and the poor woman was so mortified when I said "well that's a first" in my bestest English accent that I wound up apologising)

    A very relaxing couple of days, read most of two books, and feel quite refreshed.

  • Allsorts

    Not the liquorice variety, though I discovered recently that Sainbury's own label ones are free of paprika, so safe for me to eat. Just been a week of all sorts of stuff, of varying degrees of interest to anyone.

    Not the greatest start to the week as the ludicrous run of days took its toll on my no-longer-25-year-old body and I ended up sleeping for nearly 24 hours from Easter Sunday and then developed a manky cold.  This cartoon was doing the rounds, so it wasn't just me...

    easterampm cartoon.jpg

     

    There was interesting news from my old Baptist College regarding the appointment of their new co-principals here.  Rev Dr Clare McBeath was a year above me at college, and lived next door to me for three years in an old rectory on the Moss Side/Hulme border.  As she was someone who had to cross Hadrian's Wall in the southerly direction in order to train for ministry, it is a doubly special appointment.  Glen is a proper Yorkshireman in whom there is no guile.

     

    In common with thousands of others, I signed an e-petition dismissed as a 'stunt' asking Ian Duncan Smith to live on £53 a week.  However, there is another one running that cannot be simply ignored here.  It is probably quite telling that this one is growing less rapidly than the other one, so if you agree he should put his (lack of) money (for one week) where his mouth is, perhaps you should sign it?

     

    I've been saddened at the reactions to the conviction of the couple who started a house fire in Derby which killed their children.  Not sad that they face long jail sentences, they committed a crime, with tragic conseqeucnes, and must pay the price.  I am sad at the baying for blood by people who can't know the circumstances that shaped these people, sad at the ridiculous links being made between benefits and unusual lifestyles.  Lots of people have benefits - including many ministers, so does that mean everyone on benefits is automatically 'religious'... I rest my case!

     

    Then there was my own moment of guilt and shame... Holly being a very long-haried cat who hates being brushed is prone to matted fur, which has to be snipped out.  This usually ends badly, with me being scratched and her hiding.  Yesterday it ended badly with her being snipped and needing to go to the vet for stitches... oh the guilt!  oh the shame!  I was half expecting the vet to be on the phone to the RSPCA oops Scottish SPCA as soon as I arrived.  Instead she was lovely and said "don't worry, we see this all the time".  Really?  So poor Holly has been patched up and subjected by a very nurse to a VERY severe haircut (I said trim all over...) to the extent that for now she is a short-haired B&W cat.  Still very gorgeous, and with kitten soft fur, but not happy with me or the vet!  Evidently it took the very nurse fifteen minutes to catch her and get her into her basket to come home last night!

    378.JPG

    Let's just say if you saw my left hand, Holly has exacted reasonable revenge!

     

    So now it's a small matter of getting organsied to go off to vist family tomorrow - a post Easter treat... I'll try not to spread too many gemrs on the train as I travel!!

  • Easter Sunday

    I'll come clean... this is advance posted.  Between losing an hour's sleep, needing to be at church bright and early for the breakfast service and then working through until it's all done, posting "on the day" is one thing too much to fit in.

     

    Christ is Risen - Love Wins!

    I wish all readers a very blessed Easter, filled with resurrection hope and indefatigable joy. 

     

    As Easter Sunday is Day 19 of 19 "on" I will be catching up some "days off" in the week ahead... so won't be posting unless something really catches my imagination.

     

    A hymn for Easter Sunday, not one I'll be using, but one of which I am rather fond...

     

    Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
    The cross stands empty to the sky.
    Let streets and homes with praises ring.
    Love, drowned in death, shall never die.

    Christ is alive! No longer bound
    to distant years in Palestine,
    but saving, healing, here and now,
    and touching every place and time.

    In every insult, rift and war,
    where colour, scorn or wealth divide,
    Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
    and lives, where even hope has died.

    Women and men, in age and youth,
    can feel the Spirit, hear the call,
    and find the way, the life, the truth,
    revealed in Jesus, freed for all.

    Christ is alive, and comes to bring
    good news to this and every age,
    till earth and sky and ocean ring
    with joy, with justice, love and praise.

    Brian Wren (born 1936) © 1969, 1995 Stainer & Bell Ltd

  • Count Your Blessings: Days 46 and 47

    Adults

    In 2012, Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad organised one of the biggest non-violent campaigns the world has ever seen. 60,000 people set off to march over 200km across India to hold the Indian government to its promises to protect the land rights of poor dalit and tribal communities. After 10 days, the march ended when the government agreed to the marchers’ demands. This momentous achievement could lift 400 million landless poor out of poverty in India.


    Give thanks for this wonderful outcome and pray that the Indian government holds true to its promises. Pray for all those in the world who don’t have legal rights to their ancestral land.

     

    So finally we arrive at Holy Saturday and the last weekend entry from CYB.

    The story from India is encouraging and inspiring; at the same time it serves as one more reminder of the complexity of a disordered world where so many people fail to be treated fairly or justly, where there are no quick fixes or easy answers.  There is something in the bewilderment of Holy Saturday that resonates here - so often our hopes and dreams seem to fall apart; our best endeavours fall short of our aspirations; the metaphorical bucket into which we add our drops of water seems not only enormous, but also leaky.  Of course we must give thanks, but we must also keep in mind that the work goes on, and that we have to be the answers to our own prayers.

     

    Thank you God for good news -

    Good news of governments repsonding to the heartcries of needy people

    Good news of aid reaching those in the most urgent need

    Good news of hope reborn and life restored

    Good news, that even in the darkest times

    You are there, sharing the heartche, and shaping a brighter future

    If only we have the eyes to see, minds to perceive, and hearts to respond

    Thank you God for the work of Christian Aid

    And, as we count our blessings, one last time,

    Help us live our gratitude day by day

    Amen

     

    My pledge

    Today - one prayer

    Total - £43.80, ten prayers, some thoughts and one e-petition signed

     

    To make the maths easier, I will round up my pledge to £45, and add it to the donations made at our lunch time reflections during Holy Week (and those from Advent which are still in my desk drawer at church!)  Having checked the Christ'an Aid "Present Aid" website, £45 would pay for either an 'agriculture and livestock bundle' or an 'emergency and disaster relief bundle' and still have change left over...

     

    Count your many blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord has done...

  • Good Friday

    This morning we have our interactive children's vigil with a brilliant script written by one of our folk.

    There are at least two different  three-hour vigil services i could go to, and I ought to go the evening one, as it's being hosted by a church new to the whole idea of shared Holy Week worship.  I have a 'problem' with Good Friday evening services... Jesus is dead folk, dead and buried, the discpiles have fled... A Tenebrae could be very effective, but woe betide anyone who takes us back before the death or, worse, tries to pre-empt Sunday!

    Enter the pain and bewilderment if you can.  Spare a thought for all those who today will weep for lost loved ones, or who will be recipients of bad news.  Don't rush to resurrection - it needs the empty, aching void of waiting if it is to be real.