I posted the other day the well known Julian of Norwich quote which I had heard attributed elsewhere.  Today I recalled to whom it was attributed and, with a little hunting, tracked it down.

The TS Eliot poem 'Little Gidding' Part V borrows the line 'all will be well and all manner of things will be well' and seems worth sharing...

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea's throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
Are of equal duration. A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

Our harvest service went very well this morning, and was very mad... in a good kind of a way.

Quite a few visitors with us, representing quite a few nationalities, and most people back from their various times away.  Almost a full quota of children, keen and eager to join in, and adults in good spirits.

A table groaning under tins for Glasgow City Mission

Well stuffed envelopes for Operation Agri

Nearly every bag of rice sold for the Malawi Kitchen rice project

Lots of fun was had by me anyway!

One manse moggy at around 5 a.m. ... Check those scary eyes!!!

It's harvest thanksgiving today, and yes, the time stamp on this post is correct... the manse moggy in her wisdom dragged me from my slumbers at some unearthly hour demanding food.  Unusually I gave in!

As I type the Brazilian honey cake is baking in the oven and a lovely smell is wafting my way... said moggy is of course fast asleep once more!

A very world-wide harvest celebration today as we have three different focuses!

Firstly, we are collecting tins and packets for Glasgow City Mission, to support the vital work they do among disadvantaged and homeless people.

Secondly, our children are participating in the Just Trading Scotland rice challenge, selling 90kg of rice, which will enable one Malawian farmer to send one child to secondary school for one year.

Thirdly, we are supporting Operation Agri, in their 50th birthday year, with an envelope collection, and using their material to focus on a honey project in Brazil (hence the cake, their recipe), a coffee project in Thailand and a project to train farmers in Uganda.

In our multi-ethnic, multi-national church that all feels very appropriate.

Hopefully everyone will feel part of the service and we will each find space for gratitude and response to the Lord of the Harvest

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above

So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord, for all God's love.

PS No ploughing fields or scattering... (i) we're urban (ii) since when did you scatter seeds in October?!

A fun afternoon lunching with the ladies from the bcc forums who live in central Scotland.  Most of us had never met before, but it was a happy and relaxed event, with enjoyable food, lots of laughter and good conversation.  Inevitably some of the conversation was about our shared (or not) experience, and the majority of us were sporting very similar hair styles.  It was nice to be out with a group of others who were every bit as likely as I was to need to fan themselves with a menu or to mop their faces, nice not to feel any need to explain why you did or did not eat certain things, nice to put faces and names to avatars, and actually nice, just to get out and meet new people.

I do wonder what the waiter made of us - a group of women with sticky labels each of which had a first name and an online pseudonym, laughing and talking as if we'd known each other for ages.

One of the things I especially liked was the sense that everyone equally owned the afternoon and that the edges of the group were 'fuzzy'.

Some good converations and interesting questions about how my faith had played a part in my experiences.

A different kind of 'intentional community' but food, sharing conversation, having something that unites us beyond what might otherwise separate us... echoes of what church can be.

Good fun... and I hope there'll be a 'next time'