Monthly Archives: May 2020

A gallery of images whilst walking

Every morning for the last few months I have been out for a walk at dawn- or thereabouts which has helped my health considerably (mentally, physically and spiritually). Each day I try to take a few photos, mostly with my phone as my camera has proved to heavy to be comfortable to lug about for four or five miles!

As I have walked these paths and taken in these wonderful views my prayer list has been much on my mind- especially for those who have contacted me about their health or their worries for others.

So if you enlarge these pictures – do step into them and offer up a prayer of thanks for all we have and ask healing for all Readers in need.

Two more contributions attached: a poem called “The Love of Friends” –prompted by Roy’s Scribblings: the dead man was Rev’d David Nicholson, Methodist minister and Jungian psychoanalyst extraordinaire, and the Minister who gave the eulogy and told the story was Rev’d Steven Wild, Chair of Cornwall District. Also an article about change that was published in St Martin’s magazine about six months ago.

Blessings, Kathy

This week has been the Benefice retreat. It was to have been at a retreat centre in Devon led my Rev’d Jane Horton the diocesan prayer and discipleship coordinator.

That was obviously cancelled but instead we decided a virtual retreat on Zoom might be the answer! I was especially pleased for a number of reasons:

the cost
no travelling
no socialising or quiz evenings…. ( I really am under my genial exterior, a crusty old codger!)
and many more…..

The sessions are all on YouTube if you are interested and can be found on the Rector’s channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC5U0mwGDg-lF4aeh1OF92w

I have not included all the handouts because you might like to consider this for your own churches.

The first session was Monday at 4pm and the others 9:30 and 4pm on Tuesday & Wednesday and 11:00 am on Thursday. Our team meets for morning prayer daily at 9 a.m. anyway – so actually 9 am was the official beginning. (click Morning Prayer Daily for the ZOOM link to join us!- All Welcome)

In between the sessions there were times for contemplation and reading, but in reality for me I taught maths to grandchildren via Zoom, told stories and attended a series of virtual meetings both secular and chaplaincy so I began to wonder if it was worth doing!

However – I was and stil am walking between 3 and 5 miles each morning, sometimes in silence, sometimes with David Suchet reading the Bible to me (Recently Acts…. again) or music. Here follows the path to a small revelation…..

The short revelation was that the information from the sessions and the discussion had gone in somewhere and I had a series of questions and thoughts that would need another month of morning walks to unpack. That was a treat- its always good to have something to chew on!

I missed the lunch experience after the last session – which some will find unsurprising, but in fact I needed to talk to Mandy Wells about Safeguarding courses online for Spiritual Directors and for those who would need them before licensing / re-licensing. We will be running a couple of Zoom sessions for Spiritual Direction but we await the new National ZOOM materials for everyone else.

I would recommend the ZOOM retreat experience without any reservation- it is such a flexible format that you can make of it what you want or indeed, need. You just have to accept that real life can and will intervene- especially if you are naturally busy.

Kathy calls herself the ‘odd one out’ because she trained as a Methodist local preacher but has permission from the Bishop to preach in St Martins in Liskeard. Actually the is one of a merry band of us who happily straddle the divide of the Methodist and Anglican churches though my step began from the Anglican church….

The blog is sent out to all readers with email apart from the few who have said they don’t want emails from me and to a group of others who have an interest in seeing what Readers in the Diocese are up to. There are also some Methodist Local Preachers who I have met in my travels!

In the next column Kathy kindly wrote in response to one of the Zoom Coffee & Conversation Monday mornings.

Kathy puts into words what many are feeling with helpful links to get the little grey cells moving….. she included this poem from Jane Horton whose name appears elsewhere in today’s postings

I joined this group at a tough time, and it has helped me a great deal.

Refs I talked about:

1) What you are feeling is grief: https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief?fbclid=IwAR0GXmlSAduU-y3w-zFy7sC5c2kYrRhJ44OBRG3eENwgdUw7MQnosjfZyfQ

David Kessler’s book “Finding Meaning: the sixth stage of grief” is on Amazon. “Double whammy” – see text file attached, along with another, my latest, and I think probably last, poem on Grief. Not for the faint-hearted…

2) My all-time favourite book about courage: “Warrior Scarlet” by Rosemary Sutcliffe. Written as a novel for early-teenagers, but a book I re-read every year.

3) Jane Jedwab, Truro D FB Sharing best practice: Someone needed advice I sent this. (brokncup pic attached) If something breaks fix it .We will come through this by being renewed in our belief of being resurrected. Keep Life simple.

4) Sunday alte’s: I’ve been finding Radio 4’s 8.10am service helpful, esp Sun 10th when Rowan Williams preached about VE Day. On iPlayer. And I love Bishop Philip and Ruth’s informal service Live at 9.30: esp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRtVsTcE5M broadcast Sunday 3rd May (first 5 mins is informal chat and welcomes..)

5) Jane Horton’s wonderful prayer is at the top of this piece

6) Charlie Mackesy The boy, the fox, the mole and the horse is the most inspiring book I’ve read/seen in a long time. I’ve given about ten copies away to people who are struggling, and all say how great it is. Quite a strong Christian message, though not always obvious. Highly recommended! One pic attached: CMcarryon.jpg FB Group has lots more: Keepers from Charlie Mackesy. Best of all, buy the book!

See you next Monday. Blessings, Kathy

Blog

You would think I would have plenty of time in this period of ‘locked down’ ‘social distancing’ and isolation from normal activity but for some reason I don’t!

Lez and I have both commented how quickly the weeks are passing by, marked by the fortnightly brown bin collection or our son messaging on a Monday to ask for our Tesco shopping list or Chaplains Coffee and Conversation on a Monday morning.

ZOOM Morning prayer has given a familiar pattern to the weeks: me on Monday, Caspar on Tuesday, Deb on Wednesday, Graham on Thursday, Jason on Friday and Peter on Saturday with communion service on Sunday.

Most weeks I drop into Bishop Philips chatty service on Facebook at 9:30 on a Sunday before our own. All these things have replaced the old routine of singing in nursery and checking the diary for the next safeguarding course and of course picking up the grandchildren from school and supervising homework.

ZOOM has proved a blessing and a curse. A curse because sometimes I’d like to move away from it- sometimes I get frustrated with it and sometimes I get irritable because of the way people are using… or rather misusing it.

So far I have sat at my desk in front of the camera to:

Tell stories
Sing nursery and other school songs
Sing the Peruvian Gloria in a service..
Read and preach
Lead morning prayer
Host group chaplaincy social mornings
Attend meetings
Teach maths to the grandchildren
Teach story writing to grandchildren and listen to reading.
Spiritual direction and next week a spiritual direction supervision!

So its very early morning walks to keep fit enough for all that sitting at a desk…. I am not used it! Even back when I was teaching I was moving constantly.

So all in all I like Zoom but my pet hates are:

people who don’t mute themselves and allow extraneous noises to interrupt-
or worse still the folks who play with settings while they are listening and then suddenly share their screen with everyone.
Or the folks on a tablet or mobile phone who have their thumbs over the microphone making loud scraping scrunchy noises

Things I don’t mind:

*spending an hour explaining how to make the microphone

But don’t let that put you off….. do delve into the zoom world and chat to others- it’s better than isolation!

Sunday Scribblings 6 – The 4th Sunday of Easter [11167]

Hello Friends,

This week I’m back on my imaginary VLCC super tanker. Last week we passed Cape Town and received stores and spares by helicopter, but once again, the ships agent forgot to send us the crews mail. It’s soul destroying when this happens; yet it seems to happen so often. It makes me feel that I might as well have been in prison, or under lock down like my friends and family who are at home.

Last weeks sailing has been tough as we battled against the strong Agulhas current that is right on the nose. The subterranean topography causes chaos with the current and churns the seas up so that they are mountainous, short and very steep. To preserve the integrity of the vessel the Captain sets a course that is considerably further south than usual which means our mobile phones have no connectivity with the South African land based mobile towers – so still no contact with my family as we enter month two of our outward bound voyage.

And don’t think that just because we are a VLCC we are bomb proof as far as bad weather is concerned. The ocean bed just south of South Africa is littered with the wrecks of vessels of every size whose backs were broken in these killer seas.

Ten days after rounding The Cape of Good Hope and we are now approaching the Southern end of Madagascar. Next we will head North with Eastings so giving the Seychelles as wide a berth to avoid the pirates.

We might all be feeling a little lonely as our lock-down constraints continue. But as tough as it is, there is always someone else who is worse off than we are. For example,

think of all those, like the imaginary sailor on his supertanker, who have to cope with these conditions every day of their working lives. The soldiers on foreign postings. The scientists in the Antarctic. The front line care providers who have chosen to move into hotels so they can keep working and keep their families safe. The list of Angels supporting us in lock down is endless and their sacrifices real and generosity real..

May God bless and keep them safe, as well as you, your families, and your friends in these difficult times.

I apologise in advance if you find this weeks Scribblings are a little dense. Sorry, but that’s the fault of the biblical text.

Keep safe, keep smiling.

Much love,

Roy xxx

At the very bottom…. A poem for meditation and prayer by Gerard Kelly- “The Blessing”

Intercessions for Fourth Sunday of Easter 4 Year A – 3rd may 2020 (based on resource in http://costablanca-anglicanchaplaincy.org/)

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray that you will protect us from all danger, especially in this time of Lockdown, by keeping watch over us, guide us towards green pastures where we can be nourished by your word and lead us to pure still waters where we can be refreshed by your love.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for our church leaders that they too may care for and lead us by following the example of love and service you demonstrated in your earthly ministry. We especially pray today for all of our clergy and ministry teams who through the telephone, the Internet and Social Media are working hard to keep us in touch and provide for the needs of their communities.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for the world that was given to us as an inheritance, on the understanding that we would care for it as shepherds care for their flocks. Teach us to look after our beautiful planet and care for it wisely, whilst sharing its gifts more fairly and working together with all of its inhabitants to ease its sufferings. Grant wisdom to the world’s leaders and enable them to work positively for their peoples.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for our families and friends who need to hear the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd; who knows every one of them by name; who offers rest to the weary, water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry and light to those who live in darkness.

Lord, you are our Shepherd who seeks out the lost and the sick. We pray for those we know who are lost in illness in body, mind or spirit and ask you to reassure them with the knowledge that you are watching over them in their suffering and that many are praying for their recovery..

Lord, you are our Shepherd so we pray for those who have died and for those who ache with sorrow in their loss of a loved one. May those we now name before you find rest in the Spirit’s embrace as you welcome them into the great sheepfold, safe in your keeping for ever

Lord, you are our Shepherd, and we offer our prayers now for all people and their situations. For lives that are going through upheaval or distress caused by the pandemic and in circumstances which only you can change.

Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

If anyone would like a longer conversation (not in a group) send me a message and I will send you an Invitation to a meeting on Zoom to suit,

Some great FREE resources for prayer this week….

Welcome to ROOTS at home – (FREE RESOURCES) This week’s resources for everyone linked to Luke 24.13-35

https://www.rootsontheweb.com/i-am-looking-for/public-copies/worshipathome26apr

Church of England – Prayers in a time of pandemic

The Liturgy Committee have created the following intercessions for use during the pandemic:

Download PDF Version
Download Word Version

The Blessing – Gerard Kelly

May you who are restless find rest,

and in rest, restoration

and the healing of your hollow soul.

May peace be yours.

May you who are frozen find freedom,

and in freedom,

the strength to face the fire and the thawing

of your ice-gripped heart.

May peace be yours.

May you who are conflicted

find convergence,

and in convergence, confidence

to be the one new child

of your old divided self

May peace be yours.

May you who live in tension find tenderness,

and in tenderness, the tendency to kindness

and the miracle of majoring in mercy.

May peace be yours.

And you who are God-less,

may you find God,

and in God,

the grace and growth you need for

fruit and fullness and the love

that will last you through the long haul

of a lived-for-others life.

May peace be yours.