When the rector announced that he had been appointed Rector of Calne (somewhere east of the Tamar) I found myself the link person between the Transitions Adviser and everyone else.... it meant work, but then it also meant that I could have some input. I am a firm believer in putting one's money where one's mouth is!So the first thing I did was to send out a questionnaire to as many people in the five churches as I could reach - link here... The response was excellent and the next task was to compile the responses into some sort of working document for discussion by the various church councils. The compiled responses can be seen at the bottom of our vacancies webpage. There was now much trading of text between church wardens, keen folk on various church councils and our excellent transitions adviser (Andy Harris) who managed, skillfully, to make us focus on that which was most important.We are now on version eleven of the document ready for a chat with the archdeacon and the PCCs next week. I really hope I do not have to change much now. The knock-on effects for me have been to do with the sheer hoovering up of time! People have been wonderfully diligent in spotting typos, grammatical errors, incorrect service times, things that need mentioning..... things that should not be mentioned but each one takes time to correct and time to disseminate the new working of the document. The thing that surprised me most, and I suppose it should not have done, was how much unity there was between our churches and how much desire there was to work as a team. Team work or the lack of team seems to be the cause of most of the problems for Readers that land on my desk but in Redruth we have been fortunate in having a strong team that meets weekly for discussion, prayer and support and the thought of losing that to 'father (or mother) knows best' type of priest who takes everything on themselves and does not know how to consult or delegate effectively is a worrying one. The person specification is important is such an important part of the process- which should guide the questions for interview. In amongst all that profile writing has been planning the rota for the next six months.... Caspar was really keen to make sure he left us with as much in place as he could.... taking on some extra funerals and so on. Our Curate, now in his second year has a suddenly increased workload..... and the rest of us , congregations and churchwardens as well as the ministry team have a duty of care! I wonder how many priests face burn out because of workload and unreasonable expectation. I know many of you are going through periods of transition - if you would like to share your experience please do let me know EssentialDesirable· Be an experienced team leader (in any context) having a heart for identifying and encouraging vocations in…
Erm…… There’s No Hole…… A while ago in the blog I wrote about the privilege of taking the funeral service for an ex-student of mine – a young mum who I had sat down with and planned her funeral the year before she died. A couple of weeks ago I was to preside over the interment of her ashes at St Euny in Redruth.Because I expected quite a group, there were about 20 folks who gathered, I planned to begin the service in the church lighting candles around the container with the ashes while we shared memories, read a psalm and said some prayers before heading up to the churchyard for the interment. I had enlisted our newest Reader, Jason, to assist – a good move because he has a key to st Euny and I would be sure of the Church being open.Out early dog walking I made sure I passed the churchyard and the likely interment spot to check where it would be……. But I could find no evidence of any preparation by the stone mason. “never mind,” I thought, “plenty of time- he is probably going to come in the hour efore the service begins.”I arrived three quarters of an hour before the start time of 9am and still no sign of the mason. The family began arrive……..As ZOOM morning prayer was at 9 and I knew that Caspar, the rector was leading that morning I quickly logged on and explained before they began. Caspar in his normal phlegmatic calmness sai he had a spade in the garage and would come down and dig a hole if nothing had happened by the end of morning prayer.Andy, the husband of the Anna whose ashes we were burying arrived and he tried to phone the mason who it turned out was on holiday in Croatia! So it was a message to Caspar who said he would message when the hole was ready. Jason, luckily had discovered the commemorative slab wrapped in sack leaning against a nearby tree.So the little service in the church grew with not only lighting our candles but also blowing them out with some ceremony before leaving the church. Luckily I have a store of extra poems and readings I the back of my funeral folder which meant I had enough material to keep going until the message arrived and we were able to head for the church yard.The family and friends were all amazingly supportive and felt that the occasion had been very special. You can imagine my personal prayers of thanks!! Lesson learned about checking fully for each occasion- I hate to think what would happen if a grave had not been prepared!The Burial of Ashes Introduction and Welcome and we invite those present gather around the ashes. Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Though we are dust and ashes, God has prepared for those who love him a heavenly dwelling place. As we prepare to commit…
Latest News:We welcome four new Readers in Training who will be starting with SWMTC in the Autumn. Claire, Richard, Joanna and Mary.... welcome to the Reader Community! Please add them to your prayer lists as they embark upon their studies at the beginning of their Reade journey.It was a privilege and a joy to be part of the interviewing panel and to be part of the discernment process which is much MUCH more rigorous that it was in 1986 when I began Reader studies! Reader Service Details_ please put this in your diaries and make this a wonderfully celebratory event- especially as support to those who are about to be licensed for the first time. Quiet Day at Epiphany house – Friday 28th July. Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith – Epiphany HouseGood to know it is going ahead with a cluster of bookings :) I am leading a quiet day on Friday 28th of July to which anyone is welcome..... but booking is essential through Epiphany House. Please book a.s.a.p. the last one was cancelled and several people were disappointed because they had not got round to booking. Cost £25.00 to include all hot drinks & a light lunch, for all information and to book a place please contact bookings@epiphanyhouse.co.uk or call on Tel. 01872 857953 Currently I am nursing a sore jaw and a sensitive tooth and occasionally feeling sorry for myself while wondering the ideal time to go back and do the negotiations with the dental surgery reception. I was delighted to get the emergency appointment to replace my broken filling - I only had to wait six weeks - however I fear more radical treatment may be required. Possibly something to do with a partially impacted wisom tooth. But I am lucky to be on the lists of an NHS surgery and to have receptionists to negotiate with having heard of so many people who cannot get a dentist at all, let alone an NHS dentist! So my stock of Sensodyne is helping.... but the jaw is an irritation that gets in the way of thinking about important stuff like the next sermon.... or a creative way of doing a burial of ashes. Mind you, the Ashes cricket is also a distraction! In Redruth we are about to have a period of transition as our Rector, Caspar Bush heads up country to a new job at the end of August. It has been interesting collecting up the views of folk in all our five churches - more about how i went about this and the questionnaire will appear in the next blog. Next week we have a ZOOM with our transition adviser and anyone from the various councils and congregations who want to take part so life should get interesting!Yesterday I went down to Penzance for the funeral of my old friend John Wallis who gave so much, not only to reader ministry but also across many other areas. It was lovely to have a part to play in the service, reading a lesson... draping his Reader Scarf across…
Rev Sian Yates writes:I write to inform you that John Wallis, a Reader in the Penlee Cluster, died last night after a number of years of living with an aggressive cancer.He has served the church and this diocese faithfully over many years both as a Reader and a Head teacher. Many years ago he also helped with writing the RE syllabus for the country and he brought great insights and sense of fun, along with an unswerving faith.He was just so humbled last week when bishop Graham said that he would visit him and pray with him on Thursday when he came to Newlyn for a confirmation….real tears of joy. Bishop Graham was the person who confirmed him many years ago. Of course, he has not died before this was able to happenSo after prayers and Last Rites yesterday morning, and with his music grouo singing their hearts out and making a recording for John as the parish mass, John took his next steps towards his death, bravely, humbly and full of confidence. One of the pastoral team who is a nurse sat with them throughout the night until his death . John's phrase of "'Tis what it is my 'ansome" summed up his philosophical approach to illness and life in general summoning up energy for his daily sketches and posts on Facebook and early in his journey with cancer he even took on being deanery Reader Steward and attempted to promote meetings, a quiet day and prayer. He was a little disheartened that the response was less than he hoped but then not everyone had John's passion! Rest in Peace John and Rise in Glory! As Chaplain to Readers I very much appreciated John's wisdom and wit. He had the special talent of being able to sidetrack any discussion that was floundering and to insert a pithy comment that would temper a more extreme view. I knew John for many years, our paths in teaching crossing fairly frequently - usually on courses but I got to know him much more in retirement in his last years as a driving force in the church and in his dedication to reader ministry. He was vociferous about the fact that when he had asked the bishop about being a reader, the (then) bishop had suggested ordination and John turned it down flat!
Stroy Telling in Pennoweth primary school Every year since I retired from teaching I have given the teachers at Pennoweth an afternoon of story telling and music in the summer term so the children get something different and the teachers get some time for reports or the million and one other things they need to do when not actually teaching.I find it really annoying when i see the posts in social media about children needing to be taught manners or about worsening behaviour because over the years the evidence has been to the contrary and this year has proved no exception. the children have all been a delight and make an excellent audience able to listen and participate with enthusiasm. what a fab job their teachers do! the Nature of Retirement I have always believed the retirement is work without the benefit of a pay cheque - or these days a monetary payment into one's account, and, that the drawback of retirement, apart from increasing decrepitude, is not getting a day off! However, having retired from teaching in 2009, I would far rather be useful and busy than be slowly assimilated into an armchair before the wonders of daytime TV- even if the cricket is on. in the last week, we have had the delights of the annual Arts Festival at St Andrews in Redruth- organised as always by my lovely wife who, despite rattling like a maraca with pills to stave off heart failure attacks these things with huge enthusiasm and drags everyone else along with her. My jobs have included collecting our grandson from school, running a clay workshop making grotesques, running a story making workshop for 10 year olds and driving back and forth as requested. ready for the clay workshop Steam punk art- Nick Earl A view down the church Quiet Day at Epiphany house – Friday 28th July. Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith – Epiphany House i am leading a quiet day on Friday 28th of July to which anyone is welcome..... but booking is essential through Epiphany House. Please book a.s.a.p. the last one was cancelled and several people were disappointed because they had not got round to booking. Cost £25.00 to include all hot drinks & a light lunch, for all information and to book a place please contact bookings@epiphanyhouse.co.uk or call on Tel. 01872 857953. Transition and other BusinessWith our rector (and rural dean) leaving us for a new challenge across the border in England we are about to go into transition and so i am thoroughly involved in trying to coordinate, collate, collect and otherwise communicate between the congregations of five churches. What we will come up with for our parish profiles and person specifications remain to be seen but my own list of attributes would include:A prayerful listener who is.....used to running / working with teams who...knows their own limitations and can delegate appropriatelySomeone who has a heart for equality and diversity who will encourage and develop the vocations of all involved in our churches at whatever level.Someone prepared…
Discernment Yesterday I spent most of the day at Church House in Threemilestone with the panel and two dedicated and selfless people who had put themselves forward to train as Readers. They had been asked to prepare two tasks including chairing a group discussion on a passage they found tricky and telling a story to illustrated a Bible reading for an inter-generational service. Between tasks they met the warden's group whilst balancing coffee and cake as they spoke and in the afternoon they had lengthy conversations / interviews with the selection panel. Over the years that I have been involved in the discernment for new Readers the process has become much more rigorous and the demands of training every higher. I trained with a colleague in the Redruth Team with a Tutor based in a nearby parish, the Rev David Stephens who set and marked our essays. I remember going to a few lectures in Truro with Canon Peter Boyd and doing a placement of sorts in another setting, the local Methodist circuit. I managed to complete the course and be licensed back in 1988 while working full time as a Primary School deputy head teacher and with a young family. I really doubt whether anyone in their thirties with a full time job and young family could train these days. I certainly could not although the study part was relatively easy following on the back of a Masters dissertation and an NPQH!These days training with the ordinands is a wonderful opportunity especially when we rely on teams to run our multi-church clusters and benefices. these days all the trainees have to attend 7 weekend sessions at MARJON in Plymouth and 14 reflective practice groups in Turo. Before that they must complete the Foundations in Christian Ministry Course ad afterwards complete the rigours of the very practical post Licensing year. Only after all that is done will a full three year license be granted.It would be good to record here any thoughts you have about your own path to Licensed Lay Ministry and any thoughts you have about how training might be done differently for today's needs. i have signed up for some training myself with the next Sens Kernewek Course which i am thoroughly looking forward to having heard excellent feedback from other Readers who have attended. Visitors For the last three weeks we have had a friend to stay and as a result the Garden has been transformed and many tasks that I have had on my To-do list for the past several years have been completed. ( I will post some pictures at the bottom later) Having a visitor, especially a really helpful visitor, is great but it changes all routines and as I get older I value my times of solitary meanderings more and more. Those times of prayer are time to mull over sermon thoughts, to pray for those in particular need and for others more generally and when that time goes there is certainly a sense of something…
Life is somewhat hectic at the moment and the last couple of weeks especially busy with the Bishop’s study day in Wadebridge and Reader Day in St Petroc’s with story telling afternoons in school in between – not to mention the second session of the new safeguarding leadership course which we leaders are getting our heads around.The All New Safeguarding leadership CourseThe new course is markedly different to the old leadership course although still delivered on ZOOM. The training team have adopted it before any other diocese because we don’t want people to have to repeat the old course…. And because it means we can feed our experiences back to the national team who write the courses. We have already changed quite a lot of the language in the document which might cause confusion and irritable complaints! So if you are approaching the end of your three years since your last leadership course do book onto a new one and give the team some feedback to help shape the course for others. It is all too easy to complain about courses and it takes a bit more effort to approach them positively with the aim of helping to make them really fit for purpose.Book Safeguarding Leadership Training Incidentally, if you need sample risk assessments for your church activities to get you started, Newcastle Diocese have a great resource here: Safeguarding Templates and Resources - Newcastle Diocese (anglican.org)Back to being busy…. And some thoughts about the two study days.I am not complaining about any of it however! It was wonderful to see a lot of colleagues at the two study days although with only about a quarter of the Readers at Bodmin on Saturday it did mean that many missed a thought-provoking and inspiring day.Links to documents of which you should be aware: The days were closely linked in many ways with The Diocesan Plan for Change and renewal being the common thread. Click the title to open the32-page plan from the Diocesan website. Before you get too deep into the technical detail of the plan it is probably wise to go the The Saints Way Page which describes the Diocesan vision behind the plan. Simon Robinson, the interim Dean at the Cathedral spoke about his journey on the saints way to begin the day. His is an interesting story and much of what he said resonated with others, especially with those of us who spent a lifetime in schools.The Saint’s Way document is here. On Tuesday afternoon Professor David Ford joined us by Zoom from Germany to talk about his latest book, A Theological Commentary on the gospel of John. it was a twenty year labour of love and he spoke with huge passion and enthusiasm about John being a Gospel of abundant truth, life, and love. There is a brief biography of David at the bottom of this post. You can find the book here in various formats and various prices at Amazon Much as the worship was uplifting at the Bishops study day, the speakers thought-provoking…
Reader Day 2023 Saturday 13th May St Petroc’s Church, Priory Road, Bodmin, PL31 2DP. Parking is available at the Priory Park car park, with a short walk across the park. Disabled access is available directly through the level access door and by assistance at the south door. ‘Readers in The Field’ The Harvest Is Plentiful; The Labourers Few 35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” [Mt 9 35-38] Aims: To worship our Lord together To encourage Readers to feel valued To think together about the calling of Readers as ‘Community Theologians…’ To update Readers on Next steps on the way, including Deanery plans and the Diocesan plan To consider, individually and as a community of Readers, our part in the changes taking place Timetable 9.30am Refreshments please sign for workshops 10am Welcome 10.10am Opening Worship 10.30am Bishop Hugh On the Way, the Deanery plans and the Diocesan plan; with a time for questions and answers 11.15am Refreshments please sign for workshops 11.40am Dr John Ievins & Jim Seth An introduction to the phrase, ‘Community theologians who preach, teach and enable everyday faith’ * with details of forthcoming training sessions on the three elements: Community theologians; preach, teach and enable; everyday faith * and thoughts from some Readers on what the phrase, ‘Community Theologian’ means to them 12.30pm Lunch [please bring your own] refreshments & chat please sign for workshops 1.30pm Afternoon workshops. 2 workshops of 40 mins each 1.30pm // 2.20pm Local Ministry & Sens Kernewek - Bishop Hugh This session will look at how we are developing Oversight and Local ministry in the diocese, including the content of the Sens Kernewek (Cornish Saints) course and how it equips people to lead a local church. Creation Care & Net Zero - Rev Ben Lillie A faithful response to our inherently green gospel of justice: Revd Ben Lillie diocesan environment officer. The global response to climate crisis is one of the most important headlines on the agenda of young people. How do we as the Church respond with hope, joy and compassion? During this session we will reflect on scripture and walk through practical paths to action, whilst engaging in our diocesan environment strategy to Cherish Creation, Cut Carbon, Speak Up. Serving Our Communities - Rev Haley Preston Chaplaincy and Ministry within the Care Sector. This workshop will be a fun and interactive session looking at the diverse needs of those who live and work within residential care communities, and how we can begin to understand and meet those needs through presence, creativity, worship and pastoral care. Intergenerational Church - Archdeacon…
On Saturday I took my second funeral of the week.... the first was for an elderly chap from a lovely friendly family that I met for the first time. The second funeral was a complete contrast. Anna, who died aged 47 had asked me to do her funeral and I helped her to plan it a year ago. I knew her from my days of teaching in Primary School because she had been in my class for thre years running from the aged of 9 to 11. I taught her friends and I taught her brother Adam - I wanted, more than ever, to make sure this one was right! The funeral was at St Andrews, where I am at church most often which was helpful because I have keys, know where everything is and we have a projector and screen which meant I could do a slide show with collected images. Anna had sent me a collection... but I also had an archive of ones taken at school camps, school disco and in the classroom so that meant trawling through and reliving old memories.... Anna had wanted the funeral to be an informal celebration and had asked for a song from school camps, "Little Eyes" so my ancient EKO 12 string guitar was bought back into service and a mass sing-a-long of 250 voices raised the spirits and made what might have been a mournful occasion, a joyous one. We arranged that there would be a direct cremation because there were no appropriate Saturday cremation slots and so that the family, rather than being whisked away, could stay with the rest of the congregation for tea and pasties in the church. We thought there might be 150 people there but it was over 250 with fiends, neigbours, old school friends and work colleagues. With mothering Sunday, the day after the funeral the church was decorated with hundreds of daffodils donated by a friend of Anna's. A full church, brightly decorated, everything in place.... all I had to do was lead it. Anna had been a clinical physicist - with responsibility for the radiography equipment in the Treliske Sunrise Centre so when I read about that and briefly thought of the number of folk I know, including my wife Lez, who had benefited there was a moment when I had to take a pause and hold emotion in check. The other moment was when reading about the time in my classroom and the friends I had mention, four of whom had come to the funeral- it was so touching that they had kept contact over three decades! It was a long, long day with setting up and rehearsing in the morning, with Anna's youngest son carrying the cross in procession, then the service with the longest reading of Eulogies I had ever done and finally the tea pasties and chatter afterwards. I was shattered by 5 o'clock but it was worth the effort. Our organist, Lynne, received much praise too choosing lively arrangements of the…
Chaplain’s Blog Stardate 22/01/2023 Give me a pulpit or a chance to preach and I am in my element - it does not matter whether it is to two or two hundred. When preaching one has a certain authority, a certain distance and generally the people listening want to hear what you have to say about faith matters but outside church I find it very hard to strike up conversations about faith.I am hopeless at evangelising folks I meet in the street, offering to pray for them and the sort of joyous thing that others seem to do with ease. My workplace was always a school and there was little faith conversation away from assemblies.The on the spot evangelism or faith conversation is right out of my comfort zone, however.....Stopping to chat or to listen to people's stories and praying my own private prayers for them is something I do often. I thought the following two examples worthy of writing about and hope that it might inspire some of you to put pen to paper about chance encounters that have inspired you to prayer. Thought for the Day – Epiphany IV - This link is for Peter Coster's Thought for the day this week. He attended a Leadership Safeguarding Course and makes some very interesting points. Quiet Day at Epiphany House on February 10th - details Storytelling and Building Everyday Faith led by Jim Seth – Epiphany House Chance encounters – PC Binnie Most days I spend an hour or two walking with Barney a.k.a. Mr Dog the energetic collie. He attracts quite a lot of attention, especially when he sits patiently waiting for people to pass, looking up with a sort of RSPCA expression that pleads for interaction. Brief conversations with other dog-walkers are fairly frequent but the occasional longer conversations are things to be treasured. Mr Binnie is a long-retired policeman who must be well into his 80s, who I often see but yesterday I met him twice and listened to his stories both times. The first, as I was about to ascend the long sloping bridle path to the Wheal Euny mine, was about the day he had been instructed to investigate a body that had been found in the brambles at the side of the path. It was a sad story about an old farmer who had been in Barncoose Hospital (once the Redruth Workhouse) suffering with dementia. Somehow, he had evaded the security system and wandered out and made his way the mile or so to where he was found some ten hot July days later. Mr Binnie’s description of the task faced by the police that day was graphic but I won’t go into maggoty details here! The second time we met outside the infant school as we were a few hundred yards from our homes. I greeted him with, “no bodies to be seen!” Mr Binnie chuckled and asked, “did I ever tell you about the time I was shot?” Well…. You have to…
Greetings Reader / LLM colleagues and esteemed others! Having has a chest infection right across the Christmas period I am only just beginning to get some energy and motivation to do something more other than be dragged out for a daily dog walk by Barney the energetic collie! Thankfully antibiotics came to the rescue at the right time, but the festive season seemed to pass in something of a blur with the tastiest treat being max strength Lemsip! I am quite certain that I won’t have been the only minister in the diocese to have to miss out. On that note…. The Prayer List! Reader, Joy Gunter, and others have a vocation to pray of others who are suffering and would really appreciate a focussed up to date list. If you would someone put on the list or if you would like to be on the list yourself please let me know. I will only send the list to those Readers who request it for their own prayers. Those we have lost and making the most of each day. In the past year we have lost a number of friends through various illnesses, some well before they should have died. Some have been members of one of our churches and others have been friends from elsewhere but each one has underlined how important it is to make the most of each day. One of those who died recently and whose funeral I will attend remotely was in the first Sunday School class I taught at St Euny Church way back in late 1978- which in many ways marks the beginning of my path to ministry. Simon died in his late 50s as the much loved and respected headteacher of an International School in Pakistan. When Lez and I first met Simon, I had just taken a job teaching nine year olds at Stithians School and was reeling somewhat at the contrast with teaching in North London where fast, sharp wit was the order of the day. My first class in Stithians stared at me with some bemusement. Simon and that Sunday school group provided some respite from the puzzled faces of that first village class. He was a Truro school student who came as a pair with his friend Mike. At the age of 12 he wore a cravat and held some quite right-wing opinions setting himself as a fair target for my teasing. Like many young teenagers he had a tricky time negotiating life with his parents and so he spent increasing amounts of time at our house where he enjoyed the discussions and demolition of some of his wilder opinions. Simon and Mike once decided they would amuse themselves on the tricycle bought for our children who were quite young. Simon pedalled, knees sticking out at an odd angle, while Mike stood on the back. Much jollity was had until Simon forgot to steer and they ended up in the flower bed – the front forks bent beyond repair! When the curate moved up to Pencoys…
Sermons An ancestor of mine was a Church Minister and I have a book of his sermons. To my eyes the sermons are not particularly easy reading! But it is clear fro the book that the sermons were originally available at a price of one penny in leaflet form. This is, of course, the way some Charles Dickens novels first appeared. This has got me thinking. Some churches have sermons recorded – facebook, YouTube, church website etc. But most churches in Cornwall do not offer this facility. So why not distribute your sermon to those who may be interested? Or, better still, why not have a brief note or precis to give to anyone who might be interested? People have lots of paper in their lives; so it may be best to keep it short. Of course this can be distributed via email. Wouldn’t it be great if this prompted some inter action between preacher and congregation? I have attached a note from a sermon I delivered recently. It adopts a meditational approach. This is an approach well known to those who use Selwyn Hughes bible notes. The theme is hope. Let’s enjoy that hope as we “chew the cud” from Romans 15.13. William Hazelton Romans 15.13 and hope Are we gloomy about the world? And our lives? And the C of E?….Or hopeful? Ponder “if you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat” (Matthew 14.25-32) and note:Hope got Peter out of the boatTrust held him upFear sank himIt all hinged on whether he was focused on Jesus or on the storm Romans 15.13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Peter’s focus…where is ours Biblical meditation...rediscover the “cow, sheep, goat” in you...”chewing the cud”...bolt down food, regurgitate it into mouth, repeat process...absorb into the blood stream...objectiveReconstruction of our thoughtsRefocusing our emotionsRealignment of our willsVerse:God is a God of hope...does not discourageHope overcomes fearHope may be realised soon...later...eternallyHe seeks right now to to fill us with joy and peace...all joy and peaceHe wants us to overflow…As we trustWork of Holy SpiritImage of sponge...useless without water...pours through us...we need to be refilled...a continuous process Ponder the verse...meditate...may joy and peace fill your heart...may you move on with a spring in your step...a spring given by the Holy Spirit Amen 145 CV ADV3 111222 - Peter Coster's Reflections on the Advent 3 evensong readings.