Chance meetings in Oncology.So there we were in oncology at Treliske Hospital’s splendid Sunrise centre being advised by the consultant on treatment options, outcomes and probabilities and watched by two earnest but smiley young women on different career paths through careers in radiology. Then, when the consultant went to write prescriptions, fill in forms and see if the CT scanner was available, they stayed to quiz Lez on her experience of treatment from fast scan and diagnosis for him to surgery and to this appointment. Their presence was most welcome in passing the time and after their questions were answered we discovered that one was on an apprenticeship route and the other already had a radiology degree but wanted to specialise in mammography. So after a brief, conversation about student debt in relation to the two routes we discovered that I am one of them was part of the team and rowers who call themselves ‘The Oarsome Foursome.’ The team consists of four ladies in different decades from thirties to sixties who are attempting to row the Atlantic this winter to raise money for Cornish blood bikes amongst other good causes.The upshot is that Saint Andrews Redruth is adopting the cause as the beneficiaries of the special Christmas Services and we hope to be able to post news and pictures on the big screen at appropriate times. Should you want to know more about them you can find out more at https://www.oarsomefoursome.co.uk/about-us/Lez has now begun her 15 consecutive working days of radio therapy with appointments just when she wanted them, first thing in the morning. And on chance meetings sheet and share the waiting room with her dentist this morning he was having therapy at the same time.We are extremely fortunate to have the sunrise centre and the mermaid centre to provide cancer treatment in the west of the county especially when it was so hard fought for and the suggestion was to make all patients travel to Plymouth to attend a central unit at Derriford hospital which for daily treatments over a three week period would mean patients from this end of the county would incur huge and travel costs, time commitment and even the necessity of bed and breakfast stays. Until we need these things we don’t realise how important they are!
Canon Jane, Bishop Chris and I saw the first five candidates for this year’s cohort of new readers in training. It is such a huge privilege to help people discern their path in ministry and it was incredibly humbling listening to their stories and their thinking. Please keep Jason, Gaynor, Penny, Ilene, Debbie, Judy, Sue and Shorne in your prayers as they are in ours.The News of Bishop Chris' new post as Director of Ministry was widely disseminated yesterday - what a great choice for the job! I found myself on the readers in training selection panel in 2014 with Jane Kneebone and Bishop Chris and from there my own ministry somewhat snowballed through their encouragement. Bishop Chris is committed to vocations and ministry in their widest sense but in particular Reader Ministry of which he has a deep understanding and personal commitment. His presence in Westminster can only strengthen the wider Church's vision for Reader ministry. In the next few months before his move we need some conversations about who will be the next warden - or whether we await the arrival of a new Bishop of St Germans and so on! Let me know if there is anything you would like me to relay in conversation. Good luck Bishop Chris..... and thank you!! Prayers - a starting point......Allie, Miriam, Lesley, Lesley, Margaret, Roy & Chris, Roy, Sandy, Gordon & Jean, Garth, Jane & Frank, Jane, Molly & Steve, Stephanie, Deb, Becca,
Psalmists Cry on the Beach When I had my right hip replaced in 2012 the surgeon asked me about my expectations for it afterwards – what did I want to be able to do? My reply was something about being able to sit on the floor to play with small grandchildren and walk the dog – perhaps even the walk from Godrevy to Hayle along the beach.He was reassured that I was not intending to go climbing, do a parachute jump, go trampolining or surfing or sit in sports cars with very low seats and prescribed a hard wearing ceramic job for my needs. Since then I have done a bit of bouncing on the trampoline in the garden and I have sat in a sports car but in the main I have followed orders and the hip has walked over 5000 miles at a very conservative estimate however until Friday I had not done the beach walk I had set as an early target.On Friday I dropped Lez (my wife) at St Michael’s hospital in Hayle to have the offending lump removed from her breast and set off for Godrevy at 7:30 am to walk and pray. The tide was not due to turn for a couple of hours and there was the incentive of breakfast at Godrevy café afterwards. There were very few people about at 8 am; just a few surfers, dog walkers and joggers so it was a solitary experience for a couple of hours –it would have been lovely to have had the company of a dog!Its amazing how much praying one can get done on a solitary walk with miles of open empty beach stretching out before you and the gentle sound of the sea to accompany you. It was as much a pilgrimage for me as any journey to a holy shrine and I found myself in full psalmist mode pleading (rather than the complaining or moaning ones) not just for Lez and her surgical and care team but for all those on my “Readers-Plus” prayer list. I got back to the car park a couple or hours later with somewhat achy feet and hips and was somewhat dismayed to see that queue for the café stretched down the path and into the car park – it seems Friday morning is a popular day. So I cut my losses and headed home to make myself a healthy mackerel salad and telephone the hospital for an update. Those calls really bring to mind all the people in the same position across the land worrying for the health of a loved spouse or family member. It seemed that she had not gone to surgery yet but she was quite happy and did not need anything and to phone back in a couple of hours!The next call was a bit of a déjà vu moment as she was still waiting and I had to phone back in a couple of hours. So I busied myself with Sunday’s sermon…
st andrews arts week brochure 2019 r2 click here to see the brochure and programme of events. Really looking forward to seeing how this works in church....Yskynna Vertical Dance Company welcomes you to a web experience of Vertical DanceYskynna are a vibrant company based in Cornwall who believe in making and taking extraordinary performance to new heights!With sights set on non traditional venues, high walls, cliff faces, tall buildings and large open spaces, Yskynna welcome new challenges and the chance to create in such inspiring places. With our work we aim to generate and invigorate audiences, and we recognise the value of gifted/free performance accessible for all, which enables us to reach a wider demographic of the public. We are determined to entrust our legacy to the youth which are at the heart of all of our educational and outreach initiatives, by building long lasting links with schools and communities.
ArnoldWe met Arnold last week officially though we suspected he was an unwelcome guest a week earlier but had to wait for confirmation. We now have a date, the last day of May for his eviction – then it will be the slow mopping up operation. The little, roughly drawn, illustration is from my prayer journal late last week after my wife’s breast cancer was confirmed – she named it Arnold. She had a dream that she had either a reluctant dog on a lead or possibly a small child on reins, or possibly both as they seemed to merge. Whatever they were / it was, through a convoluted narrative in which she was supposed to go places and get things done, Arnold was holding her back and making her rather cross with frustration. As a metaphor it seems to work rather well. The prognosis is good and it seems to be caught quite early though treatment will include surgery, radiotherapy and some sort of hormone reduction medication. It has been wonderful with folks rallying around to tell us positive recovery stories and the more positive stories we can hear the better. The prayer support has likewise been wonderful and though I feel very stretched and have been somewhat melancholic, we feel the security of Gods loving embrace.So ‘Lez’ is another name on my lengthy prayer list that I rehearse in my head several times a day – when I wake, when I walk, before I sleep or sitting in a waiting room. She slots in nicely with Lesley M and Lesley B – what is it with Cancer and the name Lesley? (that’s not to do a disservice to Margaret and Anna and Paul and the rest who are also living with an Arnold of their own – or trying to make sure he does not come back!)The thing about this sort of intrusion into one’s life which was totally unexpected as it followed a routine screening rather than the discovery of symptoms, is that it that it does present a challenge to faith when it comes to healing and miracles. I thought it might be more tricky than it is…My own personal mantra is that ‘stuff’ happens, bad things happen to good people. Occasionally there are visibly tangible miraculous healings but I suspect that most of the time it is down to the health service backed up with the positive attitude of those who have a deep belief in the love and power of Jesus.The temptation is to be a bit like the bloke dangling from a cliff shouting to God for help. When God tells him to let go and trust in him he yells, “Is there anybody else up there?” The staff at the Mermaid Centre at Treliske were wonderful, and we are thankful that we have the wonderful NHS and don’t have to worry of we have medical insurance that will actually cover us as one continually reads in the USA.So thank you Lord for…
So there we all were for Sunday lunch discussing who was to blame for the sinking of the Titanic with the four grandchildren. Not quite as random as you might think because Jonah had been doing the Titanic for a school project and that had been the subject for debate. So was it the designer, the owner or the captain? Ellie, aged 9, muses, "perhaps it was God that sunk the Titanic..."we look quizzically in her direction."Well God might have been cross with some people on board."Eyebrows are raised from the adults..."Think about Noah's Ark..."The looks on our faces convey the general feeling that all on the ark were saved.."Look..." says Ellie "God, he or she.... let's just say she shall we - killed everyone else who wasn't on the ark."Erm........
Lent and Easter Personal ReflectionI began this blog on Holy Saturday - -the Carn Brea Cross empty on the hillside – stark white fibreglass against the rocks and the heather reflecting the empty wooden cross of two millennia past. It is amazing how many people you see making their way up to it and around it and how many people ask about it and complain if it does not go up!Lent this year has been a difficult trudge with a chesty cough lingering through the weeks, the sort of thing, that always leads me to a state of morose melancholy. The latter, seems a good excuse for munching biscuits and eating extra helpings of pudding on at the basis that, if I feel miserable, I deserve physical comforts to make up for it! It of course ignores the fact that it is lent and that I should be persevering and focusing on things spiritual.Then of course I feel more miserable when I realise I have put on half a stone and feel fat and unfit – if not actually ill.I think the lowest point mood-wise was probably after a ministry team meeting discussing the Easter Sunday gospel which is surprising since it was the essence of the good news but there is no accounting for man-flu moodiness!Tuesday afternoon was rescued by a quite entertaining committee meeting about Bishop Philpott’s library. Alan Bashforth and Roger Bush on top form lending humour to an otherwise unremarkable, if important agenda. There will be more news on the library in the future with details of access.On Maundy Thursday I went to the Chrism mass at the cathedral where I had been asked to read the second lesson which I was delighted and very privileged to do. The Old Testament reader, Dr Michael Todd, is a worship leader amongst his many other jobs. I didn’t robe, which was fine by me although Michael and I did feel a little out of place surrounded by all those white albs in our little corner by the pillar. It was lovely that there was a bit in the service where those in lay ministry could reaffirm their promises - but it did cross my mind that it would have been even 'nicer' if the ranks of robed readers had also been there to make their re-commitment alongside Bishops and other clergy. I know we have the Readers’ service in October but there is surely a growing feeling about the need to bring ministry closer together. There is a tricky balance here about wanting to be closer to the clergy in terms of ministry and distinctive from Worship Leaders and Pastoral Ministers without upsetting someone!Thursday evening was my favourite and possibly the only social event I enjoy at St Andrews in the whole year- the Annual Seder Meal - with lamb stew, crumble, fellowship, worship and foot (or hand) washing. Over the years we have done it in a variety of ways from the highly traditional to this rather more…
Celtic Spirituality and Spiritual Direction The Highspot of recent weeks was the Spiritual Direction Training Day focussing on Celtic Spirituality with Canon Pat Robson. The St Crida website is well worth browsing https://stcrida.co.uk/ with details of quite days and pilgrimage activities.I bought a copy of one of Pat's books which is still avaialble on Amazon and worth a read! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Heart-Anthology-Prayers-Tradition/dp/0281061912 Pat’s talks were both fascinating and compelling though by the end of the day most of us were looking at St Mawgan in a new light – he who to the Roman name Pelagian and had a heresy named after him. We were pretty sympathetic! Here’s a link to some of the letters of Pelagius to give you a taste. http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Pelagius_Letters.html The Wiki article is quite informative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagius
Christian Bookshop Cornwall – sad news that SACREdplace is closing down. “We are very sad to announce that the Trustees have decided to close SACREdplace, as our financial situation is no longer tenable. The intention is to remain open to the public until 17th May, with a stock clearance sale beginning on 30th April.”15 High Cross Street St Austell Cornwall PL25 4AN • Map - Phone: 01726 63945 Contact: Kathy Pope or Carolyn Rowse sacredplace@btconnect.com Website: www.sacredonline.org.uk SACREdplace have provided a bookstall at Readers Day events- the service will be missed by those who used it.
Elizabeth Rowe was inspired by the description of light through the stained glass windows in my story. Beatrice Goodden painted this work drawing togther a number of themes from the opening worship including the roots of the Chaplain's Cross. Beatrice says "Here is a photo of the painting I made today called ‘make clean our hearts within us’ " Beatrice writes, "another image I began last year at the end of a retreat and am still working on "