Thought for the Day
12th May 2021
Our project, which has had a long gestation, is about to ‘go live’. Analogies of making the final steps up Everest when the oxygen is thin and you’re tired have been shared… all of us longing for the view and the sense of achievement when we finally reach the summit! I wonder how you respond to busy or stressful periods in life, what helps you through?
Is it just me, or do you find yourself praying with greater intent when the going gets tough? I’ve come across various mobile phone apps at different times and found then helpful. One is called “Sacred Space”. Another is “Lectio 365”. Although it’s style isn’t naturally one I’m drawn to – in recent weeks I’ve found it helpful – a guided opportunity each evening to reflect on the day, take in words from the Bible and engage with a prayer from a well known Christian writer.
I’ve been particularly conscious of, and appreciative of, kindnesses shown… the colleague who brought me tulips because she knew it was a busy time for me; an occasion when colleagues quickly rallied and helped problem solve a new issue that had appeared out of nowhere. These things have kept me going. It feels as if they have almost been the tangible out-workings of what’s described in one of my favourite Bible verses: “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). I hope you too experience kindness and encouragement this day.
Ruth Allen
10th May 2021
One of the threads running through the lectionary readings after Easter, has been the story of the first believers, as recorded in the book of Acts. (We know it as the “Acts of the Apostles”, but the “Acts of God” or the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” are closer to the mark.) This week we […]
7th May 2021
Confession time! I have broken the rules – or at least one rule. A man came to do some work at our house, and did a very good job. As he left I shook hands with him. Afterwards I realised I shouldn’t have done that, it’s against the pandemic rules. Shaking hands is one of […]
5th May 2021
My dear friend Barbara died 8 years ago tomorrow. She was only 65, too young to die, it was unthinkable. Before she became ill with stomach cancer, her life exuded love, goodness, and positive energy which encompassed her family, her friends, her church and her voluntary work. Her passing left a vacuum in so many lives. We were […]
3rd May 2021
It’s the May Day Bank Holiday: what memories does this hold for you? In the days when the Baptist Assembly lasted three days, in Blackpool, Bournemouth or Plymouth, this was the day it ended and we set off on a further trip to the Lake District, or Dorset, or North Devon, driving through all the […]
30th April 2021
In a recent thought for the day, Graham asked what the future might look like for us. Last week a report by the Trussell Trust suggested that there may be more hungry people on our doorstep. The number of food parcels that have been distributed by them in our area has more than doubled in […]
28th April 2021
For the last twenty or more years a great injustice has been happening. Local sub-postmasters in their hundreds have been criminalised, prosecuted, sometimes imprisoned, often forced into financial and reputational ruin. Now it is clear that what they were saying all along was true; they had done nothing wrong. It seems extraordinary in hindsight, and […]
26th April 2021
What a week of tumultuous events! First Prince Philip’s funeral and learning so much more about his full and fruitful life. Then the easing of lockdown: joyful reunions, shopping, alfresco meals and drinks and live worship at Tyndale. Next the UK government‘s new goal for reducing carbon emissions: 78% down on 1990 levels by 2035. […]
23rd April 2021
COMING OUT OF LOCKDOWN LIKE JEHU The world becomes ever more mysterious – not least for me in the arrival on our streets of an army of vehicles swift enough to excite any modern Jehu. I refer to the emergence on our streets of a great array of electric scooters, built by the Swedish company, Voi […]
19th March 2021
As we continue to move forward out of lockdown, many conversations are taking place about what the future will look like – these conversations are happening in all settings, work, home and Church. I have heard people ask, ‘Will we still do this and that?’, ‘Will this activity open again?’, ‘Who will do this or […]