Thought for the Day

A one-minute read to inspire or challenge. Written by members of the church and updated every few days.

4th October 2024

People gathered for last night’s First Wednesday community meal with a sense of expectation and joy. “It’s lovely to come here”, “the food is always good”, “you get to meet people” were all phrases I heard (as well as I can remember them) as we sat with our coffee waiting for Bruce and Ali to arrive with the first course.

What a good time we had. It goes without saying that the food was good but actually people around me were commenting on the flavour of the vegetables, the texture of the mashed potato, the generosity of the sausages.

Most of all we were there to meet each other and get to know one another better: sharing fellowship. There was a lot of laughter at my end of the table but then I was sitting with Rosemary and Pete who formed a double act that deserves wider recognition.

At the end of the evening, as David pointed out, everybody got on and cleared everything away without anybody needing to be told what to do.

As Sam prayed in the grace at the start of the meal, we had encountered people and, as we did so, we had encountered God. I pray that as the winter draws on, people will still feel able to come out for their monthly feast.

Nick Parsons

27th September 2024

Recent events have made me remember Miss Moss. She was my grandmother’s paid companion when I was a teenager. Miss Moss specialised in statements which began “They say the government is going to… They say the Council is going to… The garage is going to shut/sell alcohol/be taken over… They say Mr Nadin (a local […]

25th September 2024

Through the medium of television, Michael Portillo’s ‘Great British Railway Journeys’ took me back to when I travelled the Settle to Carlisle line over the Ribblehead Viaduct. Impossible to appreciate from the train, the TV shots of the massive structure reminded me how impressive it is. The Settle-Carlisle main line, built by Midland Railway over […]

20th September 2024

What truths do you glean from the story of Noah and his ark? Is it a light hearted story in which you wonder why the animals didn’t eat each other? An uncomfortable account of an angry God? Or is it about rainbows as a symbol of hope? I appreciated thoughts from Iona Community member Jan […]

18th September 2024

While living in Norwich, my next-door neighbour and I sought to join a badminton club, and we were recommended one that met on Friday evenings in half a school gym. Another club simultaneously used the other half, but we were warned not to try there as ‘they aren’t very friendly’. We went along, introduced ourselves, […]

11th September 2024

Sorting through my bookshelves the other day I came across a relic of the past: the Baptist Union Directory for 2007, containing lists of all ministers and their contact details, together with the information about churches, church secretaries and associations, the colleges and much else. But the annual Directory ceased publication some time ago. Now, […]

6th September 2024

BBC NEWS Am I the only one to notice a change in the tone of seriousness on the BBC News? The give-away for me is when either the presenter or their guests refer not to ‘this programme’ but rather ‘this/your show’.  This seems to indicate that instead of a concern to inform and educate the […]

4th September 2024

Often at this time of the year we go and house-sit for our son and daughter-in-law while they are away on holiday. One of our main responsibilities is to look after (i.e. feed) their three cats. It was only recently that I discovered that cats have a patron saint – Julian of Norwich (she is […]

28th August 2024

Weddings have been on my mind this week as our daughter, Amy, got married to Zac in Leicester. As the weekend progressed I found myself making comparisons with John’s account of the wedding at Cana. There was little chance here of the wine running out, or the cheese, pork or doughnuts for that matter. If […]

23rd August 2024

Moving to the countryside without a car has its problems. In Bristol Uber would get you where you were going and there would be no problem with the return journey with plenty of available vehicles. Here in rural Worcestershire we took an Uber taxi to the local Garden Centre and Retail Outlet – no problem, […]

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