Hello Faith Pals,
Just a reminder of the youtube link from Heatheron-Dingley:
https://youtu.be/t9kEzW2fzw8
I know that it is hard not being together face to face-but in spirit we are. It does give us the opportunity to connect as church in different ways.
It is also hard because it is Mother’s Day on Sunday. We pray for our mothers, and for mothers everywhere.
Special prayers please for Fredrica and Alan Kingsbury, and for Rohini and Jaya Mendis and their families. Our love connects with God’s. Oh how we would LOVE to share our hugs, listening ear etc with them-BUT our hearts are connected to God’s, and God is there, with them, always.
Also, for those who want to read something different on-line. I am recommending (before I have had a chance to read it-which I aim to do over the weekend) a free on-line contribution from Mitch Albom. He is one of my favourite authors, and this is his contribution to help raise spirits during the pandemic.
https://www.mitchalbom.com/human-touch-story/part-one/
(If that doesn’t work, just type in Mitch Albom).
The opening quote:
“The spirit of man can endure only so much. And when it is broken, only a miracle can mend it.”
—John Burroughs, American essayist
I know many of you have been tidying up, and sorting, during this time of lock down. Found any treasures?
What china have you stored away, to protect them from life’s knocks? Precious crystal dishes? Fine porcelain figures? Perhaps even a hand made clay dish from a child or grandchild? I think we all have at least one, if not protected from dust and damage, then carefully dusted and cleaned.
In my last congregation, when the Lectionary reading was about The Ten Commandments, I preached about keeping the Sabbath holy, and how it is important to try to make our Sundays different from the rest of the week. I suggested using a special dish or cup on Sundays. Maybe there is a tea cup that has been given to you, that you put in the china cabinet, or in a cupboard, deemed ‘too good to use’? Why wait? What are you waiting for? A special occasion? If so…each Sunday is a mini-Resurrection, a weekly Easter Day. What better day to bring it out and let it see the light of day? Are you waiting for the right opportunity-or do you think you are not worthy of it? “It’s too good to use” may translate as “It is too good for me to use.” Really? Think about it. You are made in God’s image. Op shops are full of items that people have kept in their cupboards and drawers to use ‘one day’.
In front of me, I have a tea set from my wonderful Nana. It is of Scottish clans (not sure why, because she wasn’t Scottish!) I confess-I don’t use it very often, but it is in a drawer that I pull out every day, so I see it daily, and am reminded of my much loved Nan, a Nan who taught me, by example, to love others. On train trips (in the ‘old days’ when trains had compartments, so you shared that space with 6-8 people) she would open her big handbag, share lollies with the other occupants, and hear their life stories. By journey’s end we felt we were now friends.
Her tea set is sweet, but not that useful, for I am a tea fiend and most of the time I drink my brew from a large mug (always concerned after having a blood test that the results will show that my blood type has changed to ‘Tea’, Earl Grey positive!). Sharing tea (or coffee, or a cup of water) can be holy time, sacred space. For me, having a cuppa is a time when I am still with God. It is often a time of prayer, not only of thanksgiving, thanking God for the gift of water, electricity, shelter etc, but a time to pray for others-those without clean water, those who are thirsty, those who do not get paid a fair wage for their labour, for those who are sick, dying etc.
In an earlier email, I shared with you one of my spiritual disciplines, that of writing haiku. Here is one about praying while drinking tea, the steam resembling the incense of prayer:
Clouds of steam ascend.
Prayers steeped in holiness
-God in a teacup.
A cuppa is also a time of pastoral support and care. We tend to open up, relax, with a cuppa, find it easier to speak to one another about our lives, our concerns, joys and sorrows. This beautiful verse from Scripture sums it up: ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.’ (Hebrews 13:2)
Isn’t that part of the frustration of being in lock down? Not able to drop in to be with friends, to check on those going through challenging times-to share a hug, a smile, tears…even a drop or two of tea.
Blessings (you are all in my prayers as I sip my tea!)
This Irish Blessing seemed to address our current situation! ‘until we meet again…’
