{"id":3509,"date":"2020-09-07T13:00:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T03:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2020-09-07T13:04:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T03:04:38","slug":"monday-email-07-09-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3509","title":{"rendered":"Monday Email 07-09-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Faith Pals,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to the warmth of spring!\u00a0 Some lovely blooms are in the garden, our pink carmelia bush is magnificent, displaying something of God’s grandeur.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The angel Israfel is part of Islamic tradition. In Judaism and Christianity, he is commonly known as the archangel Raphael.<\/span>\u00a0 In 1831 Edgar Allen Poe wrote a poem called ‘Israfel:’<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘If I could dwell<\/strong><\/p>\n

where Israfel<\/strong><\/p>\n

hath dwelt, and he where I,<\/strong><\/p>\n

he might not sing so wildly well<\/strong><\/p>\n

a mortal melody,<\/strong><\/p>\n

while a bolder note than this might swell<\/strong><\/p>\n

from my lyre within the sky.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Islam, this angel is thought to be the one who will blow his trumpet, from the holy rock in Jerusalem, on the Day of Resurrection. He is the angel of music, said to sing praises to God in thousands of languages.\u00a0 In the mystical tradition of Sufism, the perfect human being is said to have a heart like Israfel’s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israfel’s heartstrings are a lute, or a harp.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/strong><\/p>\n

What about your\u00a0 heart?\u00a0 I know some of you have had stents etc inserted. What sounds do our hearts sing or make?\u00a0 Sweetness, or sadness\/lament? Do our strings need tuning?\u00a0 What do we need to do to tune our heart strings, so they sing praises to God and are light and full of zest and life?\u00a0 Do we need to have more joy in our lives?\u00a0 I know these are challenging times, but we can choose our responses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps we need to think back to a wonderful memory or two.\u00a0 Maybe a special birthday.\u00a0\u00a0 When I was a child, my mother would make me an ice-cream birthday cake.\u00a0 Birthday parties were great fun, with games like pin the tail on the donkey, hide and seek, musical chairs.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn’t sleep the night before my birthday.\u00a0 Do you have a fond memory of a particular birthday?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In some traditions, tomorrow (8th September) is celebrated as the birthday of the Virgin Mary.\u00a0 If you need a reason to celebrate, why not do something special in her honour, tomorrow?\u00a0 Maybe sing out loud the hymn:\u00a0 ‘Tell out my soul.’\u00a0 In our Protestant tradition, we remember Mary for her willingness to say “yes.” For her bravery\u00a0 and courage.\u00a0 For giving birth to Jesus, and for being a loving parent. A good thing for us to reflect on, to pray about. Are we willing to do what God requires of us? We each have a part or role to play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other ways to play lightly on our heart strings is to balance sad\/tough news about covid-19, with the positives we can gather from this experience.\u00a0 Some of you are\u00a0 already doing this.\u00a0 I know Sarah Simko is keeping an ‘isolation diary’ and\u00a0 wondered if some of you are also making notes\/keeping a record of this unique experience in which we find ourselves ?\u00a0 If, as someone discussed with me the other day, it is a little like the movie Ground Hog Day<\/i> (the movie was repeating the same day over and over again…until it got better\/lessons were learned…Bill Murray became a nicer, generous, compassionate person) in that some days may seem the same…BUT THEY NEVER ARE!\u00a0 We each have the power to make them different, and to change our attitude too.\u00a0 I am not advocating that we become naive,\u00a0 but we can use this time well to tally up lessons learned.\u00a0 Some of these might include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

-the importance of family<\/strong><\/p>\n

-blessed with a phone\/computer<\/strong><\/p>\n

-being able to sit in my garden<\/strong><\/p>\n

-having hot and cold running water<\/strong><\/p>\n

-reading a particular book I have wanted to for years<\/strong><\/p>\n

-noticing the small things of life-the bees, bird song<\/strong><\/p>\n

-enjoying hearing children out riding their bikes<\/strong><\/p>\n

-becoming more patient<\/strong><\/p>\n

-including\u00a0 politicians in our daily prayers (who would want their jobs?\u00a0 Oh I do feel sorry for them).<\/strong><\/p>\n

What helps you?\u00a0 Some laughter?\u00a0 Some perspective? I find that if I get stuck, I grab a Christmas book, or a children’s picture book,for a quick read. The Gospels are good too! Or a cuppa in the garden.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This too will pass.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I couldn’t resist ending with the following!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, according to Edward Hays, September 10 is ‘Iron Retirement Feast, or Liberation Day, 1954’.\u00a0 Before the 1950s, it was necessary to spend up to 20 hours a week ironing-shirts, skirts, tablecloths, bed linen.\u00a0 Then a new age arrived, with the invention of synthetic fabrics, the ‘wash and wear’ era. So, Hays wants to know, where have those 20 extra\/free hours a week\u00a0 gone? He wants to know who stole your free time, your 20 hours or so?\u00a0 I confess, I don’t iron much-that is my bit for the environment!\u00a0 When we lived in Canberra, and our son was young, a friend from Melbourne would visit several times a year.\u00a0 Our son loved to watch our friend use our iron (she is keen on ironing) as he rarely saw us use it!\u00a0 The iron still doesn’t get out much-sometimes I think I hear it and my swim suit lament their years stuck in the cupboard! They have become good friends.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"How<\/strong><\/p>\n

This photo is from a youtube segment ‘ How to iron a shirt.’ I won’t need to watch it, so have saved some myself several minutes!<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘I will give thanks to the Lord<\/strong><\/p>\n

with my whole heart;<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will be glad and exult in you;<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.’<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Psalm 9:1-2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessings and love<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barbara<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nVirus-free. www.avg.com<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Faith Pals, Welcome to the warmth of spring!\u00a0 Some lovely blooms are in the garden, our pink carmelia bush is magnificent, displaying something of God’s grandeur. The angel Israfel is part of Islamic tradition. In Judaism and Christianity, he is commonly known as the archangel Raphael.\u00a0 In 1831 Edgar Allen Poe wrote a poem called ‘Israfel:’ ‘If I could dwell where Israfel hath dwelt, and he where I, he might not sing so wildly well a mortal melody, while a bolder note than this might swell from my lyre within the sky.’ In Islam, this angel is thought to be the one who will blow his trumpet, from the holy rock in Jerusalem, on the Day of Resurrection. He is the angel of music, said to sing praises to God in thousands of languages.\u00a0 In the mystical tradition of Sufism, the perfect human being is said to have a heart like Israfel’s. Israfel’s heartstrings are a lute, or a harp. What about your\u00a0 heart?\u00a0 I know some of you have had stents etc inserted. What sounds do our hearts sing or make?\u00a0 Sweetness, or sadness\/lament? Do our strings need tuning?\u00a0 What do we need to do to tune our heart strings, so they sing praises to God and are light and full of zest and life?\u00a0 Do we need to have more joy in our lives?\u00a0 I know these are challenging times, but we can choose our responses. Perhaps we need to think back to a wonderful memory or two.\u00a0 Maybe a special birthday.\u00a0\u00a0 When I was a child, my mother would make me an ice-cream birthday cake.\u00a0 Birthday parties were great fun, with games like pin the tail on the donkey, hide and seek, musical chairs.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn’t sleep the night before my birthday.\u00a0 Do you have a fond memory of a particular birthday? In some traditions, tomorrow (8th September) is celebrated as the birthday of the Virgin Mary.\u00a0 If you need a reason to celebrate, why not do something special in her honour, tomorrow?\u00a0 Maybe sing out loud the hymn:\u00a0 ‘Tell out my soul.’\u00a0 In our Protestant tradition, we remember Mary for her willingness to say “yes.” For her bravery\u00a0 and courage.\u00a0 For giving birth to Jesus, and for being a loving parent. A good thing for us to reflect on, to pray about. Are we willing to do what God requires of us? We each have a part or role to play. Other ways to play lightly on our heart strings is to balance sad\/tough news about covid-19, with the positives we can gather from this experience.\u00a0 Some of you are\u00a0 already doing this.\u00a0 I know Sarah Simko is keeping an ‘isolation diary’ and\u00a0 wondered if some of you are also making notes\/keeping a record of this unique experience in which we find ourselves ?\u00a0 If, as someone discussed with me the other day, it is a little like the movie Ground Hog Day (the movie was repeating the same day over and over again…until it got better\/lessons were learned…Bill Murray became a nicer, generous, compassionate person) in that some days may seem the same…BUT THEY NEVER ARE!\u00a0 We each have the power to make them different, and to change our attitude too.\u00a0 I am not advocating that we become naive,\u00a0 but we can use this time well to tally up lessons learned.\u00a0 Some of these might include: -the importance of family -blessed with a phone\/computer -being able to sit in my garden -having hot and cold running water -reading a particular book I have wanted to for years -noticing the small things of life-the bees, bird song -enjoying hearing children out riding their bikes -becoming more patient -including\u00a0 politicians in our daily prayers (who would want their jobs?\u00a0 Oh I do feel sorry for them). What helps you?\u00a0 Some laughter?\u00a0 Some perspective? I find that if I get stuck, I grab a Christmas book, or a children’s picture book,for a quick read. The Gospels are good too! Or a cuppa in the garden. This too will pass. I couldn’t resist ending with the following! Now, according to Edward Hays, September 10 is ‘Iron Retirement Feast, or Liberation Day, 1954’.\u00a0 Before the 1950s, it was necessary to spend up to 20 hours a week ironing-shirts, skirts, tablecloths, bed linen.\u00a0 Then a new age arrived, with the invention of synthetic fabrics, the ‘wash and wear’ era. So, Hays wants to know, where have those 20 extra\/free hours a week\u00a0 gone? He wants to know who stole your free time, your 20 hours or so?\u00a0 I confess, I don’t iron much-that is my bit for the environment!\u00a0 When we lived in Canberra, and our son was young, a friend from Melbourne would visit several times a year.\u00a0 Our son loved to watch our friend use our iron (she is keen on ironing) as he rarely saw us use it!\u00a0 The iron still doesn’t get out much-sometimes I think I hear it and my swim suit lament their years stuck in the cupboard! They have become good friends. This photo is from a youtube segment ‘ How to iron a shirt.’ I won’t need to watch it, so have saved some myself several minutes! ‘I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.’ -Psalm 9:1-2 Blessings and love Barbara Virus-free. www.avg.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Other Posts<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Hello Faith Pals, Welcome to the warmth of spring!\u00a0 Some lovely blooms are in the garden, our pink carmelia bush is magnificent, displaying something of God’s grandeur. The angel Israfel is part of Islamic tradition. In Judaism and Christianity, he is commonly known as the archangel Raphael.\u00a0 In 1831 Edgar Allen Poe wrote a poem…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3509"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3513,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions\/3513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}