General Chat

Cynthia, I came across this poem and thought it appropriate to follow your words.

THIS JOURNEY THAT I AM ON

This journey that I am on
Sometimes has been crooked and seemed very long
Sometimes it was exciting and fun
Other times like a sad, sad song.
Many times there were bumps in the road
Often I felt I was carrying a heavy load
There has been joy and pain, laughter and sorrow
Memories of yesterday and thoughts of tomorrow
But all along its paths I trod
My Lord was with me
Loaning me his staff and rod
He watched over me, heard every sigh and moan
And as always is guiding me through
This journey that I am on.

written by Gregory W.Gore

Thank you both for the prayer and poem.

Emma :-)

Have really enjoyed those last few posts. It made me think of that lovely hymn by John Bunyan:

Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather.
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim

We had our sermon from Luke Chapter 17 verse 6: "And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine (cedar) tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea. And it shall obey you."

We so underestimate faith. We look for it, yet as Jesus later said in this chapter. "The Kingdom of God is within you" We can do anything if we have sufficient faith.

Very stirring and challenging, I thought. And I was very pleased that our Minister said quite a long prayer in support of these refugees from the Horn of Africa who perished in the seas near the Italian island of Lampedusa. I think it is 111 survivors and several hundreds perished in the Mediterranean. It so shocked me that at the end of a dreadful journey across Africa, they perished when they could almost literally see Lampedusa and a new life of freedom. :-( I just hope that the Italian authorities do everything they can to look after the survivors.

It was the mustard seed story in the Anglican church today too John... :-D


Things were somewhat difficult at church this morning. It was announced that a 'Priest-in-charge' has been appointed.....a neighbouring vicar. Many folk think it is far too soon as it is barely a month since our lovely man died.

I tend to agree with them. His wife and daughter are still living in the vicarage and struggling to cope with both their grief and the worry of finding a new home.

Sometimes I feel that those at the top are so busy running a 'business' that they forget what we are all about. :-(

John, ongoing thoughts and prayers for the tragic event at Lampedusa.

Cynthia. A very challenging time ahead for your church family. Very sad decision!

The chosen Priest-in-charge will need support to move your parish forward after the sudden death of your very popular vicar. Is this to be a permanent position? Wouldn't your churchwardens have to be involved and your PCC be asked for their opinion before such a notice was announced in church?

I agree this new appointment isn't allowing his wife and daughter time to adjust or your close congregation chance to grieve. I sometimes wonder if the church hierarchy are living in the real world..... this insensitive decision too cruel and much too soon imho.

Hi kandj,

The diocese doesn't seem to work like that these days. They speak - we jump!

Unfortunately, it is patently obvious that the diocese only cares about one thing. Money. It is as though they have lost their way. Very sad.

Cynthia, my church has been forced to cope with diocesan decisions that have caused great upset and division within the congregation. It is hard not to criticize.

Isaiah 41 v 13, has always helped me and I hope it will help you too.

Many thanks kandj...........I also meant to say thank you for the words by Gregory Gore too. We press on in faith, hope and trust :-)


It's a bit grey here today but, at least it's a new day..........hope these words help someone.



Attitude Determines Altitude!

I woke up early today, excited over all that I
get to do before the clock strikes midnight.
I have responsibilities to fulfill today.
I am important.
My job is to choose what kind of day
I am going to have.

Today I can complain
because the weather is rainy
or I can be thankful that the grass
is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad
because I don't have more money or
I can be more grateful
for the many things that I already have.

Today I can grumble about my health
or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents
didn't give me when I was growing up
or I can feel grateful
that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns
or I can celebrate
that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn for my lack of friends
or I can excitedly embark upon a quest
to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine
because I have to go to work
or I can shout for joy
because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain
because I have to go to school
or I can eagerly open my mind and fill it
with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly
because I have to do housework
or I can feel honored
because the Lord has provided
shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me,
waiting to be shaped.
And here I am, the sculptor
who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me.
I'm the one who gets to choose
what kind of day I will have!

~ Author Unknown ~



I hope everyone makes the best of today...... <3

kandj. Verse 15. "I will make you a new sharp threshing machine". Perhaps he has made one for Cynthia's church.

Cynthia, it is the church that your old Vicar crafted that has become the magnet for people seeking the Lord. And he would be the first to admit he was just one part of it at one point in time. Churches are the local community and anyone at diocesan level does not really understand the love and fellowship and personal interaction.

It is worse in Methodism. Few Ministers stay for more than 6 years, and you get used to a lovely one and he or she is posted to the Hebrides or Cornwall and some new inexperienced and wet behind the ears Minister enters scene left. Several times it has seemed a most inappropriate change.

Yet looking back over 30 years and probably about 7 different Ministers (and 3 or 4 retired Ministers also) each of them was the right person at that time. None of them have been skilled in every area of Ministry, but they have all added rather than subtracted to our local churches.

Your thought for the day, Cynthia. I am a pessimist by nature (no disappointments in my day as I am always ready for them), so just read the first half of each point. How true. Perhaps I will struggle with the second parts later. :-) :-)

An appropriate poem written by Debbie, to share with everyone today.

Be optimistic in your life,
Believe that things will go your way
And if you need a little help
Take some time and pray.

You need to have positive thoughts
The negative needs to leave
And if you think long enough
You truly will believe.

So you did think good thoughts,
And being optimistic made things right
And it was all because.......,
You saw the light.

It isn't easy as human beings when we can only see the scene but God has the Master's plan and only He can view the whole picture. Cynthia this is an upsetting and an uncertain time within your church and especially for you as the vicar and his wife were great friends. The grieving path is made more difficult now, when church hierarchy have made insensitive decisions far too quickly. Keep focused right now and continue to support the vicar's widow and his daughter. I will remember you all in prayer.

Appropriate words indeed kandj. Thank you.

It's very much a case of keeping everyone's morale up at the moment and encouraging everyone to stay working together. We have our big wedding fayre at the weekend and I think it will be just what's needed to be honest.

Good morning........everyone... :-)


Some words to start the day on this autumn morning :


Warm breath upon cold window panes,
October's drawing boards,
Well-shaped peekholes making frames,
For little eyes to see outdoors.

Yellow leaves dance to the ground,
Mixed with oranges and reds,
Then brownish leaves come tumbling down,
Like crumbling ginger-bread.

The earth, it seems, changed over night,
To warming, nut-brown hues,
The bite at night ... a pure delight,
All signs that Winter's due.

Small, wary birds gird-up to leave,
Busy squirrels pack their nests,
Curling smoke from chimneys seen,
Earth withdrawing ... time to rest.

Not quite Winter, though Summer gone,
Fall leaves are nature's treasure,
The Lord's carpeting, laid down,
To bring small folk much pleasure.

The child in all comes out to play,
In those wondrous leaves of Fall,
With Winter just a day away,
Come quick ... before snowfall.

~ Virginia Ellis ~



Enjoy your day everyone...... :-)

Bit wet, slightly cold, overcast and looks very much autumnal today in South Wales.

Psalm 84 seems rather apt:

"Blessed are those who dwell in Your house. They will always be praising you.

Blessed a person whose strength is in you; in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Who going through the valley of dryness
Finds there a spring from which to drink.

Until the autumn rain shall clothe it with blessings."

Cynthia
Thank you for the poem. I hope there are no more unpleasant shocks for you today.

John, always wise words to be found in the book of Psalms, thanks for sharing.

More little words for this special Autumn day (written by George Cooper)

Come little leaves
Said the wind one day
Come to the meadow
With me to play
Put on your dresses
Of red and gold
For Summer is past and
The days grow cold.

I hope everyone has a happy day today.

Thank you all

Emma :-)

Good morning all..... :-)


No more nasty shocks kandj, but there is a spirit of determination amongst some of the congregation, to challenge the diocese on their decision. Sometimes, it is too easy to just accept a decision made by others and the truth needs to be found.


Something to make you smile today:


Hi there, Mr. Chipmunk,
I see you found a treat,
Do you know how it tickles me
To watch you stop and eat?

I cannot help but smile
At your tiny fingered-paws,
So adept at what they do,
It gives me cause to pause.

Hush! Do you hear a noise?
I see you cock your head,
You listen so intently,
Was it something that I said?

A bit skittish, aren't you?
Well, I'm glad you're very wary,
There are other creatures out there,
That are bigger and more scary.

Such a perfect little thing you are,
What a total joy to find,
I'll bet God must have smiled, too,
When you first crossed His mind.

What fun He must have had,
When He designed you, little guy,
I'll bet he laughed so hard and long,
That tears squeezed from His eyes.


He made you small and made you fast,
In order to protect you,
Then gave you a striped fur coat,
To make it harder to detect you.

Well, so long, Mr. Chipmunk,
I see you've other things to do,
But I'm so glad you came today,
Such a pleasure meeting you.

~ Virginia Ellis ~



It made me smile anyway..........it's just those little things in life that make the difference...... :-)

Chipmunks just remind me I've got to go to the dentist to have a plate fitted :-( :-(

My grandma used to fall off her chair laughing at penguins. It was the way they flapped as they moved. There are so many beautiful and distinctive animals, birds and insects in God's kingdom. "All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small" :-) :-)

And trees, plants and flowers. How much time do we spend admiring those and realising their intricate beauty? And we so easily forget that 70% of our world is water and largely unexplored. :-)

I think I have already mentioned on here somewhere, that our late Vicar used to call that hymn.......All things grim and 'orrible. He really didn't like it at all... :-D

Good morning......... :-)


I think penguins are incredibly amusing to watch too John.......but, in amongst that humour there is a sense of wonder at the lives they lead. Whenever we watch a nature programme, I cannot help but think of just how amazing our Creator is. :-)


As for our recent upset, I discovered yesterday that, due to a discussion on the diocesan page of Facebook, the Archdeacon is coming out to talk to the PCC and to our late Vicar's wife! Now I find that very interesting.

For too long - and I do speak from experience here - Diocesan people seem to have assumed that, when they say 'jump', the people in the pews will all ask 'how high?'. To be fair, I am well aware that there are certain legalities to be observed and I have no problem with that.

However, for people in the pews to be actually challenging the diocese through a social media network because they want to get to the heart of the matter and feel they need some compassion - is interesting. Very interesting indeed. :-)


I have other things on my mind at the moment as, this weekend is the time for the Wedding Fayre which our late Vicar and I were working on together. Everything we do will be to the best of our ability and in memory of him. Each person who enters, will be made welcome.....


For today:

A Familiar Stranger
I saw a stranger today.
I put food for him
in the eating-place
And drink
in the drinking-place
And music
in the listening-place.

In the Holy name
of the Trinity
He blessed myself
and my family.
And the lark said in her warble
Often, often, often
Goes Christ
in the stranger's guise.

O, oft and oft and oft,
Goes Christ
in the stranger's guise.

- Celtic Rune of Hospitality


Have a lovely day......Cx :-)

"All things grim and orrible
All creatures grate and appal"

Poor old Mrs Alexander - hope she is remonstrating with your Vicar as I write :-D

Vey good news that your Archdeacon is coming out, Cynthia. And what a sign of the times that a social media network appears to be prompting action. Good to see the dog wagging the tail for a change. Docesan authorities are servants of local churches, not masters.

We have had an interesting battle in the Rhondda. They decided to close the village church in Maerdy, and old coal village. It would cost £50,000 for essential repairs and collection was probably less that £200 per week.

There was an uproar ("I got married there, and my granddaughter is booked to get married there next year"). It got in the national papers and Bishop Barry, Church in Wales Archbishop spent more time in Maerdy than Llandaff Cathedral for a few weeks to try to resolve issue.

Words by Thomas Kelly (1769-1855) this morning:

Sinners in derision crowned him,
Mocking thus the Saviour's claim.
Saints and angels throng around him,
Own his title, praise his name.
Crown him! Crown him!
Spread abroad the Victor's fame.

:-)